Monthly Technical Articles
Explore our collection of articles written by engineers, for engineers. Categorized based on the COPE approach to assessing risk within a facility, the archives below contain essential information for the development of engineers in our field.
Changes to FM Global Data Sheet 8-9 - Storage of Class 1, 2, 3, 4 and Plastic Commodities (2010)
In March of 2010, FM Global made several significant changes to this Data Sheet. The changes were made on their part in an effort to further minimize damage from fire, water and smoke based upon...
Sprinklers are Installed in Colleges for 20 year old Students. Why not for 6-year-old children in Kindergarten?
Several years ago a college student set fire to a dormitory at Seton Hall University located in Newark, NJ. The fire tragically killed several students. Automatic sprinkler protection was not...
Fire Safety During Construction
You might wonder why fire protection is important in a building that is under construction - especially if the building will have noncombustible and/or fire rated construction. An estimated 4,800...
Changes to the 2010 Edition of NFPA 20, Standard of the Installation of Stationary Pumps for Fire Protection
NFPA 20 is the most important standard for the design of fire pumps (off of a private supply) and booster pumps (off of a public supply - city water). Fire protection engineers use this detailed...
Legislative Review An Overview of Codes, Standards and Regulations in CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, IL, MA, MI, MS, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA and TX
In the November 2009, Sprinkler Age magazine featured its Annual Legislative Review for the United States and Canada. This summary of legislation and codes offers an overview of regulations affecting...
Preventing and Responding to Freeze-Ups
Freeze-ups can cause damage to your site's buildings, operations and fire protection equipment. Here are some basic items that can help prevent and control that damage. Have a winterization plan in...
Changes to the 2010 edition of NFPA 13, Standard of the Installation of Sprinkler Systems
NFPA 13 is the most important standard for the design of automatic sprinkler systems. Fire protection engineers use this detailed standard to determine the design of an automatic sprinkler system....
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Fire Loss Statistics in the USA for 2008
515,000 structure fires, decrease of 2.9% from 2007 Of these structure fires, 403,000 or 78%, were residential fires A fire department responded to a fire somewhere in the U.S. every 22 sec. ...
Flammable and Combustible Liquids
When trying to determine what liquids need to go into your flammable liquids room, you may be tempted to use the flammable liquid labels that are on some of the liquid containers. However, this...
Fire Suppression System Impairments
Fire Suppression System Impairments Industrial fire suppression systems include automatic sprinklers, gaseous systems as well as foam systems that might be used in aircraft hangars or to protect...
Protection of Information Technology (IT) Equipment
Information technology equipment/systems include computers and peripheral support such as memory, programming, records, storage, and human activities. Guidance can be found in NFPA 75-2009 "Standard...
Suppression Mode Sprinklers (Updated)
Our technical articles, ESFR Sprinkler Summary and Managing Your ESFR Sprinkler System, detailed the history of Early Suppression, Fast-Response (ESFR) sprinklers, provided some installation details...