Any building or area of a building classified as group a must have automatic sprinklers.
Automatic sprinkler system in building.
The employer shall assure that every automatic sprinkler system is provided with at least one automatic water supply capable of providing design water flow for at least 30 minutes.
An auxiliary water supply or equivalent protection shall be provided when the automatic water supply is out of service except for systems of 20 or fewer sprinklers.
In the case of groups a 1 through a 4 automatic sprinkler coverage is required for the area itself as well as any floors between the group a occupancy and the level where building exits are located.
Automatic sprinkler system means an arrangement of piping installed in a building with outlets distributed approximately uniformly in such a manner that water can be discharged in a spray indirectly from special outlets termed heads for the purpose of extinguishing an incipient fire and protecting the building and its contents with pumps tanks and other equipment as necessary to provide an adequate supply of water to the heads.
Choosing the right automatic sprinkler system can ensure that your building is up to code and well protected building and fire codes often require installation of automatic sprinklers in a building based on certain factors such as occupancy group height size of the building fire area and occupant load.
Where a building is equipped throughout with an approved automatic sprinkler system in accordance with section 903 3 1 1 the building area limitation in table 503 is permitted to be increased by an additional 200 percent is 2 for buildings with more than one story above grade plane and an additional 300 percent is 3 for buildings with no more than one story above grade plane.
Residential and landmark buildings are the only high rise buildings exempt from the new sprinkler provisions.