Boiler Room Fire Rating

[tbedford]

Good morning new to this forum and I have an interesting question from British Columbia, Canada.

As a boiler mechanic, I have always thought of boiler rooms as a dangerous place and that people outside need protection from equipment mishap inside.
I also am reminded daily of the jurisdictional differences in code and inspection.

I am commissioning equipment in a second floor boiler room.
The walls have 4 air ducts traversing the room with fire dampers...fair enough fire-rated walls. I got that one.
There is a roof above...nothing new here.
The floor however has two large hydronic pipe penetrations approx 12" x 18"...each penetration has 6 pipes of various sizes.
Aside from the possibilty of a large water leak to the t-bar grid and offices below, I am told that the floor is not a fire-rated assembly.
This seems contradictory to boiler room construction.

Comments,

Thnak you,
Tom

 

[chicopee]

What's underneath the boiler room?

 

[tbedford]

t-bar ceiling in a storage room for one of the holes and a staff room for the other hole...

tom

 

[stookeyfpe]

You are in Canada, which means the design must comply with the Canadian Building Code, which varies based on the provincinal rules. Here in the US, our rules are based on boiler horsepower. In the US you either have a 1-hour or 2-hour fire-resistive separation based on the boiler's ratings.

I have no idea how it works in Canada. Good luck in your endeavor, but don't expect a website to solve your design or engineering questions. It's a forum.

 

[chicopee]

"for one of the holes"?????

 

[tbedford]

thanks all,

yes the boiler room has two holes in ther floor...

I am not a designer, and not looking for design...just being cautious as I can see the accident potential here,

Tom

 

[MaInspector]

The Building Code should require any penatrations throught the fire rated room to be protected or sealed with a rated assembly. There are products on the market that are made just for such things like pipes where it is hard to seal around them. The company "Hilti" makes a fire rated assembly that has a core that expands when heated and seals any pipes passing through it. Such products should be easy to find.

 

[tbedford]

Thanks,

The most curious issue is that the floor has not been fire-rated.
Is this correct?

Tom

 

[stookeyfpe]

Tom

The requirements for the floor being fire-resistant or unrated is dependant on the code that that building was constructed to.

How do you know that the floor is not a rated horizontal assembly? Unless your well skilled in fire-resistive assemblies, making a determination just by visual examination can be problematic. I find in most cases its best to attempt to locate original building plans and determine what was originally specified.

My $0.02 opinion.

 

[chicopee]

U.L. publishes fire resistance ratings of fire resistive assemblies. Chenck the internet, you may be lucky.

 

[tbedford]

Thanks all

I am told by the designer that the floor is not a fire-rated assembly. It is concrete so it has little chance of catching fire, unless someone spills a flammable liquid at the same time a gas boiler mishap happens.

It does strike me as rather curios that its design is not fire-rated; or, as I have mentioned , water-tight.
These items seem to be a matter of common sense.

Thanks to all...

Tom