BOOK 100 HIGH RISE MANUAL CHAPTER 13 BUILDING DESIGN AND FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEM

Question 1

Fire Officers must consciously ask pertinent questions and ascertain conditions that are incorporated into a building. Such questions must center around decisions relating to the following three areas:

Answer 1

Life safety
Property protection
Continuation of operation

Question 2

Life safety

Consideration must be given to ______, the protection of _____ _____, and temporary areas of ____ _____ for a period of time reasonable for the building occupants to reach safety.

Answer 2

Communication
Escape routes
Safe refuge

Question 3

Continuation of Operations
Maintaining operational continuity after a fire is the third major design concern. The owner must identify the amount of “_________” that can be tolerated before revenues begin to be seriously affected.

Answer 3

Downtime

Question 4

According to the State Fire Marshal’s Office, there are approximately _____ high-rise buildings in the State of California; of these, Los Angeles has approximately _____.

Answer 4

1700
745

Question 5

Most of the high-rise buildings in Los Angeles consist of

Answer 5

Commercial occupancies

Question 6

About __ to __ percent are habitational, such as hotels, apartment buildings, and condos.

Answer 6

20 to 25 percent

Question 7

High-rise buildings are divided into two groups:

Answer 7

Existing High-Rise” and “New High-Rise.”

Question 8

Existing High-Rise Buildings are ones which were constructed prior to

Answer 8

July 1974

Question 9

Existing High-Rise Buildings

Approximately ___ of the high-rise buildings in Los Angeles are in this category.

Answer 9

520

Question 10

For convenience, existing high-rise buildings may be divided into two sub-groups: those constructed prior to _____ and those constructed between ____ and ____

Answer 10

Prior to 1960
1960 and 1974

Question 11

A New high-rise building is one, which was constructed after ________. Approximately ____ of the high-rise buildings in Los Angeles are new high-rises.

Answer 11

July 1974
250

Question 12

most pre-1960, high-rise buildings are a maximum of 13 stories. The Los Angeles City Hall, with ___ stories, and the USC-LA County General Hospital, with ___ stories, are exceptions to this rule.

Answer 12

27 stories
19 stories

Question 13

The pre-1960 high-rises were generally constructed with a __________ ___________ exterior as opposed to the steel beam construction seen commonly today.

Answer 13

Reinforced concrete

Question 14

A “High-Rise Retrofit Program” was initiated by the LAFD and the state in _____ to bring these buildings into conformance with newer building codes.

Answer 14

1976

Question 15

Fire alarm systems, emergency power and lighting systems, and building communication systems were NOT REQUIRED in any of these buildings at the time of construction.

Answer 15

Pre 1960

Question 16

Most high-rise buildings in this era have openable windows

Answer 16

Pre 1960

Question 17

Like the earlier existing high-rise buildings, the post-1960 group are also of _____ (fire resistive) construction.

Answer 17

Type I

Question 18

Type I building is designed to withstand the most severe fire to be expected within the building for ____ or more hours without structural failure.

Answer 18

TWO

Question 19

instead of reinforced concrete, they were generally built with Steel Beams Coated With a Fire Retardant Material commonly known as

Answer 19

MONO-KOTE

Question 20

POST 1960

Floors and roof are of concrete slab or steel decking covered with _____. The only combustible materials allowed are the interior _____ ______ and office furnishing. The height and floor areas are unlimited.

Answer 20

CONCRETE
PARTITION WALLS

Question 21

By the 1960’s, the codes required “__________,” that is, subdivision of buildings into “fire areas.” This was accomplished by providing two-hour, fire-resistive separations between _____ levels and around ______shafts.

Answer 21

COMPARTMENTATION
FLOOR LEVELS
VERTICAL SHAFTS

Question 22

Most high-rise buildings of this era are of the “____ _____” type. The elevators and stairshafts are in the center of the building, surrounded by a corridor and the outer tenant areas.

Answer 22

CENTRAL CORE

Question 23

Buildings exceeding 150’ in height after 1960 were required to install ________ (Class III) standpipe systems. These provide a ______“ hose for occupant use, and ______“ outlets for Fire Department use.

Answer 23

COMBINATION
1 1/2’’
2 1/2’’

Question 24

POST 1960

Depending on the time of installation, some 2-1/2“ outlets are equipped with _____” hoses, however, many are not so equipped. A ______ ______ on the premises maintains a working pressure within the system.

Answer 24

2 1/2’’
FIRE PUMP

Question 25

With a Class III standpipe system, the most common method of controlling working pressure at the various floor levels is with the installation of

Answer 25

ORIFICE PLATES

Question 26

A second system is the installation are engineered to maintain a set pressure at varying floors.

Answer 26

PRESSURE REDUCING VALVES

Question 27

Another system used in some buildings is a “_____ ______” which controls the flow pressure for standpipe systems.

