Residential service pit

[e hilton]

I'm not sure why my job is relevant. I am not a retired code official.
I have no idea what you think I might be hiding.

I am on the project management side, i’m here to learn. I offer opinions, but i don’t know the code nearly as much as most everyone else, and i sure don’t know it well enough to preach about it. You seem to think you know more than everyone else, I’m just curious about your credentials.

 

[Joe.B]

I am on the project management side, i’m here to learn. I offer opinions, but i don’t know the code nearly as much as most everyone else, and i sure don’t know it well enough to preach about it. You seem to think you know more than everyone else, I’m just curious about your credentials.

My money is on contractor/developer. He's obviously got a chip on his shoulder and is here to vent his frustrations with whatever BO's he's had to deal with. I don't engage with these kind of attitudes, just let them vent and save your energy for productive conversations.

 

[Sifu]

All feelings aside, I got a call from the contractor today. He said he and the owner knew it was sketchy, and didn't realize some of the hazards. There was a general feeling of understanding and acceptance.

Redeyedfly, I get your position. I was a contractor for many years before this position. I am one who tries to live and die by the written code. Any who know me understand that, and I often argue the points based on available code...whether its for enforcement or against it. But, with experience I have realized the code, as gargantuan as it is, can't cover everything. It is my belief that the IRC was written for a defined class of structure, and that there will be times when there are elements within that defined class that are not covered by the prescriptions of that code. I believe then that it is acceptable to turn to the other codes for guidance, as others have presented. You are in opposition to that, and you are entitled to that opinion. I am not trying to convince you of anything, I am obviously not making a good enough case for that anyway. I do appreciate your position, it's just not one I agree with in this instance. I often excoriate other building officials for selective enforcement, or "creative" enforcement. If I am guilty of that here I will take my lumps because I think the hazards are real and warrant attention. But I don't think I am. The codes exist, just not in the book you want to see them in.

Nowhere have I seen you argue that the hazards aren't real, just that you don't think they apply to homes. Again, we can just disagree and move on. I made the calls, the applicant accepts them. And, BTW, the fire department also reviewed this and concurred on separate permits and plans. You keep up the fight, keep us honest, I really do appreciate it, we just have different opinions in this case.

 

[ADAguy]

What am I struggling with?

I missed the part in the IRC where it says BOs can pick and choose IBC provisions whenever they feel like it. Where exactly is that?

That is why Chapter 1 of Administration allows the AHJ to be the ultimate determiner as to what he considers to be the safest resolution.

 

[Gregg Harris]

How about the elephant in the room:::

How does a hole in the garage floor comply with this:::



406.3.3 Garage Floor Surfaces

Garage floor surfaces shall be of approved noncombustible material. The area of floor used for parking of automobiles or other vehicles shall be sloped to facilitate the movement of liquids to a drain or toward the main vehicle entry doorway

The area of the pit would not be considered for parking. The pit would be concrete. Zurn oil pit, in the pit for residual oil clean-up. Exhaust vents near the floor with an exhaust fan piped to the outside.
I have this exact scenario, residential, not commercial. My second bay is used for parking.