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Fire Assembly on Existing Building

indyarchyguy

indyarchyguy

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United States
So I have a question regarding an existing building. I have a client that purchased a very old church that he elected to convert to an event space. Per typical of this type of issue, during renovation the inspector showed up and asked where his permit was as well as his fire sprinkler. He had neither. I am trying to take him through Chapter 34 and the biggest issue that I am facing is the floor/ceiling assembly. He has S-1 in the basement and A-2 on the first floor. The ceiling has a 3/4-inch plaster coating on metal lath, suspended off of steel floor joists. The wood floor is 2 x wood plank. I have explained to him and his architect that as the steel joists are not protected (no fireproofing/intumescent,etc.), that doesn't help. The 3/4-inch plaster might get him 1-hour if it is on metal lath and metal furring. However, the 2 x wood plank does not get him anything at all. Am I missing something in 721 or 722? Your help is much appreciated. Thank you.
 
classicT said:
I don't believe that you are. Is the building as a whole Type V construction?
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No. The exterior and interior support walls are masonry with stone veneer...18 inches total thickness. Interior walls have 7/8-1" plaster...I misread before. Floor ceilings between Basement and First, and then First and Second consist of the typical floor/ceiling assembly as previously stated. Again, my issue I keep going back to is the floor being 2 x plank. Just not seeing a way around it.

Also failed to mention I am not finding ANYTHING in the UL Assemblies directory that is even remotely close.
 
non separated occupancies. I would bet the most restrictive occupancy is not above the allowable area for the construction type. need more information. sounds like a III-B
 
It is not a code it is a guideline for design professionals to use.

RESOURCE A
GUIDELINES ON FIRE RATINGS OF
ARCHAIC MATERIALS AND ASSEMBLIES

Introduction

The International Existing Building Code® (IEBC®) is a comprehensive code with the goal of addressing all aspects of work taking place in existing buildings and providing user-friendly methods and tools for regulation and improvement of such buildings. This resource document is included within the cover of the IEBC with that goal in mind and as a step towards accomplishing that goal.

In the process of repair and alteration of existing buildings, based on the nature and the extent of the work, the IEBC might require certain upgrades in the fire-resistance rating of building elements, at which time it becomes critical for the designers and the code officials to be able to determine the fire-resistance rating of the existing building elements as part of the overall evaluation for the assessment of the need for improvements. This resource document provides a guideline for such an evaluation for fire-resistance ratings of archaic materials that are not typically found in the modern model building codes.

Resource A is only a guideline and is not intended to be a document for specific adoption as it is not written in the format or language of ICC’s International Codes and is not subject to the code development process.

PURPOSE

The Guideline on Fire Ratings of Archaic Materials and Assemblies focuses upon the fire-related performance of archaic construction. “Archaic” encompasses construction typical of an earlier time, generally prior to 1950. “Fire-related performance” includes fire resistance, flame spread, smoke production and degree of combustibility.

The purpose of this guideline is to update the information which was available at the time of original construction, for use by architects, engineers and code officials when evaluating the fire safety of a rehabilitation project. In addition, information relevant to the evaluation of general classes of materials and types of construction is presented for those cases when documentation of the fire performance of a particular archaic material or assembly cannot be found.
 

Guideline on Fire Ratings of Archaic Materials and Assemblies​


Authors: National Institute of Building Sciences


Report Acceptance Date: February 2000 (184 pages)

Posted Date: February 01, 2000

Download
Order

Publication Icon

Older buildings often contain materials that are fire safe but not listed in current fire ratings sources. This lack of documentation hinders the modernization and reuse of our nation’s building stock. The Guideline on Fire Ratings of Archaic Materials and Assemblies is a compilation of fire ratings from earlier sources for a wide variety of materials and assemblies found in buildings from the nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries. This guideline also provides methods for calculating the fire resistance of general classes of archaic materials and assemblies for which no documentation can be found.
First published in 1980, this guideline has found widespread use and acceptance among architects, engineers, preservationists, and code officials. It has been incorporated into numerous state and local building codes, three model code publications, and two NFPA standards.
 
JPohling said:
non separated occupancies. I would bet the most restrictive occupancy is not above the allowable area for the construction type. need more information. sounds like a III-B
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Yes, it is a III-B....my concern on running the entire thing as an A-2 is an issue as the primary use in the lower level could be argued as S-1 since that is what he intends to use it for. The entire structure (all three levels) consists of 11,190 sf. Using Equation 5-1, we get the advantage of some frontage increase. This allows for an adjusted area of 13,870 sf. Yes, I am under area then. My concerns therefore go to occupant load and egress. We were already pushing to self-limit occupant load (via variance) to a maximum of 300 on the first floor (public/staff). There is adequate egress at 3 points and we exceed the maximum width by 165%. However, there is only one entry point that meets accessibility which is the main entrance.

I did run the analysis based on the A-2 Occupancy. However, it misses the Fire Safety score by 6+ points. I would also assume I couldn't be as generous on the egress score as there is only one means of egress that meets accessibility. I would probably need to knock that score down.
 
Last edited:
mtlogcabin said:

Guideline on Fire Ratings of Archaic Materials and Assemblies​

Authors: National Institute of Building Sciences


Report Acceptance Date: February 2000 (184 pages)

Posted Date: February 01, 2000

Download
Order

Publication Icon

Older buildings often contain materials that are fire safe but not listed in current fire ratings sources. This lack of documentation hinders the modernization and reuse of our nation’s building stock. The Guideline on Fire Ratings of Archaic Materials and Assemblies is a compilation of fire ratings from earlier sources for a wide variety of materials and assemblies found in buildings from the nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries. This guideline also provides methods for calculating the fire resistance of general classes of archaic materials and assemblies for which no documentation can be found.
First published in 1980, this guideline has found widespread use and acceptance among architects, engineers, preservationists, and code officials. It has been incorporated into numerous state and local building codes, three model code publications, and two NFPA standards.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I really appreciate the information. I have reviewed Resource A, UL Assembly Library and now this. There is nothing available given the existing floor/ceiling assembly that garners him any protection in that area. The walls in the building are good and can provide for a 3+ hour fire rating. The killer is the separation between the different occupancies at the floor/ceiling assembly.
 
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