Copyright © 1998 NFPA, All Rights Reserved NEPA 231 Standard for General Storage 1998 Edition ‘This edition of NFPA 331, Standard for General Storage, was prepared by the Technical Com- mittee on General Storage and acted on by the National Fire Protection Association, Inc., at its Annual Meeting held May 18-21, 1998, in Cincinnati, OH. 1 was issued by the Standards Council on July 16, 1998, with an effective date of August 5, 1998, and supersedes all previous editions. ‘Changes other than editorial are indicated hy a vertical cule in the margin of the pages on which they appear. These lines are included as an aicl to the user in identifying changes from the previous edicion, This edition of NFPA 231 was approved as an American National Standard on August 6, 1998, (Origin and Development of NEPA 231 In 1048, the U.S, War Production Board promulgated General Storage Specifications for Crit calStrategic Materats. These specifications were based largely on existing NFPA standards and ‘on generally accepted good practice in fire protection. They were published for reference in NEPA National Pie Codes for Building Construction and Eyuipment in) 1944, and an NFPA Gom- miutee on General Storage was appointed that same year. On the recommendation of the Committee, general storage standard was adopted at the NFPA Annual Meeting in 1946, The Standard covered indoor and outdoor storage. A revision of the standard was tentatively adopted in 1958, ‘In 1955, the committee submitted the draft of a new document, Recommended Safe Practices {for General Storage, No. 231-T, which covered indoor storage, outdoor storage, and refrigerated. ‘warehouses, The draft was tentatively adopted, while the 1945 general storage standard Femained the official document. NFPA 281, Recommended Safe Practices fov General Storage, was adopted in 1956 and included amendments to the original draft. Th 1965, the document was rewritten as a standard and published under its current ttle ‘The sections of the 1965 edition that pertained to outdoor storage and refrigerated ware- houses were deleted, and an appendix on pallets and palletized storage was added, In the 1970 edition, amendments included doubling the maximum recommended area, for Type | and Type Il storage, placing height limitations on empty wooden pallet storage, and reducing the water requirements for Type Il storage. In 1972, protection requirements for empty combustible pallets and design curves for sprinkler water demands were added, In 1974, the height of storage to which NEPA 281 applies was increased from (76 m0 9.1 m). ‘The standard was partially revised in 1979 and 1985 ‘The 1987 edition incorporated minor revisions. ‘The 1990 edition of the standard was modified to include the requirements of early sup- pression fast response (ESFR) sprinklers. In addition, Chapter 6 was modified to include stor- Age heights for encapsulated commodities up to 13 f (4.6 m), “The 1995 edition of the standard was revised to include recent developments with regard to miscellaneous storage, extradatge orifice sprinklers, arge-drop sprinklers, and ESER sprin: Miers. Efforts were made to increase the user friendliness of the document. Chapters 6 and 7 ‘underwent significant modification, “The 1998 edition includes expanded descriptions and examples of storage commodities, Protection criteria has been added for mixed commodity storage, storage on plastic pallets, and storage up to 12 tin height. Other changes include mote options for protecting idle pal- Tets, expanded applications for ESFR and large-drop sprinklers and the application of new types of sprinklers. Additionally, the rules for protecting plastic commodities have been revised, and additional examples illustrating the application of these rules have been included. 