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Jobsaver,
My heart and prayers go out to you. It sounds like you were in a "no win"
situation no matter what direction you took. One of the characteristics
' NOT ' listed on the code officials "must haves" is a very large amount
of compassion.
If the adopted codes in one's AHJ do not cover each applicable situation,
then I truly believe that we as code officials DO have a responsibility to
go the extra mile to help our fellow citizens out. I will venture to say
we bldg. code officials AND fire code officials know of companies [ both
large & small ] that would be willing to donate the materials, and that
maybe in "OUR" AHJ's, we all know of some contractor who would be
willing to help out with tools and possibly labor. If not, then we should
' ALL 'be lobbying hard at the local churches, or leading the way and
doing it ourselves. It is NOT about us or our perceived "turfs", or
how much P.R. we can get out of it. Go back and re-read Section
R102.7... "or as is deemed necessary by the building official for
the general safety and welfare of the occupants
and the public."
And I didn't even get onto my soapbox about our duties as followers
of Christ, ...to help our fellow man.
My perception of the "current disconnected mindset" is that we
code officials should be working togther to ensure a safer, better built
environment, rather than continuing to worry about self image, ...fighting
with each other, ...allowing shoddy "feel good, look good" materials &
components to be the norm rather that the exception, ...arguing about
RFS and on and on and on. Face it people, RFS are here to stay!
If you do not want to have / allow RFS in your AHJ, an option would
be to have all of the structurally framed components designed to have
a longer time before a catastrophic failure "under fire conditions"
[ i.e. - heavy timber type construction ] installed. By adding increased
fire protection in your residences, your insurance rates will decrease,
and your community insurance ratings will improve. We "code officials"
simply have to do a better job to improve our communities.
Mac,
Does your AHJ adopted codes / ordinances have any language similar
to R102.7?
brudgers asked:
"The reason that nobody is doing anything about it is because it is a
tiny hazard statistically (number of fatalities due to dwelling fires starting
in garage < number of Fatalities due to collapse of Twin Towers)."
This statement may be true in your location, ...it is not true in all locations
and AHJ's. BTW, how many dead bodies / catastrophic injuries will it
take [ to both the occupants or the fire fighting personnel or both ] to
change a code section in your community, AND what are you doing to
make this code change happen?
This topic is a good example of a situation that is just not acceptable. If
Pcinspector1' AHJ has adopted R102.7, there is a cheap, workable, legal
compliant fix available. Have the fire official make the ruling in conjunction
with the building official and get the gyp. board installed. If the code
officials cannot or will not make a ruling, then go outside the governmental
avenues and seek involvement from the community, ...even if the code
officials have to step up and "do the right thing" outside of regular
working hours. Respectfully offered, but ever hear of volunteering to
help a citizen out?
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