old sprinklers on garden floor - necessary?
We are renovating our 900sf garden level apartment which is in a 4-unit co-op building. The building was an SRO prior to becoming a co-op in the 80’s. Our apartment has two means of egress, through the front door (under stoop) and out the back into the garden. There is no common stairwell on our…
We are renovating our 900sf garden level apartment which is in a 4-unit co-op building. The building was an SRO prior to becoming a co-op in the 80’s. Our apartment has two means of egress, through the front door (under stoop) and out the back into the garden. There is no common stairwell on our floor (unoccupied cellar below us is only accessible via outside hatch).
The apartment has two sprinkler heads in the entry area from when (I assume) there used to be a common stairwell on our floor. The sprinklers are no longer required technically since we have two means of egress and no common stair, right? We’re certainly not going to get rid of them, but do we need to follow code with them (i.e. distance from walls, etc)?
Thanks Bikerboy, I hadn’t even thought of that. Makes a lot of sense.
Sprinklers in general may not be removed even if installed voluntary
these protect the underside of the egress. If there is a fire in your apartment, people still need to get out through the first floor above. There is a logic here.
The short answer: yes. When it comes to life safety, if it’s there it has to work and be installed / maintained to code.