Chapter 2 - Structural Fire Resistance and Building Classifications Flashcards by Logan Coffey

Fire resistance determines the likelihood of ?

structural collapse under fire conditions

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All building codes classify buildings by construction type. These classifications are based on two attributes of building construction: ____ ________ and __________.

fire resistance and combustibility

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The combustible nature of a buildings _________ _______ will impact the rate of fire growth.

structural system

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In addition to classifying buildings by construction type, building codes classify buildings by their ?

occupancy

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From a fire protection standpoint, one of the most basic properties of building materials is their degree of _____ _________.

fire resistance

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Fire resistance is a function of the properties of all materials used, including ?

combustibility, thermal conductivity, chemical composition, density and dimensions

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The ability of a structural assembly to maintain its load-bearing capacity and structural integrity under fire conditions is called ?

Fire-resistance

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True or False:

Fire-resistive construction is not prone to structural failure under fire conditions?

True - is not prone to structural failure under fire conditions

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In the case of walls, partitions, and ceilings, fire resistivity also means the ability to act as a ?

a barrier to fire

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Fire resistance ratings are expressed in ?

hours and fractions of hours

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Ratings assigned to a material or an assembly after standardized testing by an independent testing organization that identifies the amount of time a material or assembly of materials will resist a typical fire as measured on a standard time-temperature curve is called ?

Fire Resistance Rating

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For example, a building code will typically require that columns supporting the floors in a fire resistive building have a fire resistance rating of ?

3 hours

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The walls enclosing an exit stairwell, which may or may not be load bearing, typically must have a fire resistive rating of ?

1 or 2 hours to protect the stairwell

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Of the three means of fire resistance determination the most commonly used method is by ?

laboratory test

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Standard Method of Tests of Fire Endurance of Building Construction and Materials is NFPA _____ ?

NFPA 251

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The primary means used to determine a fire resistance rating is to subject the component to be evaluated to the heat of a ?

standard fire in a test furnace

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Normally, assemblies are not tested beyond _____ hours because this is the maximum time required by the building codes.

four hours

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What test is the only method currently universally accepted by building codes ?

E-119

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When the continuity of an assembly is destroyed, it cannot function as a ?

fire barrier

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Solid materials, such as wood blocks, used to prevent or limit vertical and horizontal spread of fire and products of combustion in hollow walls or floors, above false ceilings, in penetrations for plumbing or electrical installations, in penetrations of a fire-rated assembly, or in clock lofts and crawl spaces are called ?

Fire Stop

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Underwriters Laboratories annually publishes a _____ _________ _________, which lists assemblies that have been tested and their fire resistance ratings.

Fire Resistive Directory

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What standard provides the methods for calculating fire-resistance ratings that are equivalent to the results obtained from the standard fire test?

ASCE/SFPE 29, Standard Calculation Methods for Structural Fire Protection

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Which NFPA standard is the time-temperature test that is the most commonly used method of satisfying building code requirements for structural fire resistance?

NFPA 251

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Incapable of supporting combustion under normal circumstances is ?

Noncombustible

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What is the most commonly used test for determining combustibility ?

ASTM E 136, Standard Test Method for Behavior of Materials in a Vertical Tube Furnace at 750 degrees C p54

Bricks, blocks, stones, and unreinforced and reinforced concrete products are called ?

Masonry p54

With the exception of _____ ___, ______ ______, the major building classifications are further divided into two or three sub classifications.

Type IV, Heavy Timber p54

Which NFPA standard details the requirements for each of the classifications and sub classifications of building construction ?

NFPA 220, Standard on Types of Building Construction p54

In NFPA 220 each classification is designated by a ?

three-digit number code p54

NFPA 220 | - The first digit refers to the fire-resistance rating (in hours) of ?

of exterior bearing walls p54

NFPA 220 | - The second digit refers to the fire-resistance rating of ?

structural frames or columns and grinders that support loads of more than one floor p54

NFPA 220 | - The third digit indicates the fire-resistance rating of the ?

floor construction p54

In Type IV construction the designation ______ is used.

