The following is an analysis I wrote in an ICC document regarding ASCE 7. This information was confirmed by a California registered SE.
903.3.1.1 NFPA 13 sprinkler systems. Where the provisions of this code require that a building or portion thereof be equipped throughout with an automatic sprinkler system in accordance with this section, sprinklers shall be installed throughout in accordance with NFPA 13 except as provided in Section 903.3.1.1.1.
Q1: Do the pipe hanging and support requirements in Chapter 9 of NFPA 13 comply with the requirements in ASCE 7, Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures.
A1: Up until the 2007 edition of NFPA 13 (the most current edition), the pipe hanging requirements in NFPA 13 Chapter 9 were only valid in Seismic Design Categories (SDC) A, B and C. In SDC’s D through F, the pipe hanger design needed to be engineered to accommodate the various forces based on ground movement. In the 2007 edition of NFPA 13, the members of NEHRP (National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program) submitted a series of code changes to the NFPA 13 Chapter 9 technical committee which established prescriptive requirements for hanging and supporting fire protection piping in all SDCs. For seismic bracing of piping, the methods in NFPA 13, Chapter 9 can be used for all SDCs.
These changes in NFPA 13 are now acknowledged in the 2009 IBC. 2009 IBC Section 1613.6.3 states that piping designed in accordance with NFPA 13 meets the requirements of ASCE 7 Section 13.6.8. [9-21]