DECISION NO.99A005-128
DATE:January 19, 2000
The issue before the tribunal was the level of audibility provided by the
fire alarm system.
The noncombustible building is nine storeys in height and contains 84 units.
All floors have a central corridor served by exits at each end. Apartments
have one and two bedrooms with ambient noise levels in the remote bedrooms
ranging up to 42 dBA. The building is equipped with a fire alarm system
utilizing fire alarm bells in the corridors.
Fire alarm audibility ranged from 45 to 50 dBA in the remote bedrooms with
intervening doors closed, and above 90 dBA in the corridors. The order
required the audibility be upgraded using one of four options provided in
the OFM guideline, ‘Fire Alarm Audibility in Existing Residential
Occupancies.’
The appellant questioned the apparent change in required audibility levels over the years. Furthermore, the appellant had difficulty understanding how the fire alarm audibility was previously deemed satisfactory, but found deficient three years later.
The owner shall retain a professional engineer skilled in fire alarm work
to make the necessary modifications to the fire alarm system to meet one of
the options of the OFM guideline. The documents shall be suitable for
building permit issuance.
The tribunal accepts the evidence that there is no legislative minimum for
sound level in existing residential buildings. The subject of audibility has
evolved from a subjective basis of judgment to a technical basis.
The agreement on what constitutes a reasonable minimum sound level has also
evolved. Therefore, in this case the sound levels in the building that once
were satisfactory need to be adjusted to the level considered acceptable
today.
|
||||||||||||||||||
