Fire protection required for canopies?

[chris macko]

I've got a campus project with a number of buildings, many with hazardous occupancies. One "building" is just an open storage yard with containment curbs, and a small canopy over a truck unloading area. If this was a building, it would fall under H-3/H-4 and require sprinklers no matter how small, but since it has no walls, my thought it it's not a building. The fire protection contractor is arguing that we need to provide sprinklers under it and add a fire riser since it's a projection over 4ft in width under NFPA 13, which I thought was only for canopies attached to a larger building. Is there anything in the code that would require sprinkling an exterior, unenclosed canopy, particularly when combustible materials are being handled beneath it?

 

[Yikes]

See the NFPA 13 sections noted in this post: https://www.thebuildingcodeforum.com/forum/threads/sprinklers-for-trellis.4671/post-57473

 

[steveray]

I'd have to see it, but freestanding canopies not associated directly with a building and not really sheltering an occupancy are a U IMHO....Otherwise every gas station would be an H....

 

[Yankee Chronicler]

Every gas station I've seen with a canopy has an automatic extinguishing system. It's not a sprinkler system, but it is an extinguishing system.