Florida Building Commission

Mechanical Technical Advisory Committee

concurrent with

The Fire Code advisory council

and concurrent with

The Fire Technical Advisory Committee

Wednesday, August 05th, 2015

                  

Meeting Location:  Teleconference Meeting from Tallahassee, Florida

 

TAC/POC Members and Objectives

TAC Members Present Via Teleconference:; Steven Bassett, Chair; Larry Banks; Oscar Calleja; Joe Crum; Elizabeth Goll; Daniel Griffin; Alex Hernandez; Don Pitmann; and Pete Quintela 

 

TAC Members not Present: Gary Griffin

 

Staff Present: Norman Bellamy, Robert Benbow, Nick Duval, Jim Hammers, April Hammonds, Mo Madani .

 

Facilitator: Marlita Peters

Objectives: To consider, discuss, and provide recommendation for consideration by the Commission regarding DS 2015-075 by Sheila Oliver of the Town of Pembroke Park.

 

Meeting Minutes

Objective

Discussion of objectives included the following: 

1)

 

1:34 PM Welcome and Opening, Roll Call. 

Marlita Peters, facilitator for the Florida Building Commission, provided a welcome and a brief overview of the agenda items to be presented.
Roll was taken and a quorum was present.

2)

The Agenda was approved unanimously by the committee members. 

The meeting minutes for the June 9th 2015 Mechanical TAC meeting were approved unanimously by the committee members.

3)

Objective:  To consider, discuss, and provide recommendation for consideration by the Commission regarding DS 2015-075 by Sheila Oliver of the Town of Pembroke Park.

 

·        Sheila Oliver was not present to present the Declaratory Statement. Mo Madani of FBC Staff was present to give the Staff Analysis of the Declaratory Statement. There was then discussion by the TAC Members. 

 

·        There was discussion that each answer proposed by Staff Analysis be voted on separately.  A motion was made to accept the staff analysis for answer 1. The motion was made by Don Pittman and seconded by Oscar Calleja. This motion was accepted unanimously.

 

Question #1:  Section 606.1 is requiring the smoke detectors to be placed in the return air of an a/c unit over 2000 cfm and/or in the exhaust duct of a fan system.  Section 606.3 is requiring me to utilize NFPA 72 for installation which requires it in the supply side.  Therefore, does 606.1 supercede 606.3?

 

Answer: Yes, with regard to placement of smoke detectors and as per Section 102.4.1 of the 5th Edition (2014) FBC, Building, Section 606.1 supercedes the provisions of section 606.3 of the 5th Edition (2014) FBC, Mechanical.

 

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·        As the answer for Question 2 proposed multiple options a query was made as to which options should be accepted by the TAC. The following options are as follows.

 

Question #2: If the answer is yes, then since the Florida Fire Prevention Code also calls for it to be installed in the supply air (NFPA 72 and NFPA 90A) whose code takes jurisdiction, fire or mechanical?

 

Answer:

 

Option #1:       As per the definition of the term “conflict” “see note above”, the project in question must meet both codes.

 

Option #2:       As per the 5th Edition (2014) Florida Fire Prevention Code, NFPA 72 and NFPA 90A, placement of smoke detectors in the supply air system provide for a greater degree of life safety than placement of the smoke detectors in the return air system as required by section 606.1 of the 5th Edition (2014) FBC, Mechanical.  Therefore, placement of the smoke detectors in the supply air system takes precedence.

 

Option #3:       As per the 5th Edition (2014) Florida Building Code, Mechanical, placement of smoke detectors in the return air system provide for a greater degree of life safety than placement of the smoke detectors in the supply air system as required by the 5th Edition (2014) Florida Fire Prevention Code.  Therefore, placement of the smoke detectors in the return air system takes precedence.

 

Option #4:       Placement of smoke detectors in either the return or the supply air system will provide an equal degree of life safety.  (See Section 553.73 (1)(d), Florida Statues)

 

·        As the answer for Question 2 proposed multiple options a query was made as to which should be accepted. It was decided to open it up for a motion.

 

·        A motion was made to accept Option 2.  The motion was made by Pete Quintela and seconded by Alex Hernandez.  After further discussion by the TAC, public comments were taken.   After all discussion a vote by roll was called and did not pass by a 5 to 3 margin.

 

·        A motion was made to accept Option 1. The motion was made by Joe Crum and seconded by Don Pittman. After discussion by the TAC, public comments were taken.  Afterwards a vote by roll was called.  The motion passed by a 5 to 3 in favor of option 1.

 

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·        Per discussion the answers for question 3, 4, and 5 of Staff analysis was voted on together.   A motion was made to accept Staff Analysis of Questions 3, 4 and 5. A motion made by Joe Crum and seconded by Elizabeth Goll.

 

 

Question #3:  Since the original intent of the installation of these smoke duct detectors was to protect the building occupants if the fire and or smoke was to occur in the unit, is this no longer the purpose?

 

Answer: Not possible. Addressing “intent” is outside the scope of the Dec. request.

 

Question #4:  By installing the smoke duct detectors in the exhaust duct of a fan system, is it now the intent to stop the products of combustion from exiting to the outside?

 

Answer: Not possible.  Addressing “intent” is outside the scope of the Dec. request.

 

Question #5:  By not installing the smoke detectors in a supply fan system, is it the intent to keep these fans operating, even if the fan is bringing in smoke from an adjacent area or from the fan itself?

 

Answer: Not possible.  Addressing “intent” is outside the scope of the Dec. request.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

 

Other TAC Business – Meeting opened for TAC comment and public comment.  

 

Adjourn:  Having no other TAC business, the meeting was closed after a Motion and Second to Adjourn. Time 2:30pm

 

Staff Contacts: Norman Bellamy, Government Operations Consultant (850) 717-1834 Norman.Bellamy@myfloridalicense.com or Mo Madani, Manager mo.madani@dbpr.state.fl.us (850) 717-1825