UFC 3-600-01, Fire Protection Engineering for Facilities (8 August 2016, Change 6, 6 May 2021)

Overview

UFC 3-600-01, prepared jointly by NAVFAC, USACE and AFCEC, is the minimum standard for planning, design, construction and commissioning documents for military facilities. It overrides NFPA and other industry standards where it addresses a subject; where it is silent, the latest National Fire Codes apply, and where those are silent a fire protection design analysis is submitted for approval. The text is the 2016 edition updated through Change 6 (6 May 2021).

After the introduction the document works through life safety, construction classification, structural protection, water supply and suppression systems. Chapter 4 gives occupancy-specific requirements in alphabetical order; for a data centre the directly relevant sections are Electronic Equipment Areas (4-15), lithium battery energy storage (4-8) and power generating and utilization equipment (4-40). Chapter 9 sets the common conditions for sprinklers, water mist, clean agent, CO2 and halon systems.

For Electronic Equipment Areas the approach is layered. Areas are built to NFPA 75 (NFPA 76 for telecommunication areas serving more than one facility) and combine very early warning smoke detection, wet-pipe sprinklers and, where appropriate, a clean agent system in addition. A clean agent system never substitutes for required sprinklers. The power disconnect is spelled out: power is removed when sprinklers activate, and the disconnect must sit downstream of any UPS.

The limits matter. It is written for military facilities, its authority language (DFPE, CFPE, a separate Air Force guide) belongs to that context, and it does not replace civilian data centre regulation. On lithium batteries the document carries a notable statement: no commercially available lithium chemistry gives a significantly different margin of fire safety over any other, including lithium iron phosphate. A project in a given country still needs local fire regulation and approved engineering review.

Key points

1. Electronic Equipment Areas follow NFPA 75, and telecommunication areas serving more than one facility follow NFPA 76; buildings housing telecommunication areas must be of noncombustible construction.
2. Stand-alone telecommunication facilities over 2,500 ft2 (232 m2) need clean agent or sprinklers; over 7,500 ft2 (696 m2) sprinklers are required and clean agent may only be added.
3. Very early warning smoke detection with at least two distinct alarm levels is required, and where operators are not constantly present the alarm must reach a constantly attended alarm receiving location.
4. Complete wet-pipe sprinkler protection is required throughout the area, isolatable by a zone control valve assembly (control valve, check valve, waterflow switch, inspector's test connection); no sprinklers are installed below raised floors.
5. Clean agent systems cannot substitute for sprinklers and must be actuated by very early warning smoke detection; a permanent manual exhaust outside the protected area, designed for at least six air changes per hour, clears agent after the hold time.
6. Power is disconnected when sprinklers operate, with the disconnect downstream of any UPS so the UPS cannot keep supplying equipment; manual disconnect is accepted in constantly staffed areas.
7. Power and data cabling above ceilings or below raised floors must be plenum rated or in noncombustible conduit.
8. Unoccupied lithium BESS structures must be at least 100 ft (30 m) from occupied structures with a perimeter fence at least 100 ft away, at least two doors spaced by the long dimension or 75% of the diagonal, and explosion/deflagration venting per NFPA 855.
9. Lithium BESS inside an occupied building is possible only through an exemption: room limited to 600 kWh, with an exterior wall and 3-hour fire resistance for walls, roof and floor; the text notes that UFC 3-520-01 prohibits lithium storage in occupied facilities.
10. New Halon 1301 systems are prohibited without special approval, and separation of outdoor oil-filled transformers from buildings in Table 4-4 ranges from 5 to 100 ft depending on liquid type and volume.

Using it in design

• Build the data hall protection concept in this order: very early warning smoke detection, wet-pipe sprinklers throughout, clean agent only as an addition, and state in the specification that clean agent cannot replace the sprinklers.
• When designing the power-disconnect logic, check that the disconnect sits on the UPS output side, works with the sprinkler waterflow switch, and that manual disconnect is only used for constantly staffed areas.
• Do not place sprinkler heads below raised floors; if cabling is not plenum rated or in noncombustible conduit, protect the underfloor and above-ceiling volumes with clean agent.
• For a lithium battery room or container, put location (100 ft / 30 m), fence distance, two-door spacing, 3-hour construction, the 600 kWh limit and deflagration venting on a separate checklist, and design on the assumption that the chemistry (LFP included) does not materially reduce fire risk.
• For outdoor transformers and generators compare the Table 4-4 and 4-5 separation distances with the alternatives of a 2-hour fire barrier or water spray (0.30 gpm/ft2, 2-hour water supply, 500 gpm hose stream).
• In a clean agent enclosure evaluate pressure relief vents near the ceiling for discharge pressure swings and an exhaust system of at least 6 ACH.

Who should read it

Mechanical, electrical and fire safety engineers designing data centre detection, suppression and battery room protection.

Document contents

1. Chapter 1 Introduction: scope, applicability, criteria, exemptions, performance-based design
2. Chapter 2 General
3. Chapter 3 Building Codes: IBC, NFPA 101, hazardous materials
4. Chapter 4 Occupancy-Specific Requirements
5. 4-8 Battery Energy Storage Systems: Lithium
6. 4-15 Electronic Equipment Areas
7. 4-40 Power Generating and Utilization Equipment
8. 4-44 Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF)
9. Chapter 5 Building Height, Area and Occupancy Separation
10. Chapter 6 Separation Between Buildings
11. Chapter 7 Marking, partitions, protection of structural members, smoke and heat vents
12. Chapter 9 Fire Protection: water supply, sprinklers, water mist, clean agent, CO2, halon
13. 9-13 Clean Agent Fire Extinguishing Systems
14. 9-16 Halon 1301 Systems
15. Chapter 10 Means of Egress
16. Chapter 34 Provisions including 34-5 Electronic Equipment Areas and 34-8 Fire Alarm Systems

Read the document

Publication details

Authors

Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC); U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE); Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC)

Publisher

U.S. DoD (UFC)

Year

2021

Document language

English

Source type

Government / public

Access

Open licence — downloadable

Licence

U.S. public domain — U.S. Government work; free to reuse

Licence evidence

www.copyright.gov

Citation