2449 Morris Avenue, Fordham

An existing building on the corner of East Fordham Road and Morris Avenue, about 40 ft from the cellar floor to the roof, with a cellar, a first floor, a second floor and an elevator. A new single tenant is fitting out the second floor to a new floor plan, so the existing sprinkler system has to be modified to match the new layout, the cellar needs sprinkler coverage and a new fire alarm panel, and everything has to be checked against the water the city main can actually deliver. Areas outside the tenant's work are not in the contract and stay as they are. Like every New York project, the design also has to satisfy the NYC Construction Codes and the city's energy code requirements.

Sprinklers: we modified the existing wet system on the second floor to the new floor plan and designed the cellar, to NFPA 13-2016 as modified by the NYC Building Code, with upright, concealed pendent and sidewall quick-response heads (K-factor 5.6, 155 °F) and design densities of 0.10 gpm per ft² for light hazard, 0.15 for ordinary hazard group 1 and 0.20 for group 2 over the design area. The hydraulic calculation for the light-hazard area covers a 1,020 ft² design area with nine sprinklers flowing in 1 to 4 in. Schedule 40 steel pipe, with a 100 gpm outside hose allowance, and it is checked against a hydrant flow test on the city main of 66 psi static and 65 psi at 500 gpm: the system needs about 313 gpm at 57.5 psi, while the main can supply 65.6 psi at that flow — about 8 psi to spare — through the existing 4 in. double-check backflow assembly and an alarm check valve. We issued five sprinkler sheets: notes and riser diagram, specifications, cellar plan, second-floor plan and details. Fire alarm: a new addressable panel on the second floor with a lockable fused disconnect in the cellar and a new remote annunciator, pull stations, area, duct and elevator-lobby smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors that sound locally, shut down gas-fired equipment and signal the central station, sprinkler waterflow and tamper supervision, elevator recall to the first floor with the cab doors open, synchronized strobes of at least 75 candela and battery backup of 24 hours standby plus 15 minutes of alarm. The sprinkler and fire alarm sets were issued and revised between April and September 2026, including a sprinkler revision for a fire alarm objection and a revised fire alarm set.