Fire Department Setback warning [RE-wrenches]

[Mark Frye]

My understanding is that the Solar ABC group is proceeding with a working
group including the California State Fire Marshall.  It appear that they
will be promulgating a rule that there be a 3 foot set back from exterior
load bearing walls and also from the the ridges etc.

Folks working in the group say that this is at least better than 4 foot
requirement coming out of LA, but it is not clear whether 4 feet from the
edge of the roof is worse than 3 feet from the exterior wall.

Information on the details of the work group is putatively available at
http://www.solarabcs.com/ the same site where proposed changes to the 2011
NEC are being worked (I am participating as best I can with that) but I have
not been able to find details of the draft rules from the Fire Marshalls
working on that site yet.
 
Mark Frye
Berkeley Solar Electric Systems
271 Vistamont Dr
Grass Valley CA 95945
(530) 401-8024
www.berkeleysolar.com 

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Welch [mailto:michael.welch at re-wrenches.org] 
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 2:37 PM
To: RE-Wrenches
Subject: Fwd: Fire Department Setback warning [RE-wrenches]


Hi gang. Posting this on behalf of William Miller, his own post did not show
up.

>Friends:
>
>Well, it's happened.  Local fire marshals are now enforcing roof edge
setbacks.  These setbacks originate from the Los Angeles Fire Department and
require a 4 foot setback on all edges of a roof-- eaves, ridge and gables.
>
>I have jobs pending that will not proceed because of these requirements.  I
am sure all of you installing roof mounted PV will find many jobs that are
not feasible once these regulations spread to your area.  This will be the
single biggest curtailment of residential PV in the history of grid-tie
solar-electric.  I have reviewed a random sampling of recent roof mounted
jobs and at least 90% of them would be either not at all feasible or greatly
reduce in size.
>
>We need to put our heads together and figure out a way to deal with this.
Here is one idea:  If a roof has an attic, it can be vented from the north
side, therefore clearance issues on the south side should be waived.  Here's
another concept:  The literature mentions "quick release" hardware.  Can we
invent racks that can fold over to create eave, ridge or gable clearances?
>
>I am interested in any input on this critical issue.  To view the
regulations, it is the top listing at:
>
>http://mpandc.com/resources/resources.html
>
>William Miller


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