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Thread 'Two Buildings, Shared Egress'

For two connected buildings, separated by a fire wall, can both required/provided exits of one be via rated interior stairways that are part of the other building? Please note: For purpose of this question, Building 2 is not to be considered a separate Fire Area that could be part of Building 1.

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Thread 'Fire Alarm Requirements for Day Care inside Church'

Hello, I am doing an upfit for a church that wants to expand. They are currently in 3000 sqft and are expanding into the unit next door and adding an additional 2400 sqft. Most of this will be a foyer and then also a children's church in the back and nursery. There is fixed seating, so the total occupant load is around 240 people and does not trigger any sprinkler or fire alarm requirements. The pastor decided he wants to start doing a licensed day care in the back two rooms where his...

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Thread 'Multi-story decorative stairs code requirements'

My understanding for stairs has been that whether it is used as one of the required means of egress or not, it needs to follow the safety requirements for riser/tread, railings etc. listed in Chapter 10. See this project in new york city: https://www.selldorf.com/projects/david-zwirner-20th-street This is an open stairs and not used for egress. Still, I don't see any handrails? Did I miss something? Thank you,

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Thread 'Mezzanine in Type IIA construction Type, Single Story, Sprinklered Building. Are Rated Floor Penetrations Required?'

We are in for permit review and the AHJ asked why our mezzanine floor is not rated. The mezzanine floor is rated, but we do not have any rated penetrations, because vertical openings are permitted per NCBC 2018 712.1.11, and we are not separating any spaces below and above the mezzanine. Am I wrong in not providing rated floor penetration details?

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Thread 'ATRIUMS'

In a three-story building Type VA construction, I would like to create an opening (6' x 6') connecting the first, second and third floor levels, would this be considered an Atrium ? If I were to install horizontal fire shutters or "Horizontal Fire Door assemblies" (BCNYS 712.1.13.1) at these openings would this allow me to, not treat these openings as an Atrium?

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Thread 'Rooftop stair wall/door rating'

IBC 2021- Type 1B building, 2 stories with a non-occupied roof. The roof has a lot of equipment on it, so we have a few stairs going up there with doghouses along the perimeter. The stairs have 3 exterior walls below, and the 1 interior wall is inline with the building perimeter. The roof is rated 1 hour, the interior stair wall is 2 hours, and the stair sidewalls are 1 hour per 1023.7. The question I have right now is does the roof facing wall and door need to be rated at the roof level, or...

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Thread 'A & B Construction Type in the same building'

I just wanted some clarification, my client is wanting to use both II-A & II-B construction type in the same building, but my intuition is that they'll need a fire wall between these two spaces. Section 602.1 only states "...shall be classified in one of the five construction types", but not it's sub-types (A&B). Could anyone clarify if this is allowed or not? I highly doubt this was the intention when they wrote the code.

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Thread 'horizontal exit question'

I have a question regarding a fire wall that divides a large elementary school into two separate buildings for the purpose of building size. I'm wondering, are all the doors within this fire wall automatically considered horizontal exits by default, simply because they are located in a fire wall? Or do they only become horizontal exits when specifically designated as such? If travel distance is not an issue can the doors in the fire wall be exit access doors instead of an exit?

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Thread 'Hub drain for three basin dish sink'

We are designing a new cafe in an existing unoccupied food service tenant space The building owner is removing and replacing the slab in the commercial kitchen room. We are planning to put sinks in the existing now empty kitchen and there are no existing below floor drain pipes on the kitchen side. It was formerly a commercial kitchen and the space is now vacant, but we don't know where any sinks were located previously - there is a hole punched through the wall above the hub drain. We are...

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Thread 'Occupant Loads for Restrooms For An Open Park'

I have a park on the beach with parking. How do you determine occupant load when it comes to calculating plumbing fixtures? This appears to be a more AHJ specific answer.

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Thread 'Mixed occupancies needed in R-2 congregate residences?'

A proposed design for a new three story R-2 congregate residence fraternity house on a college campus will have the second and third floors entirely R-2 residential area. The first floor will have a very small R-2 area, with the majority of the first floor being a lounge, lobby, dining area and a commercial kitchen, all of which are small enough spaces to be B occupancies. The designer would like to consider all the first floor spaces as a part of the R-2 area since it is a congregate...

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Thread 'Stairs (somewhat) in the public realm & intermediate handrails'

As part of a neightborhood recreational area we are upgrading the baseball field for Little league usage. The baseball home field is along the corner of a road intersection. Baseball field is a few feet below the road line, we'll bring an access to the space through the park. At the intersection of the roads I'm constructing an announcer booth / press boxes. I am not more than 12 ft in Height , or accessible from bleachers so I will need to be accessible per chapter 11 IBC. The sidewalk...

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Thread 'Welds - Tilt Walls & Special Inspections'

Would these welds require a special inspection?

