Residential fire protection engineering — NFPA 13D and 13R sprinkler systems for laneway houses, duplexes, multiplexes and triplexes, designed to the Vancouver Building By-law (VBBL) and the City’s modified 13R bulletin, stamped and sealed by a professional engineer (P.Eng.) with the Letters of Assurance your permit needs.
Scoped per project, but this is what a package normally includes.
One- and two-family dwellings — laneway houses, duplexes and single-family homes.
Low-rise residential up to four storeys — multiplexes, triplexes and duplexes over a strata basement — designed to the City of Vancouver's modified 13R bulletin.
Design area, flow and pressure per sprinkler, and the demand checked against the available supply at the street.
The Letters of Assurance under the BC Building Code, sealed by a P.Eng. — Schedule B when the design is issued, field review through construction, and Schedule C-B to close the job out.
Projects throughout British Columbia, with most work in Metro Vancouver.
If yours is not here, call or send the drawings and we will answer directly.
13D covers one- and two-family dwellings — a single-family home, a duplex or a laneway house. 13R covers low-rise residential up to four storeys, which is where multiplexes and triplexes land. 13R is the more demanding standard because the buildings are larger and hold more occupants.
Yes. The City of Vancouver works to its own Building By-law (VBBL) rather than the BC Building Code, and applies a modified version of NFPA 13R through a City bulletin — mainly on multiplexes. Single-family homes, duplexes and laneway houses generally still fall under 13D. We design to whichever applies.
Yes, both. They are the Letters of Assurance under the BC Building Code, sealed by a professional engineer. Schedule B goes in with the building permit application — assurance of the design and a commitment to field review. We carry out the field reviews that follow, and Schedule C-B closes the job out at completion. The permit application itself is normally submitted by the builder or owner.
On residential 13D and 13R work it usually does. A combined domestic and fire service is the common arrangement, with the sprinkler piping connected through to a fixture so water circulates rather than sitting stagnant. Whether it works on a given project comes down to the available pressure and flow at the street, which is part of what the hydraulic calculation checks.
Architectural floor plans and elevations, the structural drawings, the site plan, and whatever is known about the water service at the property. If a flow test is available, send it. We will tell you quickly whether the supply will carry the demand or whether the service needs upsizing.
Most projects need more than one of these, and they are coordinated together.
Tell us what you are working on and we will come back with a scope and a price — and ask for drawings if we need them.
Or reach us directly