Mr Softy
Silver Member
in our never-ending quest to get a clear, working definition of the 'work area' and it's relationship to Levels 1,2 & 3 work, we recently had an interesting chat with ICC on said subject.
we recently had a 3-family (traditional 3 decker) under renovation on all 3 floors. architect submitted plans dilineating the Level 2 'work area' at 42% of the building. OK. a field inspection revealed work in excess of what was indicated on the plans.
some of the work was exempt as being 'not initially intended'. OK. IEBC includes that exemption as part of the definition.
However, considering everything else being done, including all new systems, it was our interpretation that the work area now was over 50%. so the fire protecton upgrades of 704.2.2 would apply.
as part of our review of the architect's recalculation of work area (under 50%), we contacted ICC to hear their take on 'work area'.
ICC felt that the reconfigured space could/should be calculated as one figure for Level 2 work, and everything else could be calculated at a different figure as Level 1 work. basically allowing Levels 1 & 2 to coexist on the same project, and parsing off the 'reconfigured space' when determining if the project escalates to the upgrades of Level 2 or Level 3. by this method, and with careful math, no project should ever get to a work area of >50%.
both our department, and the state's Fire Services are having a difficult time with this interpretation. IEBC was adopted because it had provisions for updating fire protection, which we have always had in cases of buildings undergoing extensive renovation.
the main difficulty comes with residential multi-family buildings undergoing substantial, building-wide renovation. there is state law governing FP upgrades in commercial buildings. upgrades in residential have always been required through the building code. it has been part of our state's building code intent for many years.
as i see it, IEBC, creatively applied, would/should never require FP upgrades, even though those triggers are part of the code.
the RDP could -
1. pull a permit for limited work, and once underway, call everything else 'not initially intended'. or.
2. calculate work area sq footage to the barest minimum (thickness of wall or door), and never exceed 50% of the floor or total area of the building.
curiouser and curiouser.
we recently had a 3-family (traditional 3 decker) under renovation on all 3 floors. architect submitted plans dilineating the Level 2 'work area' at 42% of the building. OK. a field inspection revealed work in excess of what was indicated on the plans.
some of the work was exempt as being 'not initially intended'. OK. IEBC includes that exemption as part of the definition.
However, considering everything else being done, including all new systems, it was our interpretation that the work area now was over 50%. so the fire protecton upgrades of 704.2.2 would apply.
as part of our review of the architect's recalculation of work area (under 50%), we contacted ICC to hear their take on 'work area'.
ICC felt that the reconfigured space could/should be calculated as one figure for Level 2 work, and everything else could be calculated at a different figure as Level 1 work. basically allowing Levels 1 & 2 to coexist on the same project, and parsing off the 'reconfigured space' when determining if the project escalates to the upgrades of Level 2 or Level 3. by this method, and with careful math, no project should ever get to a work area of >50%.
both our department, and the state's Fire Services are having a difficult time with this interpretation. IEBC was adopted because it had provisions for updating fire protection, which we have always had in cases of buildings undergoing extensive renovation.
the main difficulty comes with residential multi-family buildings undergoing substantial, building-wide renovation. there is state law governing FP upgrades in commercial buildings. upgrades in residential have always been required through the building code. it has been part of our state's building code intent for many years.
as i see it, IEBC, creatively applied, would/should never require FP upgrades, even though those triggers are part of the code.
the RDP could -
1. pull a permit for limited work, and once underway, call everything else 'not initially intended'. or.
2. calculate work area sq footage to the barest minimum (thickness of wall or door), and never exceed 50% of the floor or total area of the building.
curiouser and curiouser.