[RE-wrenches] Fire Rating for Battery Room

[Jason Szumlanski]

Many of the "garages" we deal with are below the living space of stilt
homes, where there is no way people are going to install drywall in
flood-prone areas, even if the electrical equipment is above the required
flood elevation. Concrete board isn't a much better option. These rules are
creating havoc all over the place and leading me to lean toward batteries
on exterior walls, which has definite downsides around here (including
potential safety downsides).

Some of these rules don't live in the land of reality.


Jason Szumlanski
Principal Solar Designer | Florida Solar Design Group
NABCEP Certified Solar Professional (PVIP)
Florida State Certified Solar Contractor CVC56956
Florida Certified Electrical Contractor EC13013208


On Mon, Jun 9, 2025 at 11:30 AM August Goers via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

> In California we are currently working under the I-codes, so we work under
> the residential (CRC) or fire (CRC) codes. California is in process of
> adopting NFPA 855 which I believe will go into effect July 1, 2026. The
> wording in the CRC or CFC is as follows:
>
> [image: image.png]
>
> You can see it's similar to the 855 language. Clients with unfinished
> attached garage or utility rooms either have to sheetrock the entire space
> or can build a utility closet within the unfinished space that meets the
> requirements. Both are fairly expensive options, depending on how large and
> cluttered the space is. Anyway, it what it is. As we've become used to
> dealing with this, we try to focus on the improved safety that sheet
> rocking provides and just recommend that clients bite the bullet and get it
> done. It definitely kills some projects. Alternatively, we can mount
> batteries outside which has drawbacks and may not be feasible in colder
> climates.
>
> If this requirement isn't being upheld in your jurisdiction, it is
> probably just a matter of time before they catch on.
>
> Best,
>
> August
> Luminalt
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Jun 6, 2025 at 6:18 AM Nicholas Ponzio via RE-wrenches <
> re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>
>> For those of you installing batteries inside homes how are you treating
>> this poorly-worded section of Code?
>>
>> *NFPA 855 - 15.4.2:*
>> *If the room or space where the ESS is to be installed is not finished or
>> non-combustible, the walls and ceilings of the room or space shall be
>> protected with not less than 5/8 in. Type X gypsum board.*
>>
>> This section of fire code has given us much consternation over the years.
>> Most installations in this climate are going into unfinished basements. Are
>> you all installing 5/8 sheetrock for the entire basement? Just the area
>> around the batteries? Something else?
>>
>> Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Nicholas Ponzio
>> Building Energy
>> 1570 South Brownell Road
>> Williston, VT 05495
>> http://www.BuildingEnergyVT.com <http://www.buildingenergyvt.com/>
>>
>> "Building Solutions for a Sustainable Future"
>> _______________________________________________
>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>>
>> Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org
>>
>> List Address: RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
>>
>> Change listserver email address & settings:
>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>>
>> There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the
>> other:
>> https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/
>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>>
>> List rules & etiquette:
>> http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
>>
>> Check out or update participant bios:
>> http://www.members.re-wrenches.org
>>
>> _______________________________________________
> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>
> Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org
>
> List Address: RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
>
> Change listserver email address & settings:
> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>
> There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the
> other:
> https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/
> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>
> List rules & etiquette:
> http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
>
> Check out or update participant bios:
> http://www.members.re-wrenches.org
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org/attachments/20250609/209536ca/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image.png
Type: image/png
Size: 142331 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org/attachments/20250609/209536ca/attachment.png>