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Fire barrior

Mr. Inspector

SAWHORSE
Joined
Nov 28, 2009
Messages
4,666
Location
Poconos/eastern PA
Looking for some feedback please. We have a fire company doing Level 2 alterations under the 2009 Exisiting Building Code. They demolished the existing block wall(fire barrier) located between the S-1 and A-3 uses. The wall was relocated and reconstructed approximately 14 feet away from where it was originally located.

Upon inspection, it was noted that they did not continue the newly constructed wall all of the way to the underside of the roof deck. (There is an attic that was not indicated on the plans and the wall stops below the attic at the ceiling level.) The architect's response has been to refer to Section 603.1 of the IEBC which states that "Alterations shall be done in a manner that maintains the level of fire protection provided" and the demolished wall did not continue to the underside of the roof deck. However, Section 701.3 of the IEBC states that "All new construction elements, etc shall comply with the requirements of the IBC" which would require the wall to continue to the underside of the roof deck.
 
Was the building re-evaluated completely under the 2009 IBC? Could it now be considered nonseparated occupancies?
 
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