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Church Steeple and Cross

C

cballinger

Bronze Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2014
Messages
64
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Is the cross considered part of the church steeple? Trying to determine compliance with allowable height. Type VB building. 2012 IBC Section 504.3 allows roof structures of combustible construction to be 20 feet above the allowable building height (in this case allowable building height is 60 feet with sprinkler increase per Sec. 504.2), so the steeple is permitted to be 80 feet above grade. But is the cross included in the height of the steeple? Or can we consider a cross similar to "other rooftop structures" such as a flagpole (unlimited height and permitted to be combustible construction per Sec. 1509.8.5) which can extend above the steeple height?
 
The cross is not part of the building height.
The steeple may be part of the roof surface depending on how it is constructed but not the cross

HEIGHT, BUILDING. The vertical distance from grade plane to the average height of the highest roof surface.

I would say the steeple and cross follow under the following
ROOFTOP STRUCTURE. A structure erected on top of the roof deck or on top of any part of a building.
 
Yeah, I get that it's not part of the building height and I agree it is a rooftop structure. Section 504.3 limits the height of rooftop structures. It specifically mentions steeples, so I'm sure the steeple is limited to 20 feet above the building height (if building height is limited to 60 feet, then steeple is limited to 80 feet in Type VB), but it also refers us to Chapter 15 for additional requirements. Looking at Section 1509.8 for "other rooftop structures", Section 1509.8.5 allows flagpoles and "similar structures" to be unlimited in height and of combustible material. So just trying to figure out if the cross is part of the steeple or if it can be considered similar to flagpole.
 
Agree, similar to flagpole.
Think of it this way: how much of a combustible problem will it create (please no cross burning jokes here, I'm serious). It has almost no floor area (typically less than 1 SF) and no hidden combustible space like an attic would have. From a firefighting standpoint, it is not really a problem. Therefore it makes both code-sense and logic-sense to treat it as something other than roof.
 
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