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Fire sprinkler system productivity tips and resources
Earthquakes are an inevitable part of our lives. Properly accounting for seismic bracing is critical to life and non-structural system safety.
For commercial construction such as office buildings, hotels, data centers, schools, and hospitals, the nonstructural components and contents typically represent 80–90% of the capital investment at risk during an earthquake. Seismic bracing helps mitigate the risk of damage to or failure of crucial systems, protecting people and non-structural components at risk during an earthquake.
For over 60 years, the fire protection industry has relied on TOLCO seismic bracing products, B-Line series pipe hangers and seismic engineer services. Our core seismic bracing products are trusted by contractors worldwide to help combat damage from earthquakes.
Seismic braces attach equipment to structural members, allowing them to move with the structure during an earthquake. This requires bracing in two directions. First, lateral braces, also called transverse braces, are installed across or perpendicular to the system. Second, longitudinal braces are installed parallel to the system.
Seismic bracing also uses rod stiffeners to keep the whole system strong enough to be braced. To break it down even further, a seismic bracing assembly consists of three items: a system brace, a brace member, and structural attachment. The assembly connects the structure such as a beam or ceiling, to a brace member which could be cable, channel, or pipe to a non-structural support, such as pipe, trapeze, cable tray, duct, and more.
Seismic bracing is governed by building codes and standards to help ensure critical infrastructure equipment is braced for seismic activity. These include The International Building Code (IBC), The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI), California Building Code (CBC), International Code Council - Evaluation Service (ICC-ES), National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL) and Factory Mutual Group of Insurers (FM).
Eaton’s Seismic Engineering Team provides the expertise to de-risk your next project by ensuring the solutions provided meet the relevant codes and standards while providing the minimum number of seismic braces required.
We can help from pre-bid to installation and inspection.
TOLBrace software is designed specifically for Eaton’s TOLCO seismic bracing solutions, and allows Engineers, Designers, Plan Reviewers, and Fire Authorities to calculate the zone of influence for fire sprinkler systems.
Eaton’s HCAI OPM-0052-22 pre-approved assemblies catalog is a detailed reference guide for Contractors, Design Engineers and Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs) to assist with seismic bracing design review and bracing layouts.
These Professional Engineered (PE) stamped assemblies help speed design and bracing layout review timeline for California Building Code (CBC) 2022 and include load data and installation diagrams for structural attachments.
