Hi Karen,
Fire marshals have considerable flexibility in how they interpret fire code. If your fire marshal considers solid shelves unacceptable that is likely because (s)he sees the shelves as a block between the sprinklers and flammable collection material. In that case (s)he is not going to approve a pitched roof to protect the collection from sprinkler discharge (accidental or otherwise).

It is essential that you do not rely on "we were told" through a secondary source. You will want to meet with the fire marshal yourself to discover exactly what the concerns are. Just one of a multitude of possible scenarios will illustrate this. It is possible that during a walkthrough the marshal observed a potential ignition source (perhaps an electrical outlet) adjacent to a shelf containing flammable collection material and saw that this material was shielded from the sprinkler system by solid shelves. Seeing a scenario that could lead to ignition then flashover (adjacent objects catching fire) before the sprinkler system could respond could be a justification for requiring open mesh shelves. It is essential that you, your conservator, and your facility manager have a direct conversation with the fire marshal to determine exactly what the concerns are and what alternatives are available for addressing those concerns. In the example scenario moving the electrical outlet seen as an ignition source might suffice in making solid shelves acceptable. That was just one of unlimited possible scenarios though - what is necessary is seriously exploring the fire marshal's concerns whatever they may be.

You and the fire marshal are both seeking the same goal - protecting property from damage and loss. The marshal will be focused on fire as the cause of damage and loss while you need to balance protection from all risks. Most fire marshals are reasonable people and if you approach them with a genuine interest in working with them to understand and minimize total risk to the collection they will usually cooperate.

I look forward to hearing how this works out for you.
Best,
Rob

Robert Waller, PhD, CAPC, FIIC
President and Senior Risk Analyst
Protect Heritage Corp.
622 Simoneau Way
Ottawa  ON  K4A 1P4
email: [log in to unmask]
internet: www.protectheritage.com
phone: 613-883-2707 (Canada)
phone: 303-872-9739 (USA)
skype: rrwaller
and, Research Associate, Canadian Museum of Nature
and, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Queen’s University

-----Original Message-----
From: Karen E [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: August 4, 2015 8:39 AM
Subject: Museum Collection Storage - Sprinkler Protection

Hello,

We've recently moved into a new collections space and were told that our open collection shelving could not have solid shelves by fire code. Now, our outgoing Collections Manager wanted me to investigate some sort of shield for accidental sprinkler discharge. Has anyone else built a pitched "roof" on individual shelving units.

Is there a better solution?

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