# Quick response sprinklers vs. draft stops



## code2driver (Nov 18, 2010)

Has anyone been asked permission to substitute quick response sprinklers for draft stops with regard to NFPA 13 (2007), section 8.15.4, protection of vertical openings, using as a rationale the report from AFSA entitled "Impact of 18" Draft Stops on Sprinkler Activation for Vertical Opening Protection (www.firesprinkler.org/techservices/articles/vertopeningreport.pdf).  It looks like maybe this report has been around since 2005 or so, so there may be a thread out there that I would have missed.

For what it's worth, I think the study is interesting, but I don't think that it addressed all the concerns regarding sprinkler protection of vertical openings, i.e., Sprinkler Handbook identifies the draft stops as a way to control the chimney effect, or hot gas buildup at the top of the opening that would overwhelm the capacity of sprinklers protecting the floor under the opening, and not the speed of activation of sprinklers placed adjacent to the opening.

Please point it out if there is an older thread on this.


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