Remediation of Clay Fire Tile

[Tramba]

I am working on an Historic building that has egress stairs wrapped in hollow clay fire tile. I have seen this application before and, looking at what we have with a prescriptive approach from the IBC, a 2-hour rated assembly should be achievable.

The problem is, in some areas there are small holes, in some areas there are bigger holes, in some areas only one face of the tile remains, and in other areas, the wall is crumbling down.

We instructed the contractor to fire seal (Hilti products) the existing wall to the greatest extent possible and demolish sections that can’t be remediated by providing a new abutting 2 hour assembly with details. Seemed straightforward.

We’re now getting requests for greater specifics: how big of a hole dictates demolition, can we use CMU, what if the tile is covered in plaster, what if only one side of the tile is damaged…

All good questions but our team is wondering how to wrap this up without dragging it out endlessly?

 

[Inspector Gadget]

Not familiar with IBC/ICC - but the Canadian Codes I work with allow attributing fire-resistance ratings to various thicknesses of concrete/mortar and brick. Is there something similar in IBC/ICC/etc?

 

[Yankee Chronicler]

We instructed the contractor to fire seal (Hilti products) the existing wall to the greatest extent possible and demolish sections that can’t be remediated by providing a new abutting 2 hour assembly with details. Seemed straightforward.

We’re now getting requests for greater specifics: how big of a hole dictates demolition, can we use CMU, what if the tile is covered in plaster, what if only one side of the tile is damaged…

All good questions but our team is wondering how to wrap this up without dragging it out endlessly?

Are you the design professional, or the code official?

I'm not sure what prescriptive approach you used from the IBC, since the IBC doesn't address existing buildings unless the IEBC sends you there. I believe hollow clay tile assemblies are included in the tables of fire-resistance ratings of archaic building materials in Resource A at the end of the IEBC. What you have to realize is that if resource A says an 8" hollow clay tile is good for [___] minutes, that's based in an undamaged, intact unit. If there's a hole in one face, or if one face is gone entirely, you no longer have a rated assembly.

My immediate question, as an architect, is why you are replacing damaged hollow clay tiles with other materials in a historic building. Why aren't you replacing damaged units with new units, or intact units reclaimed from other parts of the building or from other buildings?