According to the Life Safety Code® central/bulk laundries larger than 100-SF in health care occupancies are considered hazardous areas. There are two principle considerations when determining the required level of protection. First, you have to determine if the hazardous area is located in a new or existing health care occupancy. Secondly, you should know the applicable requirements at the time of construction. In other words, if a hazardous area required one-hour fire resistance rated separation at the time of construction, the fire barrier is not permitted to be downgraded to less than what was required for new construction.Laundries in new health care occupancies must be protected by sprinklers and safeguarded by a fire barrier having a one-hour fire resistance rating. Laundries in existing health care occupancies must be safeguarded by a fire barrier having a one-hour fire resistance rating or it must be provided with an automatic extinguishing system. Existing isolated hazardous areas may have sprinkler piping serving not more than six sprinklers connected directly to a domestic water supply system under certain conditions. Where the sprinkler option is used, the hazardous area must be separated from other spaces by smoke-resisting partitions and doors. Regardless of the new or existing provisions doors must be self-closing or automatic-closing. Doors in fire barriers must be provided with positive latching hardware.
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