Plans Room Electrical Construction Drawings for Assisted Living
An engineer inspects the squeeze box fire door in accord with the facility's life safety plans.
Photo courtesy of TLC Engineering Solutions
The job of a health care facilities managing director is multifaceted and circuitous. Renovation projects, environment of intendance rounds, mock surveys, local fire marshal visits, state department of health inspections and accreditation surveys are all realities of this position.
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The success of any inspection can greatly depend on the accurateness of life prophylactic drawings. They provide the roadmap for the life safety features of the edifice. At a minimum, they should include locations of all fire and smoke barriers, shafts, exit stairs, passageways, horizontal exits, suite boundaries, smoke compartments, chancy areas, sprinkler protection and occupancy separations, such as for health care, ambulatory intendance and business organization.
When life safety drawings testify a storage room as a hazardous expanse with a 1-hour fire bulwark enclosure, the surveyor will wait to come across a compliant 45-infinitesimal-rated door and walls that go to the structure with all penetrations properly sealed. If the drawings show a 2-hour rated burn down barrier, the surveyor will expect to run across a compliant 90-infinitesimal door and a fire damper. In areas non identified every bit suites, the surveyor will look to see a clear eight-foot corridor, with the exception of permitted wheeled equipment.
This is why it is then important to go on the drawings updated and accurate.
Living documents
Life safety drawings are living documents that must be continually updated every bit areas change use, walls are moved, doors are installed or removed, or the facility is contradistinct in other ways. Most people will update the drawings during an addition or renovation project; however, failing to keep the drawings updated with smaller changes can cause problems down the route.
An older common blackness-and-white version of a life safe symbol fable and a similar common-colour version of a life safety symbol legend.
Graphics courtesy of TLC Technology Solutions
Some facilities maintain their drawings with in-house staff, while other hospitals rely on outside consultants. Information technology is best practice to have life safety drawings reviewed and updated on an almanac or semiannual ground. Any changes in the interim can merely be identified with a notation on the drawings indicating the change every bit well as the date of the change. (Drawings should be dated to reflect the concluding fourth dimension they were reviewed or revised.)
Life safety drawings require a lot of data. However, overloading the drawings with likewise much information tin brand them difficult to read; remainder is key, and different situations may require different data.
Drawings that are issued for a construction project may demand to include more information than the fix of documents used as a living life safe certificate. For instance, some state or local edifice or burn down officials may want to see all burn down alarm devices, go out signs or portable fire extinguishers shown on the life safety plans; merely, depending on the size and calibration of the drawings, these items may start to obscure the necessary information.
Likewise, for a structure or renovation project, information technology is typical to show travel distances to exits, smoke barriers or suites. However, considering these dimensions don't change once the walls and doors are in place, it is not necessary keep this information on the drawings.
As the field continues to evolve, health facilities professionals are seeing some elementary and applied changes that address accuracy. Prior to the last decade, life safety drawings were printed as blueprints or blackness-and-white plots. Line types in the past were often a series of dots and dashes to differentiate between hourly ratings and whether the wall was for fume or fire.
Color drawings have at present become mutual, greatly improving the legibility of the drawings and reducing the likelihood of errors. Other items that take helped improve readability are line styles, shading of suites, identification of hazardous areas using specific patterns and conspicuously identifying the fume compartments.
Standard requirements
The National Fire Protection Association's NFPA 170, Standard for Fire Safety and Emergency Symbols, offers a national standard for architectural symbols and includes the line types for the list of fire and fume barriers.
A life safety symbol legend using the NFPA 170 national standard for architectural symbols.
Graphics courtesy of TLC Engineering Solutions
Fume compartments are delineated past fume barriers; however, these compartments sometimes are difficult to discern, and the inclusion of a fume compartment key program can help to clarify. This can likewise provide an overall picture of the larger and smaller compartments when planning emergency evacuation procedures. Another good idea is to listing the smoke compartments with the associated area of each corresponding smoke compartment.
An overall life safety plan for each flooring is imperative to see the large pic. For some facilities, the entire floor will fit on a single sheet at a legible scale. Larger facilities ofttimes will need to break upwardly the floor plan onto multiple sheets with match lines to show the data at a legible scale. Either manner, it is good to accept an overall flooring plan, with a key, to prove how the edifice is cleaved into the different sheets.
Suites are necessary when spaces are used to care for patients without separation from the circulation space (east.g., only a mantle separation such every bit a post-anesthesia care unit). Other times, the arrangement of the space may non require the area to be treated every bit a suite, but information technology may be advantageous to brand the area a suite based on the usage of the infinite and whether or not it complies with all of the suite requirements. This is oft the example with an emergency section or an operating suite where corridor clutter becomes difficult to manage.
Hazardous areas must exist identified on the life safety drawings. These areas may include storage rooms of certain sizes, soiled belongings rooms, boiler rooms, central bulk laundry or physical plant maintenance shops (NFPA Tabular array eighteen/19.three.two.i lists the specific areas that are classified as hazardous). In nigh cases, the chancy areas in Chapter 18 are enclosed with 1-hour fire barriers and sprinkler protected (sprinklers are required for all new health intendance occupancies). These aforementioned areas in Affiliate xix generally are enclosed with a i-hour barrier or sprinkler protected and enclosed with a smoke partition/self-endmost, positive-latching door.
Storage infinite in hospitals is always at a premium, and there never seems to be plenty space for everything. It is not unusual for a team conducting an environment of care round to discover that what was once an function is now being used for storage. Under Chapter 43 of NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®, this would be a change of employ in an existing health care facility and would be permitted as long as the area of the room does not exceed 250 square feet, is protected throughout by automatic sprinklers, and enclosed with a smoke division and self-endmost, positive-latching door. This is a valuable compliance approach to employ for areas that have been converted to storage and do not comply with the requirements for new structure.
