MJW Partners with Horizon Scientific for Fire Protection Project

In mid-2020, the owner of Varnfield 125 Properties, LLC and the facility manager at Horizon Scientific, Inc. contacted MJW’s Charleston, South Carolina office to set up a meeting to discuss a total fire protection solution for their plant.

Horizon Scientific, a subsidiary of Standex Corporation, was founded in 1994 and provides cold storage solutions to the medical, pharmaceutical and laboratory research industries for a host of brands. Their Summerville, South Carolina facility is comprised of eight buildings totaling over 100,000 square feet and includes their corporate offices, manufacturing and warehousing.

The parties continued to plan over three years and after four revisions proceeded with a Phase 1 contract award in January 2024, which included providing fire sprinkler protection for four buildings, including tie-in to the city water supply, installation of a fire pump house with electric fire booster pump and installation of underground supply piping to all eight buildings. Design started in January of 2024 with a target date of completion for phase 1 of December, 2024.

Submittals were broken up into two separate packages – one for the state fire marshal and one for Factory Mutual. Engineering consisted of 3D design of four wet pipe fire sprinkler systems with approximately 863 sprinkler heads, 2,100 feet of underground fire main with new fire hydrants and one prefabricated valve house with an electric fire pump. We received State LLR approvals in May and Factory Mutual approvals in April. MJW worked closely with the local fire marshal in Summerville to ensure that the project met both their requirements and those of first responders. Local permitting was achieved in May. Close coordination was required to guarantee a smooth approval process with all three approving authorities. Work is being performed while the facility remains in operation with only minimal interruption to daily plant activities.

MJW was awarded the fire alarm and electrical portion of the project in May. Working in conjunction with local electrical contractor and valued team member, Control Management, Inc. MJW is happy to expand the project scope to facilitate a successful project completion that is on time, on budget and turn-key. This project marks a milestone in building a long-standing relationship with a valued client.