I recently observed a large apartment project in Florida, where the entire structural system was built out of cast-in-place reinforced concrete. What stood out was the method: large steel gang forms, resembling container boxes, were craned into position to create one apartment “box” at a time. Concrete was poured in place, allowed to cure, then the forms were stripped and moved to the next unit.
The end result looks like a stack of concrete boxes, side by side and then above, until the...
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We are doing a partial alteration to a 4 story office building in Ohio in 2025. On the first floor there is a cafeteria and seating area. The cafeteria is set up like what you would find in a hospital. You enter the cafeteria from an atrium on the first floor, you have several options to grab food from food stations on a tray, and then check out at the cash register and proceed to sit down in the next room at a table and eat.
I am analyzing the occupant count for the entire building and...
CBC 420.4 Automatic Sprinkler System says:
Group R-2.1 occupancies shall be equipped throughout with an automatic sprinkler system in accordance with Section 903.2.6.
But 903.2.6 says:
An automatic sprinkler system shall be provided throughout buildings with a Group I fire area.
This makes no sense, that an R-2.1 occupancy would contain Group I fire area.
So my client asked the State Fire Marshal, and got the following response:
Based Table 504.3 an R-2.1 can be constructed with a...
South Dakota - where state rules allow quite a bit of commercial work before you are required by law to have an architect (SDCL 36-18A-9).
So we have an existing brick building with wood-frame interior from 1890 where the second floor is having a Level 3 alteration to reconfigure 3 apartments. It is not a change of use as there were 3 apartments before however this is a major gut and redo. The ground floor tenant space is a retail store, was originally a bank wayyy back when.
Ignore...
Working on a restaurant project in a Type-IA structure. We have a Pollution Control Unit (PCU) that's required to be within a 1-hour rated enclosure. There are some existing plumbing drain lines at the ceiling that run along one side of the room, but we are not allowed to have any pipes within our rated enclosure that do not serve the PCU. The building inspector said we can soffit around these pipes with a UL-listed/tested assembly.
I have been all over the USG, UL, and other sites (plus...
I would like to validate my interpretation of the Draftstopping requirements as they apply to this portion of the stated project and appreciate any effort towards this end.
Project Info: I-1 Condition 1 Occupancy, Type VB Construction, One Story w/ Ventilated Attic
Please refer to the image attached/below:
Red lines - Draftstopping required by 708.4.2; Item 2 (Corridor and Sleeping Unit Separation Fire Partitions)
Blue lines - Draftstopping omitted per by 708.4.2; Exception 2 (Corridor Fire...
City hall has single-accommodation restrooms. They want to install a lever handset than on the hallway side has a programmable combination lock, so that only users with the valid access code can enter the restroom, like this:
Problem is, when a person is using the restroom, they need another a privacy lock so that someone else who already knows the combo won't accidentally open the door on hapless user.
The city manager wants to add another deadbolt with a thumbturn on the restroom...
I have an existing building where the exit and exit discharge are the same component.
I'm doing an addition to the building against the existing exit discharge.
To deal with this I have created an exit passageway between the existing building and the addition, which basically moves the exit discharge to another location.
So what was an exit discharge in the existing building now becomes an exit access, and the exit access travel distance remains unchanged.
Does this sound code compliant so...
All, I'd like some help interpreting intermediate handrails when my occupant load would not require an intermediate handrail, but Commentary Figure 1014.9 wants us to provide handrails along the path of travel.
I have a Golf Clubhouse with 5 total exits and an occupant load of 290, non-sprinklered. All exits are accessible. Our main entrance has a ramp to the side and we want to keep our sidewalk 10-0" wide to give the grand affect. I'd like to go even wider to 16'-0" to match the width...
Hi All,
I've a project with renovating an existing 18 Stories historic high rise building under IEBC Alternation Level-2. However, the section about level-2 alternation from 2018 IEBC doesn't mention anything about smoke control. Does a new smoke control system still need? A tricky situation is that the building has an old exterior fire escape as part of the stairway and can't be considered as a smoke-proof enclosure. In this case, Is a stair pressurization system still needed? Thanks all.
Is a handrail required in the middle of a set of exterior 14' wide, 2-riser steps leading from a pedestrian way to a sidewalk? There are handrails on both ends.
This condition does not seemed to be governed by section 1014.9:
I am working on this interior space, where within this space it has 3 doors leading out: one through a pre-function room that is connected to the common corridor (the main entrance of the space), one directly to a stairs, and another to the back of the corridor that leads to a second stairs.
However, the existing exit doors of the "prefunction room" has limited load capacity. Since load egressing through intervening space is required to be added, using the main entrance as one of the...
I have been asked to inspect the firestopping in a 4-story, Type II-B university classroom building that is undergoing moderate renovation. Other than the stairwells, elevator shaft, an emergency electrical room and a BDA room, there are no rated walls in the building. Two new large vertical ducts start on the third floor and run through the fourth floor to the roof. The architect has required them to be enclosed in a 2-hour shaft (just on the fourth floor) AND has required fire dampers at...
