scope:

This standard contains the minimum requirements for the design, installation, maintenance, and testing of water mist fire protection systems. This standard does not provide definitive fire performance criteria, nor does it offer specific guidance on how to design a system to control, suppress, or extinguish a fire. Reliance is placed on the procurement and installation of listed water mist equipment or systems that have demonstrated performance in fire tests as part of a listing process.

Purpose.

The purpose of this standard is to provide protection for life and property from fire through the standardization of design, installation, maintenance, and testing requirements for water-based fire suppression systems that use a specific spray (mist) that absorbs heat, displaces oxygen, or blocks radiant heat to control, suppress, or extinguish fires as required by the application.

The purpose of this standard for low-rise occupancies in accordance with 10.3.1, and one- and two-family dwellings in accordance with 10.3.2, shall be to provide the requirements for a water mist system that aids in the detection and control of residential fires and, thus, provides improved protection against injury, life loss, and property damage.

For low-rise occupancies in accordance with 10.3.1, and one- and two-family dwellings in accordance with 10.3.2, a water mist system shall be designed and installed in accordance with this standard to prevent flashover (total involvement) in the room of fire origin where water mist nozzles are installed, and to improve the ability of occupants to escape or be evacuated.

The user of this standard shall recognize the complexity of water mist fire suppression systems. Therefore, the designer shall be cautioned that the standard is not a design handbook. The standard shall not do away with the need for the engineer or for competent engineering judgment. It is the intent that a designer capable of applying more complete and rigorous analysis to special or unusual problems shall have latitude in the development of such designs. In such cases, the designer shall be responsible for demonstrating the validity of the design approach.