2004-06-07 Futrell Fire Review of FD Access & Water Suppleis8860 Jefferson Highway
Fire Protection Fn~ineerin~
Suppression • Codes •Alorms Osseo, MN 55369-1500
Phone: 763-425-IOO1
Fax: 763-425-2234
Futrell Fire www.ffcdi.com
Consult & Design, Inc.
Jon Sutherland June 7, 2004
Building Official
City of Albertville
5975 Main Avenue NE
P.O. Box 9
Albertville, MN 55301-9976
Re: Review of Fire Department Access and Water Supplies
Phil Morris Property
Albertville, MN
Dear Jon:
I have reviewed site plans for the Phil Morris Property that was provided to us by the
City of Albertville. This report details my review of these plans to determine if they are
reasonably in compliance with Chapter 5 of the 2003 Minnesota State Fire Code
(MSFC) for fire service features including fire department access and water supplies.
Futrell Fire Consult and Design Inc. (FFCDI) is involved in the review based on your
city's contract with us to provide plan review services to the City of Albertville. Any
comments in this review should be considered recommendations for your consideration,
since FFCDI is not the Authority Having Jurisdiction for fire protection issues in the City
of Albertville, nor is FFCDI the engineer or designer of record for this project.
The scope of this review is limited to the fire service features and related site water
supply for firefighting purposes. Any opinion of compliance should in no way be
construed as approval or acceptance of the plans submitted by this contractor until they
have received approval from the City of Albertville. This letter does not authorize the
contractor to purchase materials or begin installation on the project. Finally, this review
is based on evaluation with the codes and standards applicable to Minnesota and does
not include determining compliance with provisions in bid documents, contracts or
insurance standards.
Insufficient information was provided to allow the complete plans to be reviewed. In
those areas where information is missing, we have summarized the applicable fire code
requirements to provide the City with the appropriate requirements.
Based on the fact that insufficient information was provided, this submittal does not
appear to be in compliance with the codes and standards as indicated. I recommend
June 7, 2004 Phil Morris Property Page 1 of 6
that the City of Albertville find the submittal not acceptable, pending compliance with
the items identified below, submission of updated plans and any subsequent reviews
you feel necessary.
MATERIALS REVIEWED
This plan review is based on the following materials submitted to FFCDI:
• City of Albertville Zoning Request Application dated 5/10/2004
• Miller Dunwiddie -Site Plan dated 5/10/2004
• Jefferson Browne - Sheet A10 Front & Rear Elevations dated 3/12/2004
It is expected that this review would need to be modified based on data not included in
the above list, as all of the relevant material has not been provided.
STANDARDS USED TO CONDUCT THIS REVIEW
This plan review is based on the following standards as adopted in Minnesota:
• Minnesota State Fire Code (2003) comprised of the 2000 International Fire Code
plus state amendments (SFC).
• Minnesota State Fire Code (2003) optional Appendix Chapters B, C and D.
• NFPA 13 (1999) edition.
SUMMARY OF SUBMITTED CONCEPT PLAN
Based on a review of this submittal, this development is summarized as follows:
The zoning request application indicates two proposed uses for this property. The first
is a convenience store/gas station with an attached restaurant. The second is an
approximately 3,000 ft2 restaurant. No information on the building construction of either
proposal has been provided in this submittal.
The submitted site plan does not match the written application information and is
summarized as follows. The site plan shows two separate buildings with the first a
convenience store/restaurant of 8,000 ft2. There is a fuel dispensing area (gas pumps)
adjacent to the service station/store. The second building is an office/restaurant/retail
building of 16,300 ft2. The site plan appears to be preliminary and does not provide any
information on the construction or any utilities that will be present.
SITE ACCESS, WATER SUPPLY, AND OTHER REQUIRMENTS
Listed below you will find a summary of the requirements that will be evaluated for this
site when the required information has been provided. These requirements are based
upon compliance with the provision in the Minnesota State Fire Code, NFPA Standards,
or other nationally recognized standards. This list is to be used as guide in the
June 7, 2004 Phil Morris Property Page 2 of 6
development process for future submittals. It is still the responsibility of the design team
to provide a design which is acceptable to the applicable Authorities Having Jurisdiction.
General:
1. Fire apparatus access roads and water supplies for fire protection shall be
installed and made serviceable prior to and during the time of construction
[MSFC (2003) Section 501.4].
2. Premises identification is required as indicated in MSFC (2003) Section 505.
3. The buildings will require a key (Knox) box located as approved by the Fire
Chief [MSFC (2003) Section 506].
4. Fire Department access to equipment and labeling of rooms is required
[MSFC (2003) Section 510].
5. If high-piled storage is anticipated (greater than 12 foot high storage of class I
through IV commodities or greater than 6 foot high storage of high hazard or
plastic commodities), the requirements of MSFC Chapter 23 will apply [MSFC
(2003) Section 503.1.3].
