Transcript Legal Requirements: building codes & accessibility codes

Legal Requirements:
building codes & accessibility codes
• Pages 349 - 363 in ”Sustainable Building
Systems and Construction for Designers"
by Lisa Tucker
44 states and the Department of Defense use the International Building
Code
32 states use the International Residential Code
32 states use the International Fire Code
What are Building Codes?
• A building code is a collection of laws,
regulations, ordinances or other statutory
requirements adopted by a government
legislative authority involved with the
physical structure and healthful conditions
for occupants of buildings. Building codes
are the government's official statement on
building safety.
• Building Codes establish predictable and
consistent minimum standards which are
applied to the quality and durability of
construction materials. "Minimum
requirements" means that construction
meets the criteria of being both "practical
and adequate for protecting life, safety and
welfare of the public".
• So who needs building codes? We all
need protection from tragedy due to fire,
structural collapse and general
deterioration in our homes, offices,
schools, manufacturing facilities, stores or
places of entertainment.
• Building codes embrace all aspects of
building construction - fire and structural
items as well as the plumbing, electrical
and mechanical systems. They provide
safeguards and ensure uniformity in the
construction industry
• Inspection during construction is the only
way to independently verify that
compliance has been achieved.
Inspections are conducted in homes,
offices and factories to verify conformity to
minimum standards, prior to the issuance
of an occupancy certificate.
• Building codes are adopted by a state or
local government's legislative body, then
enacted to regulate building construction
within a particular jurisdiction. The primary
purpose of a building code is to regulate
new or proposed construction.
• Building codes only apply to an existing
building if the building undergoes
reconstruction, rehabilitation or alteration,
or if the occupancy of the existing building
changes to a new occupancy level as
defined by the building code.
Ancient History of Building Codes
• Building regulations date back to the
beginning of recorded history. The Code of
Hammurabi (2200 B.C.) Included a simple
but effective building code provision; if an
architect built a house so negligently that it
fell down and killed the owner's son, then
the architect's son was put to death.
History of Building Codes in the United States
• In early America, George Washington and
Thomas Jefferson encouraged the
development of building regulations to
provide for minimum standards related to
public health and safety.
• At the turn of the century, the insurance
industry developed what many consider to
be modern building codes in response to
major urban fires in the United States. The
National Board of Fire Underwriters
published its National Building Code in
1905 as a model code; that is, one that
could be adopted by a locality.
• During the early 1900's, model building
codes were written by code enforcement
officials of various communities with
assistance from all segments of the
building industry
BOCA Code
• In 1915, code enforcement officials met to
discuss common problems and concerns. Out of
these meetings came the formation of three
organizations of code enforcement officials. The
first of these organizations, known as Building
Officials and Code Administrators (BOCA)
International, Inc., was created in 1915 and
represented code officials from eastern and
Midwestern portions of the United States.
Testing agencies:
provide valuable
information used in developing code requirements
• The standards developed by the various
organizations become a base for the
codes in order to determine the quality of
the material and the workmanship.
• Research and Testing Organizations
ASTM -The American Society for Testing
and Materials
NFPA - National Fire Protection
Association
UL - Underwriting Laboratories
FM - Factory Mutual Engineering Corp.
ANSI - The American National Standards
Institute
• Professional Associations
ASHRAE - The American Society of
Heating, Refrigerating and Air
Conditioning Engineers
ASCE - The American Society of Civil
Engineers
ASME - The American Society of
Mechanical Engineers
• Trade Associations
APA - The American Plywood Association
SMACNA - Sheet Metal and Air
Conditioning Contractors' National
Association
ACI - American Concrete Institute
Etc.
occupancy types
• occupancy type: described in terms of
types:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
A:
B:
E:
F:
H:
I:
M:
R:
U:
assembly
business
educational
factory and industrial
hazardous
institutional
mercantile
residential storage
utility
construction types:
based on the fire
resistance of building components
• Structural frame, interior and exterior
bearing walls, floor and roof construction.
•
•
•
•
•
Type I: the most fire resistive (hard to burn)
Type II:
Type III:
Type IV:
Type V: the least fire resistive (easy to burn)
building codes address nearly all aspects of
the physical environment
• building codes address the performance of
the physical environment, and include:
• structure
• finish materials
• mechanical systems
• plumbing
• electrical
Fire: urban disasters led to the development
and adoption of building codes
• To read a history of the Chicago Fire Department, go to:
• http://www.chipublib.org/004chicago/timeline/firedept.html
• To see a history timeline of the Boston Fire Department,
go to:
• http://www.ci.boston.ma.us/bfd/history/bfd_history.htm
The Great Chicago Fire
1871
After the Chicago Fire
Chicago in ruins: 1871
Chicago in ruins: 1871
The Great Chicago Fire
1871
• A web site dedicated to the Chicago fire of 1871:
• http://www.chicagohs.org/fire/intro/gcf-index.html
• The blaze began about 9 p.m. on Sunday,
October 8, 1871. By midnight the fire had
jumped the river's south branch and by
1:30 a.m., the business district was in
flames. Shortly thereafter the fire raced
northward across the main river.
Cause of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871
• The fire started at about 9 p.m. on Sunday, October 8, in or around
a small shed that bordered the alley behind 137 DeKoven Street.
• The fire's spread was aided by the city's overuse of wood for
building, a drought prior to the fire, and strong winds from the
southwest that carried flying embers toward the heart of the city.
• The city also made fatal errors by not reacting soon enough and
citizens were apparently unconcerned when it began.
• The firefighters were also exhausted from fighting a fire that
happened the day before.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chicago_Fire
• A full account of the fire.
• The waterworks were evacuated although
the tower was not badly damaged and still
stands. During Monday the fire burned as
far as Fullerton Avenue. Rainfall which
started about midnight helped put out the
last of the flames. 300 Chicagoans were
dead, 90,000 homeless, and the property
loss was $200 million.
Boston Fire of 1872
• In 1872 a burgeoning Boston, fat and
complacent in the post–Civil War boom,
ignored warnings that the city was growing
too fast, too soon. The result was the
Great Fire of 1872, a conflagration that left
the commercial district in ashes and
reshaped the city’s downtown.
building fires can be intense, difficult to extinguish, and
very, very frightening
a house fire
Average building fire temperatures range from approximately 700º to
900º Celsius. Steel weakens dramatically as its temperature climbs
above 230ºC, retaining only 10% of its strength at about 750ºC.
Steel vs. Wood in a Fire
•
Though steel is less flammable than wood and doesn't contribute fuel to a
fire, it still performs poorly in fires. Any urban firefighter can tell you that
when steel gets hot it expands and twists, which often causes the roof
system to fail and fall down - endangering the lives of firefighters and people
trying to escape from the building.
•
By contrast, wood retains its structural strength even at temperatures above
2000F and while it is burning. When coated with intumescent paint wood
structural members can withstand temperatures of 2,000F for up to one
hour without failing.
Americans with Disabilities Act
ADA
• The ADA is a federal code, with jurisdiction over the
entire country.
• ADA code web site:
• http://www.access-board.gov/adaag/html/adaag.htm#4.1
an example of an ADA compliant ramp:
the incline can be no steeper than 1:12
this restroom is ADA compliant because:
the hot water pipes are shielded, the size of the room is sufficient for a wheelchair
bound person to turn around, the faucet handles are automatic; no hand operations are
needed to turn on and off the water.
fireplaces and chimneys
in a traditional fireplace most of the heat from the fire
goes straight up the chimney
the fire chamber has to be lined with special fire resistant
brick to resist the high heat of the fire
wood burning stoves
wood must be carried in, ignited, and then ashes must be cleaned out