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Re: Laundry Chutes - More information

From: info@builderswebsource.com
Category: Laundry Chutes
Date: 21 Jul 2000
Time: 22:29:34
Remote Name: 63.198.181.43

Comments

The following excerpt on laundry chutes and fire safety is reprinted from the Michigan Consumer and Information Services division and applies to certain commercial facilities. Residential use may be less stringent. However, the principles of good safety engineering can be applied:

"In a newly constructed, remodeled or converted facility, laundry chutes shall be in compliance with all of the following requirements:

(a) Be enclosed in shafts constructed of an assemblage of noncombustible materials having at least a 1-hour resistance to fire. If the shaft does not extend through the roof of the building, the top shall be covered with noncombustible material affording at least a 1-hour resistance to fire. There shall be no openings into the shaft other than those necessary to the intended use of the laundry chute. Feed doors shall be located in an enclosed sprinklered room or compartment separated from other parts of the building by walls, a floor, and a ceiling having a fire-resistance rating of not less than 1 hour with openings to such rooms or compartments protected by B-labeled fire doors and in labeled frames.

According to the provisions of this subrule, laundry chutes must be enclosed in fire-rated shafts and the openings to the chutes must be located in enclosed fire-rated and sprinklered rooms or areas as a back-up design feature. This design prevents the possibility of an open laundry chute directly exposing an exit access corridor or other use area to fire. Further, it prevents a fire in a laundry chute from blocking exit access corridors with either smoke or flames before evacuation or corrective action can be taken. This arrangement also recognizes that occupants frequently pile laundry in front of the chute door rather than put it into the chute. In this regard, laundry chutes pose hazards similar to those of rubbish chutes.

(b) Have a sprinkler head installed at the top of the chutes and within the laundry chutes at alternate floor levels in buildings over 2 stories in height.

(c) Empty into a separate room, closet or bin constructed of materials having at least a 1-hour resistance to fire and protected by automatic sprinklers.

(d) Have an open vent at the top where the shaft extends through the roof of the building, a skylight which is glazed with ordinary glass and which is not less than 10% of the shaft area, or a window of ordinary glass and which is not less than 10% of the shaft area and which is set into the side of the shaft with the sill of the window not less than 2 feet above the roof level and 10 feet from any properly line or other exposure it faces.

The QFI should make certain that any such chutes meet all of the requirements of this subrule. This will require careful examination of the chute doors making certain that the fimction properly and checking the interior of the chute for the required sprinkler heads.

An open vent, skylight or window with ordinary glass will serve as a means for fire, smoke and gasses, resulting from any fire in the chute, to vent to the outside rather than into the building. These features also serve to assist in early detection of any such fire in the chute."

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