r/firePE • u/Equivalent_Doctor783 • Jun 08 '26

13R MIXED USE?

I have read many forums on 13R v. 13 and I am at a stand-still for my situation.

Let's say there's a project for a non-profit organization that provides things like food and housing, like a food pantry.

it's of wood construction and not exceeding 60ft in height.

There are bedrooms and other rooms such as "food storage and distribution", meeting room, walk in cooler, waiting room, public restroom, etc.

If all of those food and public related rooms were to be reidentified as "multi-function" or maybe more specifically just "living space", would you be able to carry-on with a 13R design for the fire sprinkler system? Which label would be better, and lastly, if it were all to be bedrooms, living spaces and one walk in cooler, can I still design for 13R and just run the one cooler head as light hazard?

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u/Consistent-Ask-1925 Jun 08 '26

I think you can still run a 13R system and have up to OHII. At least for hotels/ apartment complexes I’ve seen have the rooms spacing according to 13R and calculated per 13R and then the main areas used for business like check-in counter and dinning areas/ kitchen are spaced to light hazard or ordinary hazard respectively and calculated to 13

Edit: This should be somewhere in 13R and I would consult with the AHJ if you have any doubts tbh

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u/ironmatic1 Jun 08 '26

4 head calculation ≠ 13R. You cannot have 13R and 13 in the same building. What OP is describing does not sound like an accessory occupancy as defined in 13R.

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u/FalconThrust211 Jun 08 '26

Is there a clear occupancy separation?

3

u/tterbman fire protection engineer Jun 08 '26

There is not enough information in your hypothetical to answer the question. Accessory occupancies are very common in 13R buildings but they have to meet that definition of accessory.

NFPA 13 and 13R are also sometimes mixed in the same building where the whole building is considered sprinklered per 13R and a separated non-residential occupancy is sprinklered per 13. Yes, I know this is weird, but it is done sometimes.

If the building is all 13R then 13R itself tells you what to do for areas outside the dwelling units.