Sprinkler Age A Publication of the American Fire Sprinkler Association

DeCamara and Waller Scholarship Programs Help Fire Protection Students The Center for Life Safety Education (CLSE), an educational affiliate of the American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA), is proud to sponsor two scholarship programs: the Philip L. DeCamara, Jr. Scholarship and the Thomas S. Waller Memorial Scholarship. These programs honor dedicated industry …

The Fire Code and NFPA 13 Standard Don’t Match Up The International Fire Code (IFC), 2015 edition and NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems, 2016 edition have different lists for classifications of commodities. When the two differ, which one do you apply? This could place you in a …

It’s Not as Easy as You Think So you think you can determine the exact commodity classification for a specific packaged arrangement of materials using your knowledge of the commodity classification definitions provided by NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems? Well, think again. No, you can’t.  It’s …

Despite widely varying projections for growth of the economy and the dramatic ups and downs in the stock market, 2015 became the year we could say “we’re back” from the Great Recession. We are seeing much greater optimism among contractors and suppliers. The American Fire Sprinkler Association’s (AFSA) year-end numbers …

Understanding Free Flowing Group A Plastics The most important step in developing a design concept for protecting storage occupancies is to determine the overall storage commodity classification. This is not always an easy task, because of the varying extent of products that are stored and the method in which they …

Understanding the Modifiers There comes a time when many ask, “What does NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems, mean by that?” This is especially prevalent with some of the modifiers that affect the commodity classification, the single most important aspect of the design. This came to my …

Celebrate AFSA’s 35th Annual Convention & Exhibition It’s a big anniversary for the American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA): the 35th Annual Convention & Exhibition! To be held in Nashville, Tennessee,  “A Grand Ole Opportunity: AFSA in Nashville,” will be housed in the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center September 14-17. This …

NFPA 13, 2016 Edition Added Tables Now that the 2016 edition of NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems, has been published and shipped, sprinkler contractors, layout technicians, and Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs) are reviewing the newly added Tables 9.3.5.12.2 (a) through (f ) with respect to the …

Of all the roles the American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA) has, one of the least appreciated is our role in the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards process. The process that NFPA uses is designed to be very egalitarian and to give all the stakeholders in the fire protection community …

How Can AFSA Assist You? One of the many benefits of your AFSA membership is access to AFSA”s Technical Services Department and its archives of Informal Interpretations. Have you taken advantage of it? In 2015, members saved over $80,000 and 200 hours on jobs by putting AFSA’s Technical Services staff …