Fire rated recessed lights

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mtnelectrical

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Essex, New Jersey
Today They fail a job we did cause the recessed lights were not fire rated. This is a 2 fam house, owner remodeled all walls and ceiling and will put new sheet rock, today I got red tag beacouse inspector wants all the recessed lights fire rated. He mention we could box the cans with 5/8" sheet rock.Any comments are really appreciated?
 
I had this same thing happen on a job last year. The lights were specified by the owner, submitted, approved, and about 700 out of 1300 on the project were roughed in. The inspector does a wall rough, sees the and decided they needed to be fire rated.

The fix that was used, is the GC had to build the fire rated 58/th sheet rock box around each one of them. I am not sure who paid for it.
 
mtnelectrical said:
Today They fail a job we did cause the recessed lights were not fire rated. This is a 2 fam house, owner remodeled all walls and ceiling and will put new sheet rock, today I got red tag beacouse inspector wants all the recessed lights fire rated. He mention we could box the cans with 5/8" sheet rock.Any comments are really appreciated?
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Nothing mentioned on the blueprints or specs? :smile:
 
Not sure why in a duplex that the lights would be required to be firerated.

The fix you describe is fine but the insides of the boxes have to be taped as does the layer on top.
 
This is a 2 fam house, one apartment on top of the other, they're not next to each other, sharing the same roof or attic space. This is an old house that is being rapaired. What is the purpose of fire rating a ceiling when there are a lot of holes in the walls for all the new plumbing that goes from first floor to second floor? Well I called the fire inspector and he told me that the requirement for a fire rating of 1 hour (5/8'' sheet rock) depends on the way that house was designed, he told me he would check on the files tomorrow morning. I will call 8:00 sharp to see what he says
 
mtnelectrical said:
What is the purpose of fire rating a ceiling when there are a lot of holes in the walls for all the new plumbing that goes from first floor to second floor?
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Your State probably uses some version of the IBC (probably with state enhancements) and as such requires each portion of a building to be individually classified as to it's use. The intent behind fire-resistance-rating of materials that compartmentalize these two dwellings is to reduce the possibility of fire communicating between these two occupancies. Each hole made for systems, i.e., wiring, plumbing, metal work, etc., is required to be sealed so as to retard the passage of fire and/or smoke. :smile:
 
I called, fire inspector said he told building inspector yesterday to take a look of house info. Now he told me they call me back after talking to electrical inspector.Does it make sense?
 
Not really...I would point to the plans and the stamp and ask why it wasn't caught at plan check (even though all plan review stamps have a "subject to field inspection" FPN). My next question would be do I need to fire caulk my penetrations for my horizontal runs?
 
mtnelectrical said:
I called, fire inspector said he told building inspector yesterday to take a look of house info. Now he told me they call me back after talking to electrical inspector.Does it make sense?
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It makes sense to me. A fire Official and a Building Official working together to minimize the potential hazards that could arise from inadequate building construction...:smile:
 
We had to do the same thing on a mix use project last year 4 story building 9 condos 2 comericial units. I also did not know who paid for the drywall because it was an issue after the job started.

The plans called for metal boxes and drywall around boxes for fire rated walls on receps and switches. We were able to use fire pad on metal boxes instead.
 
Had the exact same problem in Maplewood NJ.
The elect insp said that we could box in the lights with 5/8" rock.
The ceiling is a fire rated assembly that cannot be pierced.
So, you build a box (full cube of a box with the bottom missing, that is where you insert the light) maintaining the fire rated assembly with out any piercing.
Need fire caulk where the wires come into this sheetrock box.
This is less expensive than fire rated cans.

The HO at this job could not understand what the problem was. She kept insisting that we installed the lights incorrectly and they were going to burst into flames! That was the reason for the red tag.
 
satcom said:
How did this pass a plan review?

You can try these http://www.tenmat-us.com/
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Word of warning here - although this companies advertisements say "up to 2 hours" many of their products vary and are only 1 hour - in this country.... I would advise to check the white paper for each against the ceiling system you have before purchasing. But if they do match up for what you are doing, they are much easier than 'rock boxing' all your fixtures. The install is simple and takes moments as you place and wire the can. And depending on who is responsible for fire-proofing - Cheaper IMO.

On plan review here - they only check a few check listed details - they still expect you to know and build to code - and the Inspectors job is to check that you did. Sure, most of us know the NEC inside out, but this exact type of situation of recognizing fire rated walls and ceilings is one I have learned about the hard way in the past. And I am sure many here have added some words to their contracts about fire ratings and responsibility for it.
 
I just bought a bunch they cost around 40 a piece but they can fit in many more places than those large fire rated metal cans.
 
I've been racking my brain on this one. There is a 1hr rated 6" can on the market, by a company that starts with a P I think (I've had a bad case of CRS lately). Could be Progress? Help me out, out there. I even had a brochure about it but all I got for the effort of trying to find it was a clean office (bummer).
 
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