Another factor is how the matter was presented to
AHJ. If it was a simple "Can we do use
haze or
fog?", I could where they could jump to conclusions on what that means and what that
effect looks like.
A lot of people hear the words "
fog machine" and think of Halloween-style effects that are a heavy mass of
fog, not so bad in someone's yard but in the confined space of a haunted
house,
fog effects overused can present actual life
safety hazards.
On the other
hand, if the question was presented as "We want to put a light/medium
haze in the air, which would not be enough to interfere with illuminated exit signs but just enough to illuminate beams of light traveling through the air. Is that okay?" then I would expect
AHJ to be on a
page closer to the
page I am on.
Best yet is a demonstration of the
effect that would let
AHJ see exactly what they're signing off on, an
effect most
AHJ's have not explicitly had demonstrated and explained to them.
It seems like an argument of petty semantics to some, but not to the person who's stamping their name and reputation on that your effects will go off without a
hitch. Not only that but people like to lie and/or not tell the full truth to
AHJ, so anyone in that position has to also take into account the possibility that anytime they're making a decision, they could be making it on false or incomplete information. The more transparent and explicit you can be about what it is you're asking them permission for, the better.
An argument of semantics it may be, but we're talking about the difference between the person representing
AHJ feeling completely comfortable with what they're about to sign off on or feeling uneasy that what they're thinking about giving a green light could blow up in their faces (figuratively AND literally -- these are the same people whose duty it is to run into the fire if the
effect doesn't go as planned).
A lot of people misunderstand just how complex it is for
AHJ to stamp a seal of approval on someone else's work, even when the risks seem minimal. This is a tad hyperbolic to the
fog/
haze topic, but imagine if you're the
fire marshal who signs off on something that turns into the next Station nightclub fire. Expect your career to be ruined. On top of that, you have to live with the someone's death on your conscience. Could be a total stranger, or it could be your three closest friends who were first responders.
There are actually some
AHJ's who are on
power trips, but I'll bet most of them who get accused of phallus-waving go to sleep haunted by calls they've responded to in the past and are at least a little terrified of the calls they may someday be on. With the kinds of things that firefighters see every day, don't be surprised if they're hesitant to give you permission to do something in a
venue that at the spark of a match could be the largest fire any of them will ever respond to.