A smoke compartment key plan can aid to clarify smoke compartments and fume barriers
Graphics courtesy of TLC Engineering SolutionsCredit goes here
Corridor walls often are a source of confusion considering the term used in the Life Safety Code is non defined and the term used in the International Building Lawmaking (IBC) has special exemptions for I-two occupancies. The Life Safety Lawmaking requires corridor walls (in fully sprinkler-protected buildings) to be constructed to "form a bulwark to limit the transfer of smoke." The IBC requires corridor walls to exist "fume partitions" only then adds an exception for corridor doors that states "shall not be required to exist equipped with self-endmost or automated-closing devices, but shall provide an constructive barrier to limit the transfer of fume and shall exist equipped with positive latching."
The requirements in the two codes present conflicting requirements. The Life Safety Code allows corridor walls to end at the ceiling every bit long the ceiling is "constructed to limit the transfer of smoke." The question becomes, what should be the designation of these walls on the life safety drawings? To further complicate the upshot, the Life Safety Code requires certain hazardous areas that are sprinklered (storage rooms less than 100 square feet but more than l square feet in new construction) to be constructed with smoke partitions. The answer is not simple.
The plans for a construction or renovation projection must be submitted to the potency having jurisdiction (AHJ) for review of both the building code and the Life Prophylactic Code, so it must include the information for both codes too as any additional information (due east.g., exit signs and burn alarm devices) required by the applicative AHJ. This prepare of living life condom documents is used for continued compliance with the Life Condom Code as opposed to the plans submitted for compliance with the building code at the time of structure. Considering most surveyors are inspecting the facility for compliance with the Life Safety Code, the terminology from the Life Rubber Code should be used for the living life safety drawings.
Many hospitals today are protected throughout past automated sprinkler protection in accordance with NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems. Notwithstanding, in that location are a number of hospitals that are only partially sprinklered and are working toward beingness fully sprinklered as renovations occur. In these partially sprinklered facilities, it is essential to identify which areas are non yet sprinklered; this is usually done by using a defined pattern over those areas. Unfortunately, these patterns on summit of other patterns can make the drawing more confusing. Coordination of the different patterns should be planned to allow for clarity.
Code consultants assessing a facility oft will recommend decommissioning rated fire barriers or smoke barriers. While this may be an pick, in many cases, care must be exercised earlier decommissioning whatever fire protection features. (The American Society for Wellness Care Engineering (ASHE) has developed a Life Rubber Decommissioning Tool, which can be accessed by ASHE members at ashe.org/decommissioning).
A fume compartment central program can aid to analyze fume compartments and fume barriers.
Graphics courtesy of TLC Engineering Solutions
The Life Rubber Code states that "No existing life rubber characteristic shall be removed or reduced where such feature is a requirement for new construction." For instance, a 300-square-human foot storage room synthetic equally a chancy area with a 1-hour fire barrier enclosure and sprinkler protection that was built in 2004 is now considered existing and would be subject to the requirements of Chapter 19. Under Chapter 19, this room would only require a smoke partition because information technology is fully sprinklered. Yet, considering this room was already constructed with a ane-hour fire barrier enclosure, the rated enclosure must be maintained because that is what is required for new structure.
There are occasions when smaller fume compartments tin be combined to reduce the amount of fume barrier walls that demand to be maintained and smoke detection at smoke barrier doors that can be eliminated. Again, care should be exercised to ensure that all the requirements of the combined smoke compartment comply with the requirements under Chapter xviii and that there are no special weather that will be affected past combining the smoke compartments (e.g., conditions of an approved waiver). In addition, the burn response procedures need to be reviewed and updated to verify they take been coordinated with the revised smoke compartment layout.
Life safety drawings can be a useful tool in evaluating where special locking arrangements can be used. Depending on whether the facility is using the special needs locking organisation from NFPA 18/19.two.two.two.5, delayed egress or access control, the life safety drawings can help determine compliance with all of the provisions. Considering locking doors have become and so common, some facilities have started to denote the locking arrangements on the life safety drawings using unlike symbols for unlike locking types. This is not required, but in some cases can be helpful to empathise exiting from the facility.
Because many hospitals today are designating portions of the facility equally "ambulatory health care occupancy," "business occupancy" or even "manufactory/industrial occupancy" (in the example of the central free energy plant), it is necessary to identify these occupancies on the life safety drawings and to show the required occupancy fire separations. Again, a small key plan located on the drawings indicating the different occupancies can provide clarity.
Although non required or unremarkably shown, a code summary can add together value to living life safety documents.
Graphics courtesy of TLC Engineering science Solutions
Although not required or unremarkably shown, there are a few more items that can add value to living life prophylactic documents. For instance, the edifice construction type should be noted on the drawings. Because a minimum edifice construction blazon is a requirement of the Life Prophylactic Code, it is important to certificate this information to show compliance. This too volition assist in future projects when building additions or major renovations are desired. Information technology also documents where previously approved waivers or special conditions approved by applicable AHJs have been granted.
Living documents
The necessity of having a living life safety document cannot be overstated past health facilities professionals.
While navigating through seemingly about-constant adjustments can feel precarious, and at times overwhelming, due diligence in mitigating mistakes and oversights is imperative.
As the field and all of its moving parts continue to evolve, being equipped to swiftly and sufficiently address changes as they occur will keep these living documents alive and well.
James Peterkin, PE, LEED AP, SASHE, is principal, senior fire protection engineer and code consultant at TLC Applied science Solutions, based in Orlando, Fla. He can be contacted at jim.peterkin@tlc-eng.com.
Source: https://www.hfmmagazine.com/articles/4226-maintaining-life-safety-drawings
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