NFPA 20 DEFINITION OF RELIABLE POWER SOURCE/REQUIREMENT FOR SECONDARY POWER

[inspectorsparky]

Recently in our city in the design phase of some new facilities the respective engineers have designed a fire pump into the sprinkler system. Per NFPA 20, 2006 if the primary power source cannot be classified as "reliable" a secondary power source is required. NFPA 20 does not list the parameters of what qualifies as a power source to be "reliable", and the electric delivery company will not provide documentation self qualifying their feeder as "reliable".
We are the AHJ. Our interpretation is based upon the electric utility not being willing to submit documentation stating such reliability, and there is an ERCOT report warning that rolling blackouts will be mandated at times when weather conditions are extreme at peak demand. We have therefore required backup power sources on these projects to serve sadi fire pumps. We are receiving maximum resistance from these engineers going so far as to hire additional experts and engineers to dispute our interpretation.
I would like to get some feedback from professionals such as yourselves if I may.

 

[RB1]

Inspectorsparky,

Go to NFPA.org and take a look at A9.3.2 of NFPA 20-2010. Basically a reliable source has these characteristics: (1)The power plant serving the premises has not had a shut down of more than four hours within a year of plan submittal. (2) No outages have been experienced in the area of the premises due to power grid failure other than natural disaster or mismanagement of the grid (somebody accidentally tripped a relay). (3)The normal source of power is not supplied by overhead lines to the facility. (4) Not more than a single disconnecting means complying with 695.4(B) is provided between the service and the fire pump controller.

Additionally, you must consider the type of building. If the building is higher than your fire department can pump, an alternate source of power is required.