In the sketch below, building 1 is a new, 2,100 small Type IIB food serving building with 8" cmu exterior walls, no openings, and a small overhang on the lower left corner. Buildings 2 and 3 are existing open air gathering places with about 4 to 5 feet overhangs. If I'm reading table 705.5 correctly, the walls of the new building need to be rated 1 hour, correct? If so, doesn't the block carry an inherent 1 hour rating and therefore I am OK?
We are in a mixed use space that is retail / mercantile as well as art gallery / cultural exhibit.
I am trying to figure out if we have to submit for permits every time we change our layout of furniture and backdrop panels, or if we are free to move things around as we wish.
We've planned out our layout similar to IKEA or a furniture store, as we will be displaying and selling art and other consumer goods throughout the whole space, of many sizes small to large. We also want movable...
IBC 2024
IEBC 2024
Group B occupancy
Multistory office building with elevator
Building remodel project -- Level 3
Building has a partially exposed floor level that currently has only one existing egress path / door, plus the existing elevator.
We've proposed adding a new door in place of an existing window -- client doesn't like this idea due to some exterior grade issues, however this is actually feasible with a bit of extra work.
There is also a an existing commercial overhead door --...
Hello Everyone,
I am working on a project and would like to request your opinion. The project is in New jersey and the applicable building codes are
NJ1BC 2018, Rehabilitation subcode NJAC 5:23-6
The required front and side setbacks are 0' and the required rear setback is 20'. The maximum stories allowed are 5 and the max. ht. 60'. The lot is undersized lot.
The existing building is a two story building with basement. There is no way to enter basement directly from front. The person will...
I am looking at providing a small IIIB project and based on table 601 and 704.10/704.11 it appears as though an overhead door lintel would be required to be 2 hour rated. So if we have a 14' overhead door, the lintel at that opening would need to be 2 hour rated. While i guess i could opt for a type V construction, it got me wondering how most IIIB buildings would handle this. Not a huge fan of intumescent paint. precast?
Working on tenant upfit plans in a existing 2-story covered mall. Section 402 would apply. Our tenant space is on first floor.
We have partial previous upfit plans from 2015. Building Code Summary lists type of construction as II-A. Total Ground Floor =298,102 SF. The plans list several 1-hr assemblies that would normally be required for II-A construction. Building is sprinklered. During site visit we see that the floor ceiling assembly noted on prior plans (UL G529) is not in place. We can...
trying to get some clarification.
on riser heights in an auditorium with ramped aisles. In the ramp run where there is 3 sets of steps that have 2 risers and 1 tread. About 10 feet apart. The ramp is at allowable grade. So in the stepped aisles section 1030.14. 14.2.2 exception 1 states that where nonuniformities exceed 3/16" between adjacent risers a distinctive marking stripe needs to be used. So to me risers that differ in height, more that 3/16" are allowable if they are marked. My...
I'm designing a 1 story 4,000 sf building with a flat roof that slopes at 1/4" south to north, to a gutter along the north wall. There is a large mechanical yard in the center of the roof footprint, with louvered walls around to screen the 4 RTUs. There is no other utilities up there within 10' of the roof edge. I currently have a 1'-6" parapet at the south elevation where the roof is at it's highest and it grows to 2'-6" on the north side. Does this meet code or do I need 30" all...
Looking at table 601 of the IBC it says 0 for floor rating, if the tenant on the first floor wants an exposed ceiling can the 2X12 and decking of the second floor be exposed?
Hello,
Apologies in advanced if this in not the correct forum for this question. I'm trying to get an understanding if buildings that are fewer than 4 floors or under 75' in height are required to have stairwell re-entry? This is context to access control doors to internal stairwells that are setup to unlock on fire but do not have positive latching. Is it required to have stairwell re-entry for these doors or is that only applicable to hi-rise structures? There seems to be language...
Trying to start this as far as where the real rating is, whare penetrations are allowed and how they need to be protected.....
https://www.ul.com/news/qa-area-separation-wall-design
Q: Are these wall assemblies rated for fire exposure from either side?
A: The UL Designs covering these wall assemblies typically include two configurations; a symmetrical configuration and a non-symmetrical configuration. When constructed in the non-symmetrical configuration, the assembly is rated for fire...
Consider me old-fashioned (I do like a good "old fashioned," but that's irrelevant here), but I prefer using Equation 5-5 (and Equation 5-4 when necessary) from the previous editions over the new table (tables, if you consider Table 506.3.3.1). So, I have a couple of questions I would like to ask:
(For building officials) Would you allow or (for others) have you ever asked to allow the use of Equations 5-5 and 5-4 instead of Tables 506.3.3 and 506.3.3.1 if your jurisdiction has adopted the...