6. If sprinklered, a horn and strobe is recommended above each fire department
connection for the sprinkler systems [State Fire Marshal Division policy and
MSFC (2003) Section 912].
Fire Department Access Roads:
1. The building(s) must be located within 150 feet of fire department access
roads. If portions of the building(s) exceed the 150 feet permitted by MSFC
(2003) Section 503.1.1, the access to and the parking lot must meet the
specifications for a fire apparatus access road in MSFC (2003) Section 503
as follows:
a. Dimensions, construction, surface, turning radius, and grade shall
comply with MSFC (2003) Section 503.2. Based on .MSFC Appendix
Chapter D, nationally recognized standards of good practice, and data
applicable to typical fire department ladder apparatus, we recommend
a minimum 33-foot inside turning radius and 48 foot outside turning
radius for the access road around the building, with a minimum clear
unobstructed width of 20 feet. This could be larger based on any
special apparatus in your fire department.
b. It appears that dimensions within the apparatus road are in compliance
with the MSFC however these requirements should be verified.
c. We recommend posting of the parking lots and access road for no
parking or signage to indicate that the apparatus road should not be
obstructed at any time [MSFC (2003) Section 503.3 and 503.4]. MSFC
(2003) Appendix D recommends posting "no parking" on at least one
side for roads between 20 feet and 26 feet wide such as is provided
here.
June 7, 2004 Phil Morris Property Page 3 of 6
Fire Department Water Supplies:
1. Fire protection water requirements shall be in accordance with MSFC (2003)
Section 508 and MSFC Appendix B (a nationally recognized standard).
2. Fire hydrant locations shall be in accordance with MSFC Appendix C
(nationally recognized standard).
3. Because they are subject to damage by vehicles, we recommend that any fire
hydrants located in the property be protected from vehicle impact according
the MSFC (2003) Sections 508.5.6 and 312.
4. The fire department connection for a sprinkler system should be located
within 50 to 100 feet of a fire hydrant. A proposed fire department connection
is not shown on the plans, so this distance could not be verified.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REQUIRED TO COMPLETE THIS REVIEW
As indicated above, all of the information required to complete this review has not been
provided in this submittal. Additional information required for review includes but is not
limited to the following:
1. A code summary plan for each proposed building with specific information on
the occupancy, construction type, area, number of stories, elevation above
grade, rated fire separations, etc.
2. Information on the fire sprinkler system to be installed and the type of
system(s) to be installed such as NFPA 13, NFPA 13R, etc. Also included
should be the location of the proposed fire department connection for each
building.
3. A detailed utility plan including information on the proposed underground fire
mains including size and connections to existing water service, fire hydrant
locations, any water service connections to the proposed buildings, etc.
4. Current hydrant flow test information for the proposed property obtained from
the City of Albertville.
5. A detailed site plan with information on fire department access roads,
including but not limited to width, turning radius, load capacity, etc. Similar
information should be provided on parking lots or roadways that may be used
as a fire department access road.
6. Additional information on the proposed service station. The design team
should review Chapter 22 "Service Stations and Repair Garages" of the
MSFC for requirements.
7. Documentation regarding agreements or variances that have been reviewed
and approved by the City of Albertville.
This review is not necessarily intended to indicate all of the deficiencies on these plans,
nor does this review relieve the designer of any of their responsibility to furnish
documents in accordance with the State of Minnesota, the State Building Code, the
Minnesota State Fire Code, NFPA or other recognized standards.
June 7, 2004 Phil Morris Property Page 4 of 6
If you have any questions or wish to discuss the contents of this letter, please feel free
to contact me.
Sincerely,
FUTRE L FIRE. CONSULT & DESIGN, INC.
Ken Strand
Fire Protection Engineer
June 7, 2004 Phil Morris Property Page 5 of 6
DISCLAIMER
This report has been prepared by FFCDI based on the information available to us as
provided by the client and is limited to a review of the fire service features and water
supply as defined in Chapter 5 of the MSFC for this facility. FFCDI has not determined
if the client or building is in compliance with any laws, rules, codes or standards.
The scope of this report is limited to that in the contract between the client and FFCDI
and is not to be used for other designs, locations, installations or situations outside
those for which it was intended. FFCDI is not responsible for implementation,
interpretation or confirmation of recommendations or requirements, including those
indicated in this report, unless provided for in additional contracts outside the scope of
the current work. Should the client not retain the services of FFCDI to review the
implementation or any other use of this report through site observation, inspection, or
audits, then the client and any end users agree to assume full liability and responsibility
for the verification, implementation, interpretation, or any other use of this report and its
findings for any purpose including, but not limited to development of construction
documents, approval, or any other implementation in any form.
Additionally, the recommendations in this report are based on responsible parties, other
than FFCDI, such as the building owner/operator maintaining the fire protection,
systems, maintenance, housekeeping and storage in accordance with local, state and
national laws, and nationally recognized standards, including those outlined in this
report. Report copyright FFCDI 2004.
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