Disclaimer: Do not kill the asking Engineer for being curious.

I have heard rumors that there is a proposal out there for NFPA to limit the amount of Oxidizing gases to 20,000 cu ft. above 5th floor of a hospital. I'm curious why this is a thing when we have precautions in place such as ZVB's, fire sprinklers, etc.  Also, what's the magic in that number?

The MAQ levels for oxidizers in the hospital by the UFC is being aggressively pushed on a couple of large hospital projects out here on the West Coast. The definition in the UFC for "storage" vs. "in use" does NOT exist in the UFC. NFPA 99 definition of "storage" is still the same and allows for a larger amount of volume of oxidizers in the upper floors of the facility.

The CFC (UFC) has gained the attention of the Facilities stakeholders and the clinical stakeholders are pushing back with little success.

My opinion:  Fire First Responder Safety TRUMPS Daily clinical patient safety within the new hospital projects.

CFC = California Fire Code

UFC = Uniform Fire Code