Answer 27

ZONE PRV

Question 28

POST 1960

As in high-rise buildings constructed before 1960, automatic fire sprinkler systems continued to be required only in ______. At least ___ approved means of egress (exit stairshafts) were required. Sometimes ______ stairs were installed to better utilize these shafts.

Answer 28

BASEMENT
TWO
SCISSOR STAIRS

Question 29

_____ _______ on the periphery of some high-rise buildings were constructed to provide “smoke-free” exiting and access.

Answer 29

SMOKE TOWERS

Question 30

In a smoke tower, you travel through a ______ where smoke can escape to the outside atmosphere as you move between the building and the _________.

Answer 30

VESTIBULE
STAIRSHAFT

Question 31

A BETTER TERM FOR SMOKE TOWER WOULD BE

Answer 31

SMOKE PROOF ENCLOSURE

Question 32

The “mechanically ventilated smoke-proof enclosure” is a ____hour rated shaft with positive pressure which can go from the lowest level to the roof and can be controlled by the Fire Department.

Answer 32

2 HOUR

Question 33

All new high-rise buildings (post 1974) are fully equipped with automatic fire sprinklers supplied by the same risers as the 2-1/2” wet outlets provided for Fire Department use. This type of system is known as a

Answer 33

COMBINED SYSTEM

Question 34

In some buildings under 275’, and all buildings exceeding 275’, a _______ standpipe system is required.

Answer 34

LOOPED

Question 35

NEW HIGH RISE BUILDINGS

Each new high-rise is required to maintain a ____-hour rated Fire Control Room previously known as the ______ _____ station, in an approved location (usually the ground floor).

Answer 35

ONE
BUILDING CONTROL STATION

Question 36

NEW HIGH RISE BUILDINGS

HVAC systems designed for smoke removal may also be used, providing they exhaust a minimum of ___ air changes per hour, and exhaust to the exterior of the building without recirculating to the other sections of the building.

Answer 36

6

Question 37

NEW HIGH RISE BUILDINGS

ON SITE GENERATOR MUST be available for at least ____ hours at full demand.

Answer 37

8 HOURS

Question 38

Most new high-rise buildings have an Emergency Helicopter Landing Facility on the roof. The number inside the ___’ by
—’ pad identifies the load capacity of the pad in thousands of pounds. For example, a number 10 indicates _____ pounds.

Answer 38

50’ BY 50’
10,000

Question 39

There is also an adjacent 1-1/2” exterior standpipe outlet for fire protection or with __ or __ Class Helispot (H) standpipe outlets.

Answer 39

1 OR 2

Question 40

The Basic Provisions of the state mandated Retrofit Program for existing buildings include:

At least two approved means of egress were required to be provided from each floor level. At least one was to be an enclosed, one-hour stairshaft; the other could be an existing __________if no other stairway was available.

Answer 40

FIRE ESCAPE

Question 41

fire escapes were required to have wired glass or equivalent protection for the windows on all landings and within __’ on either side of the landing

Answer 41

5’

Question 42

Effective emergency power was NOT REQUIRED by the state mandated Retrofit Program. Also, electrically operated fire pumps and elevators did not have to be provided with a

Answer 42

BACKUP SYSTEM

Question 43

Approximately __ of the older existing high-rise buildings chose to not comply with the requirements of the High-Rise Retrofit Program, primarily because of the problem of providing two approved means of egress. These buildings were vacated and sealed.

Answer 43

30

Question 44

Retrofit Sprinkler Ordinance was passed in August of 1988

3. Provision of a ___ square foot, manually-operated ventilation opening in stairshafts that access the top floor and does not penetrate the roof.

Answer 44

20

Question 45

Retrofit Sprinkler Ordinance was passed in August of 1988

4. Provide a __” drain in buildings which are equipped with Pressure Reducing Valves (P.R.V.’s). This provides a means to flow test P.R.V.’s and return the water back into the tank without running hose lines up the entire stairshaft.

Answer 45

3

Question 46

All high-rise buildings have some type of Smoke Control, such as:

• Openable windows, or;
• In sealed buildings, breakable tempered glass windows on the perimeter of the building every 50 linear feet with ___ square foot opening.
• These are supposed to be identified by __” minimum luminous or reflective Decals in a lower corner which indicates they are “_________ _____,” or;
• Automatic Smoke Removal System, or;
• A combination of the above.

Answer 46

20
TEMPERED GLASS

Question 47

_______ ______ total flooding systems are usually used to protect computers and other high-value equipment.

Answer 47

HALON 1301

Question 48

Halon 1301 is a _______ _________ gas which interrupts the normal process of combustion, thereby effectively extinguishing fires in hidden areas

Answer 48

HALOGENATED HYDROCARBON

Question 49

HALON 1301
___ percent or more of the volume of the room will then be composed of halon gas.

Answer 49

5 PERCENT

Question 50

Halon will decompose into toxic gases, principally phosgene, if permitted to heat to approxima ____ degrees Fahrenheit.

Answer 50

900

Question 51

• A halon exhaust switch is provided

Answer 51

OUTSIDE THE ROOMS