EVERY Commercial Building Requires A Thermal Barrier?

Thousands. Collectively, we have looked at thousands of commercial building and one thing seems to rise above the rest: ALL require a Thermal Barrier. That’s right - we have never seen a situation in a spray foamed commercial building where an Ignition Barrier would be required.

I call BS...

You should! But think about it.... in hotels, schools, hospitals, general office buildings, etc. where are the areas with no storage? Again with respect to the I-Codes storage is NOT defined so every broom closet, office supply room, and the mechanical room has some sort of storage. Storage can be desks, chairs, beds, file cabinets, linen closets, computers, servers, pencils, etc.

Those kind rooms aren’t even occupied...

Maybe not however there is no occupancy element to Thermal Barriers. None of the myriad tests we have run on IB/TB has the topic of occupancy been brought-up. It’s completely irrelevant. Stop that...

Well, there’s plaster ceilings in there - what about those?

Great question! Do these ceilings cover all of the areas or are they in certain areas? Do the demising walls go from floor to floor (not floor to ceiling but to the underside off the next floor or roof)? If not, then the foam would require a Thermal Barrier. This needs to be looked at as a system and not a component.

Oh yeah..?? They have a 1-hour drop ceiling.. surely...

....and that means...? For the sake of a Thermal Barrier, this means.... nothing. After speaking with 2 of the VERY well known manufacturers of ceiling systems none have submitted to, or passed, NFPA 286. The fire profile for NFPA 286 is prescriptive and not the same as other longer tests (1 or multi-hour tests). Apples and Volvos...

But... but they have a sprinkler system! Does that MUST make a difference?

Fun! We love those! However, there’s no recognized trade-off for sprinklers and Thermal Barriers. You cannot ‘buy down’ the protection with the use of a sprinkler system.

OK but a gymnasium isn’t occupied...

Sorry - I meant that the gymnasium doesn’t have storage and there’s a high ceiling!

Very observant - sort of. Which gymnasium doesn’t have some sort of a net or racks of balls or bleachers or chairs...? Remember - Code does not identify what storage is. And, to your point about height, there’s no current restriction on the height of an assembly and Thermal Barriers. While we do test in a smaller than a gymnasium containment that does not limit the vertical height of the tested assembly. Nice try!

So, let me get this straight - all commercial buildings have some type of storage and not all ceilings are properly rated as a Thermal Barrier... and height and occupancy don’t come into play? And sprinklers or other fire suppression systems don’t discount the need for a Thermal Barrier? Oh, and we have to look at the plans and details to check for compartmentalization of areas that may be rated?

You have snatched the pebble, Grasshopper.