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How do you vent a 1-hour rated balcony floor?

Yikes

SAWHORSE
Joined
Nov 2, 2009
Messages
3,947
Location
Southern California
Type V-A wood framed apartment building with cantilevered balconies. The balconies use membrane protection (type X gyp) to protect the underside of their framing with a 1 hour fire rating
California Building Code 2034.12.2.6 requires the cavities between the cantilevered joist to be ventilated at a ratio of 1/150th of the floor area.
I was initially thinking of doing this with a continuous soffit-type vent like we use at eaves, but does this soffit vent allow fire to actually bypass and defeat the 1 hour membrane protection?
 
Is there a rated vent? Or vent on the vertical face?
It is a fire rated balcony assembly (1 hour).
That means the vertical face of the balcony floor is a continuous rim joist, and the underside of the balcony is exterior fire rated gyp board, with a layer of stucco over that, for aesthetics to match the wall finishes.
 
I really haven't seen any other solution.
Do building officials simply allow a conventional soffit vent, without worrying about the breach of the 1-hour rated membrane?
 
Depending on the BO level of observation, education, time available they may or may not realize the implication of the potential breach of the barrier.

I read this forum daily to gain knowledge of situtations I have yet to be presentd with in real life.
 
Update:
I had forgotten about IBC/CBC 705.2.3.1 exception #3, where the balcony fire rating can be omitted when the fire sprinkler protection is extended out to the balcony. In that instance, the continuous vent does not need to be fire rated, unless of course it is in a WUI area.
 
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