Can anyone tell me what the fire alarm/smoke detector requirements for a dental office are? The plans I'm working off for a bid just say "Smoke detectors as required by NFPA". This is a dental office with 5 exam rooms, along with pano xray area, waiting room, reception, bathroom, and mechanical room. Can these just be interconnected smoke detectors or does it have to be a complete fire alarm system with pull stations and flashing lights, etc.?
Fire alarm/smoke detectors in dental office
- Thread starter ammklq143
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Sparkey1981
Member
- Location
- Massachusetts
- Occupation
- Electrician
Is the building sprinkled ?
What state ?
Depends on occupancy AHJ
Lots of unanswered questions
I would go talk to the fire department
What state ?
Depends on occupancy AHJ
Lots of unanswered questions
I would go talk to the fire department
bristlepad
Member
- Location
- Jacksonville Florida
The dentist is apparently not trying to get plans made because he’s cheap, now you are playing engineer/fire marshal for free. He is probably going to be required by the county to turn in plans in order to get permits to start work/get his CO. This sounds like it will require a fire alarm system anyways.
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This is in Iowa so it would be the State Fire Marshall doing the electrical inspections and it's not sprinkled. It's a building that's shared with other tenants. I don't think the local FD would know. It's a small town with a volunteer FD.
I agree with you on that. I think the dentist just had a contractor draw it up and he left out a lot of things or just left them rather generic, possibly putting it as "smoke detectors as required" so maybe someone bidding would just price out smokes and not a fire alarm system and then be bound by the contract to put the system in. I'll probably ask the inspector on Monday.
gadfly56
Senior Member
- Location
- New Jersey
- Occupation
- Professional Engineer, Fire & Life Safety
Unless your jurisdiction has specific rules, smoke detector coverage is probably not required. Business, Mercantile, and Storage use groups don't generally need them, if you go by the ICC. If you tip over an occupancy of 500 on the ground floor or 100 on any other floor, then a fire alarm system will be required. If you are dealing with a typical medical building with multiple practitioners, it's not likely to happen.
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