New member here and was hoping someone may be able to shed some light on an issue I am having. I recently built a wedding venue, and am having trouble getting everything approved with the Fire Inspection. My venue is what you'd call "out in the country" so I do not have a fire hydrant or 6" water line within 1,500 ft of the location. My building is a metal building on one floor, 2,800 sq ft total and 6 methods of egress. We are doing food trucks outside so no food served or cooked inside, but were planning on a bar on the inside. The actual open space (not counting bathrooms etc is about 2,300 sq ft.) My architect drew up some plans that brought my occupancy down to <99 which would mean I would not need sprinklers (which is very difficult due to a lack of water as mentioned above.) The inspector denied his plans saying you can't reduce occupancy levels, only increase them.... seems safe but ok.
So then I bought a large "shed" that was going to be an outside bar that was 240 sq ft which meant I would not need the main building classified as an A2, now it could be an A3 for "gathering." The inspector told me if I went this route that I would have to sign paperwork saying no-one could walk into the main building with a drink in their hands. From my research, it seemed that the intended purpose of the A3 building could not be to consume food or drink, but I believe walking inside this building with a drink in your hand would be an ancillary function as opposed to primary purpose. I am completely new to all of this and cannot find a definitive answer.
My main goal is to have the building classified as an A-2 solely to open the small inside bar, but the inspector wants to use my occupancy calculation as 7 and not 15. Even at 15 as it stands would put me over 100 which requires sprinklers. He is not open to an inside setup that would reduce occupancy to 99 or less. Which is what I'd like as this is just a small venue and I wouldn't have more than 100 people there regardless of how high my occupancy level was.
I was told in order to get tanks, pumps and hydrants would cost me upwards of $100,000 so I could get sprinklers and get the A-2 classification. I do not have that kind of money.
From reading some posts in here, you guys/girls clearly have a great understanding of this. I'd really appreciate it if anyone would be willing to take the time to explain to me what they would recommend, and what I could perhaps do to get the classification, and/or not be required to sign a document I do not believe is required by code. Thank you for your time.
So then I bought a large "shed" that was going to be an outside bar that was 240 sq ft which meant I would not need the main building classified as an A2, now it could be an A3 for "gathering." The inspector told me if I went this route that I would have to sign paperwork saying no-one could walk into the main building with a drink in their hands. From my research, it seemed that the intended purpose of the A3 building could not be to consume food or drink, but I believe walking inside this building with a drink in your hand would be an ancillary function as opposed to primary purpose. I am completely new to all of this and cannot find a definitive answer.
My main goal is to have the building classified as an A-2 solely to open the small inside bar, but the inspector wants to use my occupancy calculation as 7 and not 15. Even at 15 as it stands would put me over 100 which requires sprinklers. He is not open to an inside setup that would reduce occupancy to 99 or less. Which is what I'd like as this is just a small venue and I wouldn't have more than 100 people there regardless of how high my occupancy level was.
I was told in order to get tanks, pumps and hydrants would cost me upwards of $100,000 so I could get sprinklers and get the A-2 classification. I do not have that kind of money.
From reading some posts in here, you guys/girls clearly have a great understanding of this. I'd really appreciate it if anyone would be willing to take the time to explain to me what they would recommend, and what I could perhaps do to get the classification, and/or not be required to sign a document I do not believe is required by code. Thank you for your time.
