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steel for 1 hour rating

Not clear as to the application you may be thinking. There is an one hour equivalency for steel that is at least 0.10 inches thick in Section 709.3, exception. It could be difficult to utilize this exception for any occupancy other than Group I-3. There is also a one hour to steel equivalnecy in the marine fire protection world.
 
Coug Dad said:
Not clear as to the application you may be thinking. There is an one hour equivalency for steel that is at least 0.10 inches thick in Section 709.3, exception. It could be difficult to utilize this exception for any occupancy other than Group I-3. There is also a one hour to steel equivalnecy in the marine fire protection world.
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It's equivalent as a smoke barrier not as fire protection.

It cannot substitute for a required rating.
 
The smoke barrier in Section 709.3 is required to have a one hour rating. Obviously, a steel wall will not prevent heat transfer through the assembly, but this, and ship board applications are allowed. I am curious what the OP's application is.
 
I have someone wanting to move a Conex shipping container into a warehouse to enclose a 500,000 BTU Boiler. I was wondering if the steel conex would meet the intent of the 1 Hour separation for the incidental use.
 
The building is not sprinklered.

Would a single layer of 5/8 type X on the inside of the container do it?
 
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retire09,

Those conex containers typically only have one door or set of doors. Section 1015.3 in

the `06 IBC requires a minimum of 2 doors to equally spaced apart. ...for egress

purposes, when the area is over 500 sq. ft., and the fuel fired equipment is over

400,000 BTU's.

Ch. 10 in the `06 IMC has some more specific requirements regarding the installation

of boilers, ...not just the 1 hr. fire rating of the enclosed area [ EX: connection to

an approved floor drain, working clearances, maintenance, etc. ].

Does your proposed conex container have or exceeed the 500 sq. ft.?

I would say that "yes, a single layer of 5/8 inch gyp. board installed on the inside

of the container would provide the 1 hr. rating". Naturally it would have to be

installed on everything including the doors, or have them "beefed up" with additional

materials to obtain the 1 hr. rating.

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Last edited by a moderator:
retire09 said:
The building is not sprinklered.Would a single layer of 5/8 type X on the inside of the container do it?
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Not from one side and not without testing.

Unless I've missed a new UL assembly.
 
The most you could get for a single layer of gypsum board would be 40 minutes for 5/8" Type X. How would you attach the gypsum board? To many unanswered questions with the shipping container just build a rated room.

TABLE 721.6.2(1)

TIME ASSIGNED TO WALLBOARD MEMBRANESa,b,c,d

DESCRIPTION OF FINISH TIMEe (minutes)

3/8-inch wood structural panel bonded with exterior glue 5

15/32-inch wood structural panel bonded with exterior glue 10

19/32-inch wood structural panel bonded with exterior glue 15

3/8-inch gypsum wallboard 10

1/2-inch gypsum wallboard 15

5/8-inch gypsum wallboard 30

1/2-inch Type X gypsum wallboard 25

5/8-inch Type X gypsum wallboard 40

Double 3/8-inch gypsum wallboard 25

1/2- + 3/8-inch gypsum wallboard 35

Double 1/2-inch gypsum wallboard 40
 
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mtlogcabin,

Table 721.6.2(1) [ in the `06 IBC ] applies only to membranes that are fastened

on framing members spaced at 16" o.c. For means of attachment, see

Section 721.6.3.3.

In reading over Figure 721.5.1(2), would these requirements [ and the thickness

of the conex container steel walls ] be able to provide the minimum 1 hr. rating? :confused:

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retire09 - Unless the shipping container has already been tested for this purpose, and can meet all other code requirements, it would make more sense to abandon the idea and just build a room. Obtaining a UL Classification would cost tens of thousands of dollars and would necessarily destroy at least one or two containers in the process. The way they figure out how long it will last is to expose it until it doesn't.
 
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mtlogcabin,

Thank you for your input! I always appreciate your keen observations and

astute code analysis. ;)

* *
 
you need to look at Table 720.1(2) and use one of those configurations to get the 1 hour rating.

TABLE 720.1(2)

RATED FIRE-RESISTANCE PERIODS FOR VARIOUS WALLS AND PARTITIONS
 
Another alternative would be to accept a fire modeling of the scenario. I agree, there is a guestimation of what number of layers of gypsum board would be sufficient but that's all it would be since this isn't a tested assembly. Either way, it's up to the AHJ to determine whether multiple layers of gyp. or a fire model is acceptabeel as support for the equivilant design concept.

btw: there are manual formulas available for determining whether steel structural elements have a certain inherent fire rating. Usually the steel must be massive (greater than 1 inch think) and quite significant in weight. A container box would never get a 1-hour rating with bare steel.
 
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