IEBC Commentary?

[Yankee Chronicler]

Does anyone have the IEBC Commentary? (Preferably the 2021 edition, but 2018 or 2015 would be better than nothing.) I'm dealing with the definition of "Work Area," which refers to the "reconfigured spaces." But neither the IEBC nor the IBC defines either "reconfigured" or "space." so the definition is open to debate.

I have always taken the approach that when you do work that falls within the definition of "Work Area," the room in which that work is performed is a "reconfigured space" and, therefore, the work area is the area of the affected room or rooms. I recently had an applicant put forth the argument that the "work area" should be confined only to the limyed portions within a room where the actual work is being done. So he submitted a work area plan with a lot of little bubbles scattered across the plan, showing (for example) a length of wall where a door was being removed, and extending 12" or 18" out from the wall on each side for the 3-foot length of the door opening.

I think that's a perversion of the definition. I'd like to know if the Commentary adds anything to the definition. My department doesn't have the Commentary, and I don't feel like buying it out of my own pocket to answer this one question.

If anyone has the IEBC Commentary, I'd appreciate it if you could cite any commentary on this definition.

 

[mtlogcabin]

2021 IEBC

 

[Yankee Chronicler]

Perfect. Many thanks.

 

[steveray]

I think the key is to be reasonable.....If the work really affects the way the room works, include the room....If not, maybe just count the actual space they need to perform the work....

 

[Paul Sweet]

I've usually seen it defined as the area of the new room when a space is subdivided. The only time the remaining portion of a room should be counted is if the new room impacts egress access in the remaining portion.

 

[Yankee Chronicler]

I think the key is to be reasonable.....If the work really affects the way the room works, include the room....If not, maybe just count the actual space they need to perform the work....

In the case under consideration, the existing building is a 2-1/2 story boarding house that's well over 100 years old. 2x4 studs from the days when a 2x4 measured 2" x 4". The original interiors were horsehair plaster on wood lath, but both floors were stripped to the studs (with no permit). The plan is to make the lower floor an office occupancy, and the upper floor 2 apartments.

The second floor floor-ceiling assembly needs to provide a 1-hour separation between the business and the apartments. The code says that 1-hour construction needs to be supported by 1-hour-rated construction -- but under the IEBC this will apply only if it's a Level 3 alteration, not if it's a Level 2. Because of the number of walls added and deleted, plus openings created and closed off, virtually every room or space has something going on in it. Therefore, since the definition of work area refers to "spaces," I regard it as a Level 3 alteration. The owner's design professional (a licensed architect) maintains that within each of the affected rooms the only area that counts toward the work area is the limited area immediately adjacent to each discrete section of wall being worked on. By doing that, he gets the work area down to slightly under 50%, so he calls it a Level 2 alteration, thereby escaping having to rate the first floor bearing walls and the carrying timbers in the basement.

 

[mtlogcabin]

make the lower floor an office occupancy, and the upper floor 2 apartments.

the existing building is a 2-1/2 story boarding house that's well over 100 years old.

The whole building will be a change of occupancy and Chapter's 5 or 10 (designers' choice) would be applicable along with the requirements in Chapter 3. Different requirements within the codes for a boarding house and an apartment. Plumbing fixture count, a kitchen to prepare meals, separate utilities and HVAC systems.

[BG] BOARDING HOUSE. A building arranged or used for lodging for compensation, with or without meals, and not occupied as a single-family unit.

[A] CHANGE OF OCCUPANCY. A change in the use of a building or a portion of a building that results in any of the following:

1. A change of occupancy classification.

2. A change from one group to another group within an occupancy classification.

3. Any change in use within a group for which there is a change in application of the requirements of this code.

 

[steveray]

Does IEBC 1002.1 get you there? Via Ch. 4 IBC?