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Thread 'Sound Attenuation and Interior Finish Requirements'

Just had an issue where another jurisdiction is not allowing a product like Proflex to be used as sound attenuation under tile, which is way, way, way common because it is not the correct class. This will be sandwiched between a concrete slab and tile, so it does not meet the definition of interior floor finish. What are your thoughts on this? I feel sorry for the contractor. *NOTE: This is a high-rise Type I or II construction

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Thread 'How to calculate occupancy load in a corridor?'

Please see the floor plan: First floor plan I have a 4 story type VA building. There are 500 OCC in the courtyard. The total occupancy load on the first floor is 824. How to calculate the corridor occupancy load in front of the community room? Thanks a lot.

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Thread 'Clear depth at lowest step in assembly stepped aisles.'

In an outdoor stadium seating setting that has stepped aisle, without any transition to/from regular stairs, what code section would give the required clearance between the face of the lowest step and the guardrail shown in the illustrative from the ICC commentary below?

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Thread 'Exit from enclosed courtyard'

I have an 7500sf enclosed courtyard in a 4 story type VA apartment building. The courtyard is open to sky. Do I have to add a 2 hours passageway to exit from courtyard directly from the courtyard to outside? Can I get out from corridors without that 2 hour passageway? Please see the site plan. site plan Thanks!

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Thread 'Separation required between Type 3B and Type 2B?'

I have an existing vehicle repair service garage (S-1 occupancy) that is single story, non-sprinklered Type 3B construction. The client wants to do an addition and we're looking at constructing a metal building, non-sprinklered Type 2B construction- also S-1 occupancy. The allowable building height, stories and area are all compliant with either S-1 for Type 2B or Type 3B. Path of logic has me thinking that if I'm allowed to build a Type 3B building addition without any separation, then a...

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Thread 'Existing Rated Separation Required?'

Hello - I'm working on a renovation of an existing 2 story + basement office condo building, not sprinklered, VB, Business, total SF 15,709, in Michigan. The walls between the tenant suites are rated 1 hour, as are the doors from the suites to the common corridor. There's also a drywall ceiling above the ACT ceiling. The rated walls are called out at shear walls and they go from the roof down to the first floor, but not to the basement slab. Original drawing done under 2000 Michigan Building...

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Thread 'Fire Alarm Requirements in Existing Church'

Hiall, I’m working on a 4-floor church (basement + three floors) that had a main water line burst, which caused major structural damage. As part of the renovation, they’re adding an elevator and relocating the kitchen. I’m treating the basement as new space they're turning an old Sunday-school space into an entertainment and event area. Here’s where I’m stuck. The original as-builts show a FACP and devices throughout the building, but after several walkthroughs all I’ve seen are...

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Thread 'Determining Occupant load for a Gym'

Hi all, I have a client that is converting a warehouse space into a gym. Think cross between cross-fit and traditional gym. So lots of equipment and open spaces for flipping large tires, etc. Some of the equipment is rather large. Some of these more cross fit areas take up a lot of space. When running occupant load with 50 gross for exercise it comes to a really high amount, approx. 450. He's been operating over a year, and has never had over 100 occupants. He only has parking for 100...

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Thread 'Net Area in Unconcentrated Space'

I have seen both yes and no answers to this question, but would like current thoughts or opinions. Apologies if this has been answered elsewhere in this forum but I couldn't find it. The light purple area In the sketch below would be where the 15 sf / person would apply. The light brown areas are fixed booth seating. The question is could the areas hatched in orange be deducted from the net area for the tables and chairs since this area would need to be always open for exiting from the...

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Thread 'Trash Facility Egress'

I've got a transfer station egress question. IBC 2018. The building is 160'x140' with (4) openings in one end for trash to be pushed into tractor trailers waiting in a pit below. The pit is 45'x140'. We meet egress requirements on the main floor, but the pit is giving me issues. There is only room for the overhead doors on either end and grade is such that I can only exit to grade at one corner. Other facilities that we've visited don't have egress doors out of this space and I'm not sure...

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Thread 'Unprotected shed adjacent to a type III (A or B) Building'

A business wants to install a wood or vinyl prefab shed 5' from an existing type III building. Due to the occupancy classification and area, the building cannot be reclassified to a construction type that does not require a fire resistance rated wall. The shed is used to store tables and chairs that are used for outdoor events. Is there a code path to allow this installation, specifically an unprotected shed adjacent to a protected building? I could not find one except for a potential code...

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Thread 'IBC/CBC 705.8'

In section 705.8.1 the text states openings permitted in an exterior wall. I have a covered carport with columns supporting a roof that is in the same plane as the R-3 unit that it attaches to. Does the plane with the columns constitute a wall with openings or is it not considered a wall therefore no issues with the percentage of opening calcs. I've attached a plan for reference.

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