Incidental or accessory

[Inspector 102]

Local school has a room that is being used for computer servers and other IT related equipment. The building is non-sprinklered. The room is 450 SF in area and they are wanting to know if this room requires a 1-hour separation as indicated for an incidental use or can it be non-separated as an accessory use. The roof/ceiling is non-combustible bar joit, the above ceiling area is not used as return air and there are no combustibles within the above ceiling space. Their goal is to eliminate a ceiling within this room to make it easier to run and maintain all the communication wires. What am I missing and how would you classify this space. Thank you

 

[High Desert]

I would call it accessory and not incidental. It is not listed in Table 508.2.5 and an IT room is ancillary to the main occupancy.

 

[mtlogcabin]

Agree it would be accessory and the non combustible construction should not be a problem. However without a ceiling how will they maintain the room at proper operating tempatures for the servers? Not a code issue just an operations question for the IT person to think about.

 

[fatboy]

Agree on the accessory............

 

[Coug Dad]

Accessory. Cable type???

 

[Dr. J]

Agree, no fire resistive separation is required, but also agree with mt that something has to separate the server room from everything else in order to properly condition the room. That something is either a ceiling or to-the-deck walls. I usually see the to-the-deck walls because it is easier to deal with a few bundles of cable through walls rather than a spider web of cables and drops through a ceiling.

 

[Architect1281]

Now that that issue is resolved based on ACESSORY VS INCIDENTAL

here is the name of the IBC 2006 TABLE 508.2 INCIDENTAL USE AREAS

and

Here is the name of the IBC 1009 TABLE 508.2.5 INCIDENTAL ACCESSORY OCCUPANCIES

Once again a good reason to prohibit fire arms at code hearings