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A historical question about horizontal building separation?

Mr Softy

Silver Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2011
Messages
162
Location
Our Fair City
This may be for the old-timers, or the historians.

What year did the codes first address horizontal separations as a means of creating 2 separate buildings? (i.e, podium construction.)

In a bigger sense, when did the concept of horizontal separation become any kind of thing in the codes?

The issue revolves around whether a 3-structure structurally-integrated complex sitting atop a common parking garage would/could be considered a single building. Plans show no fire walls or horizontal separations, floor slab has no rating indicated. Type IIB construction.

(Quick personal update - I'm a retired BO now, and have been for 2 years. Retirement is all it's cracked up to be. I highly recommend it.)

Recently (last week), I had a question posed to me about a building constructed in 1984, and it got me curious. Once a CBO, always a CBO, I suppose.

It's in South Florida. The internet has everything - I found a copy of the South Florida Building Code 1984 Ed. on line. Where there is no mention (or definition) of horizontal separation. It's all walls.

I'm thinking the building was probably designed and built under the previous edition of the code, but...if horizontal separation isn't in the 1984, it's not going to be found in a previous version.
 
I don't have a good answer, but we did have the concept of a horizontal firewall/ building separation before it was codified...It just got easier once it was....
 
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