1.1 B - BUILDING CODE ANALYSIS

Question 1

Building codes are written to..

Answer 1

Protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public. They are written to the “least acceptable risk.”

Question 2

What does IBC stand for?

Answer 2

International Building Code

Question 3

What does ICC stand for?

Answer 3

International Code Council

Question 4

Code

Answer 4

An organized law designed to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public.

Question 5

Prescriptive Code

Answer 5

A code that specifies techniques, materials, and methods allowed for use. Simple to administer, but specific code allows for little innovation.

Question 6

Type of Construction

Answer 6

Classified according to degree of fore resistance, determined by fire zone it is located in and intended use, influences the height, floor area, and materials.

Question 7

Floor Area

Answer 7

Maximum allowable floor area based on use, type, and fire zone. Area can be increased with better fire resistive sprinklers. Can also divide floor into fire resistive areas with fire rated separation and fire dampers.

Question 8

Height

Answer 8

Maximum allowable height based on use and type. Can increase the height with better fire resistive design or sprinklers. Penthouses, fan rooms, and skylights are sometimes allowed to exceed height restrictions

Question 9

Fire Partition

Answer 9

Wall assembly with a one-hour fire resistance rating that, in most cases, provides a continuous barrier from the floor to the underside of the floor or ceiling above, or to the ceiling of a fire-resistance rated floor/ceiling or roof/ceiling assembly. Example: walls between hotel rooms are fire partitions.

Question 10

Fire Barrier

Answer 10

A wall assemble with more protection that a fire partition. It is a vertical or horizontal assembly that is fire resistance rated and is designed to restrict the spread of fire, confine it to limited areas, and/or afford safe passage to protected egress. Example: exit stair towers.

Question 11

Fire Wall

Answer 11

A fire-resistance rated wall that is used to separate a single structure into separate construction types or to provide for allowable area increases by creating what amounts to separate buildings even though they are attached. They need to have a fire-resistance of 2 to 4 hours and must extend continuously from the foundation, through the roof. Example: Wall separating row house units continues through roof to form a parapet so fire won’t spread to next house.

Question 12

Smoke Barrier

Answer 12

Continuous vertical or horizontal shield with a minimum fire-resistant rating of 1 hour that is designed and constructed to restrict movement of smoke. It is a passive form of smoke control.

Question 13

Occupant Load

Answer 13

The occupant load of a building is the total number of persons that might occupy a building.

Question 14

Occupant Load Factor

Answer 14

The amount of floor area presumed to be occupied by one person.

Question 15

Accessory Use Areas

Answer 15

To be considered as an accessory use area, an area can’t exceed 10% of the total allowed by the height/area table, but it does need to be separated from the main area by a fire separation.

Example: A linen closet on the same floor as the hotel rooms

Question 16

Mixed Occupancy

Answer 16

If occupancies in a building are too large to be considered incidental/accessory then the building is considered to have mixed occupancy.

Question 17

Occupancy Group

Answer 17

Assembly: Group A
Business: Group B
Educational: Group E
Factory & Industrial: Group F
High Hazard: Group H
Institutional: Group I
Mercantile: Group M
Residential: Group R
Storage: Group S
Utility & Miscellaneous: Group U