5 fe 10 80 ft231-2 GENERAL STORAGE ‘Technical Committee on General Storage Christopher T. Lammus, Insurance Services Office, Inc, TX [I] Michael T. Keoman, Stary Fireman's Fund Insurance Co.,CA (1) Hamid R. Bahadori, City of Orlando Fire Dept, FL (U} Kerry M. Bel, Underwriters Laboratories Ine, tL. (RE] Robert B. Combs, | H/Matsh & MeLennsan, WA (1) Robert C. Everson, Calais, NC (SE) Gallup, Rolt Jensen & Assoc, Ine TL. (SE] wea, Central Sprinkler Corp.,PA [M) Rep. Natl Fite Sprinkler Assn. ‘Thomas Goonan, Tom Goonan Assoc, VA (SE Richard Greenberg, Carteret Fie Dept. NJ [E] Richard 8. Johnson, Hilton Head, SC (U] Rep, Owenslinoie Rodiney A. MePhee, Canadian Wood Council, ON, Canada (M] Jennifer L. Nelson, AT&T EH&S, Nj (U}. “Michael T: Newman, Johnson & Johnson, NJ (U} Rep. NFPA Industrial Fite Protetion Section Gerald W. O'Rourke, O'Rourke & Co,, CA [SE] Donald “Don” D. Becker, Midland Automatic Sprinkler Co. Tne, (1M) (Alt 0] F Viola) Wiliam M. Carey, Underwriters Laboratories Inc, IL (RT (Alt to KM. Bell) ‘Stephen A. Clas, Je, Fiteman's Fund Insurance Co., NC {I] (Alt co MT. Kroman) J. Grayson Gilbert, Industral Risk Ineuress, GA [1] {Alc to TE Schumann) Salvatore Gitto, J&H/Marsh & MeLennan, N¥ 1} (Woting Alt. to M&B Rep.) Joseph B. Hankins, J, Factory Matual Research Corp, MA (I) (Alt 10 RD. Spaulding) ‘Martin M. Brown, Laguna Hills CA, ‘(Member Emeritus) MiloshT. Puchovsky, NEPA Staff Liaison Mark Oltszewiz, Schirmer Enge Corp. 1 [SE] Albert W. Reed, Reed Fire Protection Engr, TX (SE] ‘Toda B. Schuman, Industrial Risk Insurers, I (1) ery Shiner, Keepsafe Systems Ine, ON, Canada (SE) Peter A. Smith, Intl Paper Co,, TN (U Robert D. Spaulding, Factory Mutal Research Corp, MA (I) ack Thacker, Allan Automatic Sprinkler Corp. of Southetn Calon. nia, CA IM] Rep. Nat Fite Sprinkler Ass, Wiliam P. Thomas, fr Kemper Nat Insurance Cost. (1) FA. Underwood, The Trinity Co , TX (U] ‘Teny L. Views, Tyeo Int Led, MD (1M) John F. Viola, HEP Sprinkler Ine, MA [IM] Rep. American Fite Sprinkler Assn, Inc. Susan J. Welgund, Victory Fire Protection, Inc., PA (IM) Rep, American Fire Sprinkler Assn, Inc. Alternates ‘Stephen R. Hoover, Kemper Nat'l Tnsurance Cos IL (1) (Ale to W, P. Thomas, J.) Roland J. Huggins, Ametican Fire Sprinkler Ass, Ine, TX [1M] (Ale 0. J. Weigand) Richard E. Hughey, ISO Commercial Rsk Services, NY] {le to. T- Lammas) Kenneth F loman, Nat (Alto J. Thacker) Steven G. Krone, Schirmer Engr Corp., TX (SE] (Alto M. Olsen) Donald C. Moder, Rot Jensen & Assoc, Inc, CA (SE) (Alt 10.6. Gallup) Peter Thomas, The Viking Corp. MM (M) {Ale to J-Golinveaus) Sprinkler Ass, NY (TB) Nonvoting Soltan M. Javeri, AXA Global Risks, France This ist eprevents the membeship atthe rme the Come was alot the ext ofthis edition. Since that ts, changin the wen ers may has occured A hy to lasifeations i found atthe back ofthis document NOTE: Membership on a committe shall not in and of ie co tute an endorsement ofthe Association or any doc: ‘ument developed by the committee on which the member serves, Committee Sco Covered by other NEPA standards, 1998 Eton This Committee shall have primary responsibly for documents on safeguarding general warehousing, and commodities agains fre where stored indoors or outdoors. This Committee does not cover storage tha nspeciiallyCONTENTS 2513 Contents Chapter 1 Iotroduction 231-4 Chapter8 Fire Protection —LargeDrop 1 Scope Bi 4 Sprinklers 21-12 12 Reoactivity Clause 231-4 81 General 1-8. Definitions 231-4 82 Protection Criteria Chapter 2 Classification of Storage 281-5 Chapter 9 Fire Protection —Early Suppression Fast 21 Commodity Classification 231-5 Response (ESER) Sprinklers $1 General Chapter 3. Building Construction 21-6 92 Water Supplies 34 Constiuetion 231-6 98. Sprinkler Sytem Design 32 Emergency Smoke and Heat Venting 231-6 Chapter 10 Building Equipment, Maintenance, and Chapter 4 Storage Arrangement B17 Operations pind 41 Piling Procedures and Precautions 2-7 101. Mechanical Handling Equipment — Industrial 42. Commodity Clearance 231-7 aa 251-14 43 Aisles as 7 102 Building Service Equipment — Electrical “44 Storage of Idle Pallets 231-7 Equipment 291-14 45 Flammable and Combustible Liquids 21-8 108 Cutting and Welding Operations ee Chapter. ire Protection —-Generl es 10-4 Waste Disposal 21-14 ile Bire amore Gener oe 105. Smoking 231-14 Beem aa cee 106 Maintenance and Inspection 231-4 52 HighExpansion Foam 21-8 te mance % 5 Manual Inside Protection 231-8 ee ee Eleth Sab Hydrant 231-8 , , 55 Fhe Organon gsi. g Chapter 11 Referenced Publications 231-14 546. Alarm Senvice 231-9 ‘Appendix A Explanatory Material 234 Chapter 6 Fire Protection for Commodity Classes 1 through IV — Spray Sprinklers 331-9 Appendix B- Example for Determining Protection, einer 21-9 Griteria For Plastic and Rubber 62 Protection Criteria. zi- 9 Commodities 63. High-Expansion Foam 231-10 Appendix C_ Protection of Outdoor Storage Chapter? Fire Protection for Plastic and Rubber Commodities — Spray Sprinklers 251-10 Appendix D_ Referenced Publications 231-29 7A. General 231-10 2 Protection Criteria 231-10 Index 231-80