I'm working on a project where we have two buildings on the same lot. One is an eleven story tower 8,300 SF. The other is a one story building of 5,300 SF. Total SF = 13,600 SF. They are both business occupancy and separated by about 20 feet.
503.1.2 seems to be saying that they *must* be the same construction type if they fall within the limits for a single building occupancy construction type. Since the eleven story structure can only be Type I-B, this means that the entire one-story structure must be constructed throughout with 2-hour bearing wall construction? If we had the option of evaluating them as individual structures, the one-story building could be any construction type and we could probably save some cost by doing so and only having to provide a rated wall with appropriate openings between the structures.
So, am I correct in assuming that this is not an option and we can't evaluate them as separate buildings? If so, what would the reasoning for this be?
503.1.2 seems to be saying that they *must* be the same construction type if they fall within the limits for a single building occupancy construction type. Since the eleven story structure can only be Type I-B, this means that the entire one-story structure must be constructed throughout with 2-hour bearing wall construction? If we had the option of evaluating them as individual structures, the one-story building could be any construction type and we could probably save some cost by doing so and only having to provide a rated wall with appropriate openings between the structures.
So, am I correct in assuming that this is not an option and we can't evaluate them as separate buildings? If so, what would the reasoning for this be?
