C.M.R. 65, 407, ch. 640, app 407-640-B
Revised September 10, 1997
The "Demand Based Fire Protection" is a refinement of so called Method "A" as recommended by the Fire Protection Task Force to the Maine Public Utilities Commission on January 16, 1996. A number of water utilities have attempted to implement Method "A" and have found the lack of available data on actual sprinkler system fire flow demands to be impediment to its implementation. This refinement is necessary to address these problems of incomplete fire flow demand data for individual private sprinkler systems.
The Method "A" is an allocation methodology for the equitable apportionment of cost associated with providing Public and Private Fire Protection. The allocation methodology relies on data from the actual design of individual private fire protection systems (sprinklers). The demand required for an individual sprinkler system in terms of flow design is in gpm (gallons per minute).
Deficiencies in availability of fire flow data on sprinklers have been found. The State Fire Marshal Office has minimal records of sprinkler system designs.
Due to this deficiency, an alternative technique is proposed to be used to provide an estimate of the Fire Flow Demand for sprinkler systems where actual system design data is not available.
The following table titled "Water Sprinkler System Flows for Fire Protection Rates" shall be used in the calculation of the "Fire Flow Demand" when the design data for a sprinkler system is not available. Design data must be completed by a Sprinkler System Engineer registered in the State of Maine with the State Fire Marshal Office.
| Occupancy Hazard | System Flow Rate* | |
| Per NFPA 13 | Wet System | Dry System |
| Light Hazard | 175 gpm | 230 gpm |
| Ordinary Hazard 1 | 260 gpm | 340 gpm |
| Ordinary Hazard 2 | 350 gpm | 460 gpm |
| Extra Hazard 1 | 875 gpm | 1140 gpm |
| Extra Hazard 2 | 1150 gpm | 1500 gpm |
* For dry sprinkler systems the flow rates are 30% above the requirement for a wet sprinkler per NFPA 13.
A-1-.7 Occupancy examples in the listings as shown in the various hazard classifications are intended to represent the norm for those occupancy types. Unusual or abnormal fuel loadings or combustible characteristics and susceptibility for changes in these characteristics, for a particular occupancy, are considerations that should be weighed in the selection and classification.
The Light Hazard classification is intended to encompass residential occupancies; however. this is not in preclude the use of listed residential sprinklers in residential occupancies or residential portions of other occupancies.
A-14.7.1 Light Hazard Occupancies include occupancies having conditions similar to:
Churches
Clubs
Eaves and overhangs, if combustible construction with no combustibles beneath
Educational
Hospitals
Institutional
Libraries, except large stack rooms
Museums
Nursing or convalescent homes
Office, including data processing
Residential
Restaurant seating areas
Theaters and Auditoriums excluding stages and prosceniums
Unused attics
A-1-4.7.2.1 Ordinary Hazard Occupancies (Group 1) include occupancies having conditions similar to:
Automobile parking and showrooms
Bakeries
Beverage manufacturing
Canneries
Dairy products manufacturing and processing
Electronic plants
Glass and glass products manufacturing
Laundries
Restaurant service areas.
MOVING AND STORAGE
STORAGE 20' / 21' BELOW EX (1)
STORAGE 22' ABOVE EX (2)
RACKS EX (2)
A-1-4.7.2.2 Ordinary Hazard Occupancies (Group 2) include occupancies having conditions similar to:
Cereal mills
Chemical plants - ordinary
Confectionery products
Distilleries
Dry cleaners
Feed mills
Horse stables
Leather goods manufacturing
Libraries - large stack room areas
Machine shops
Metal working
Mercantile
Paper and pulp mills
Paper process plants
Piers and wharves
Post offices
Printing and publishing
Repair garages
Stages
Textile manufacturing
Tire manufacturing
Tobacco products manufacturing
Wood machining
Wood product assembly.
A-1-4.7.3.1 Extra Hazard Occupancies (Group 1) include occupancies having conditions similar to:
Aircraft hangars (except as governed by NFPA-409) Combustible hydraulic fluid use areas
Die casting
Metal extruding
Plywood and particle board manufacturing
Printing [using inks having flash points below 100º F (37.9º C)]
Rubber reclaiming, compounding, drying, milling, vulcanizing
Saw mills
Textile picking; opening. blending. garnetting, carding, combining of cotton, synthetics, wool shoddy, or burlap
Upholstering with plastic foams.
Extra Hazard Occupancies (Group 2) include occupancies having conditions similar to:
Asphalt saturating
Flammable liquids spraying
Flow coating
Manufactured home or modular building assemblies (where finished enclosure is present and has combustible interiors)
Open oil quenching
Plastics processing
Solvent cleaning
Varnish and paint dipping.
C.M.R. 65, 407, ch. 640, app 407-640-B