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Height limit for podium buildings - what does this mean?

N

nealderidder

Sawhorse
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
420
Location
Sacramento, CA
CBC 510.2 addresses podium buildings. What the podium is rated, what can go beneath it, what can go above it etc. One paragraph has me scratching my head:

"6. The maximum building height in feet shall not exceed the limits set forth in Section 504.3 for the building having the smaller allowable height as measured from the grade plane."

Quite often we do podium buildings as a way to get a commercial use on the ground floor and then max out an R2 use above. The R2 is usually wood or light metal framing (4 or 5 stories).

Per 510.2.2 the building below the podium must be type IA. The building above will likely be Type V or IV. The allowable height for a IA building will be much greater than a Type V or IV. So if I re-write that sentence with a little substitution I get:

"6. The maximum building height in feet shall not exceed the limits set forth in Section 504.3 for the building above the podium"

Is my substitution correct? What exactly is this paragraph trying to regulate? Is this implying that the building below the podium can exceed the height limit in 504.3? I just don't get the purpose of this one sentence.

Can somebody help me understand?


Thanks,
 
nealderidder said:
CBC 510.2 addresses podium buildings. What the podium is rated, what can go beneath it, what can go above it etc. One paragraph has me scratching my head:

"6. The maximum building height in feet shall not exceed the limits set forth in Section 504.3 for the building having the smaller allowable height as measured from the grade plane."

Quite often we do podium buildings as a way to get a commercial use on the ground floor and then max out an R2 use above. The R2 is usually wood or light metal framing (4 or 5 stories).

Per 510.2.2 the building below the podium must be type IA. The building above will likely be Type V or IV. The allowable height for a IA building will be much greater than a Type V or IV. So if I re-write that sentence with a little substitution I get:

"6. The maximum building height in feet shall not exceed the limits set forth in Section 504.3 for the building above the podium"

Is my substitution correct? What exactly is this paragraph trying to regulate? Is this implying that the building below the podium can exceed the height limit in 504.3? I just don't get the purpose of this one sentence.

Can somebody help me understand?


Thanks,
Click to expand...
The paragraph as written is correct. You have to use the smaller of all buildings. Since the podium has unlimited height in feet, it will never be the "smaller" height involved. Thus, the building(s) above the horizontal separation will always dictate the height. For example, if Group R-2, Type VA construction is built upon a Type IA podium, the maximum height for the Type VA construction is 70 feet sprinklered (NFPA 13), 60 feet sprinklered (NFPA 13R), or 50 feet nonsprinklered measured from the grade plane (not the top of the podium). If you make the podium 30 feet and you have a sprinklered (NFPA 13) Group R-2 on top, then the Type VA construction can be 40 feet at most above the podium, which would be 70 feet above grade plane. If you made the podium 70 feet, then you couldn't put a Type VA building of any height on top.
 
So the point is to keep us from getting too crazy with the height of the IA building below the podium. Makes sense.

Ron - so are you collecting a salary from this website yet? :)
 
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