2HH p54

The highest requirements for fire resistance are for ____ ___ construction, with lesser requirements for other types of construction.

Type I p54

In Type I or fire-resistive construction, the structural members are of ?

non-combustible construction that has a specified fire resistance p55

An example of a noncombustible material that is not fire-resistive and must be protected to attain fire resistance is ?

steel p55

Generally, bearing walls, columns, and beams are required to have a fire resistance of how many hours, depending on the code and the construction classification ?

two to four hours p55

Floor construction is required to have a fire resistance of how many hours ?

Two or three hours p55

The roof deck and construction supporting the roof must have a fire resistance of how many hours ?

One to two hours p55

As a practical matter, building codes usually permit a limited use of what materials in Type I construction ?

combustible materials p57

The two most common methods of constructing Type I buildings are by using ?

reinforced concrete or a protected steel frame p57

In the case of a steel frame building, it must be remembered that unprotected steel has no ?

fire-resistance p58

Type II construction (noncombustible) can be either _______ or __________.

protected or unprotected p58

In unprotected construction, the major components are __________ and have no _____ ________.

noncombustible / fire resistance p58

An unprotected, non combustible building cannot be expected to provide what under fire conditions ?

structural stability p58

Type III construction has been commonly referred to as ?

"ordinary construction" p58

Type III construction has two sub classifications: - Type III A construction is required to have what fire resistive rating for interior members? - Type III B construction is required to have what fire resistance rating for interior member?

Type III A - one hour fire resistive rating Type III B - no fire resistance requirements p59

Type IV construction is commonly know as ______ ______ or "_____" construction.

heavy-timber or "mill" p60

In Type IV construction the beams, columns, floors, and roofs are made of ______ or _________ wood with dimensions greater than in Type III construction.

solid or laminated p60

Type V construction is also commonly know as ?

wood-frame construction p61

In Type V construction all the major structural components are permitted to be of ?

combustible construction p61

Method for construction of wood-frame buildings. Replaced the use of heavy timber wood framing.

Light-Frame Construction p62

The terms that refer to the maximum heat that would be released if all the available fuel in the building was consumed ?

Fire load or fuel load p63

The amount of fuel within a compartment expressed in pounds per square foot obtained by dividing the amount of fuel present by the floor area is called ?

Fire load p63

Ordinary combustibles such as wood, paper, and similar materials have heats of combustion between _____ and _____ BTU per pound.

7000 and 8000 p63

The fire load can be used as an estimate of the total potential _____ release or ______ _______ to which a building may be subjected if all combustibles become fully involved in fire.

heat / thermal energy p63

The International Building Code (IBC) contains how many major occupancy classifications ?

Ten p64

The IBC contains a total of how many subgroups within the 10 major occupancy classifications?

26 subgroups p65

NFPA has how many major occupancy classifications ?

12 p65

Building Construction and Safety Code is NFPA ?

NFPA 5000 p65

Life Safety Code is NFPA ?

NFPA 101 p65

In the United States the first known fire tests were conducted in Denver, CO in _______ with subsequent tests in New York City in _______.

1890 / 1896 p 47

Fire resistance: The standard was adopted by the NFPA in ______ and has evolved as an NFPA standard ever since.

1917 p 47

Test method: The temperature in the test furnace is raised along a ______ ________.

time scale p 47

Test method: A temperature of ______*F is reached at five minutes and ______*F after 30 minutes. At one hour the temperature is ______*F.

1000 / 1550 / 1700 p 47

Test method: The test results will be classified as either ?

load bearing or non-load bearing p 47

Test method: In addition, the fire resistive ratings for floors and ceiling assemblies are developed for both _____________ and _____________ assemblies.

restrained and unrestrained p 47

Fire testing: If a partition wall were being tested to obtain a 2-hour fire rating, the test would be stopped at two hours if ?

failure had not occurred p 48

Primary points of failure for the test are: * Failure to support an applied _______ * Temperature increase on the unexposed side of wall, floor, and roof assemblies of ______ *F above ambient temperatures. * Passage of heat or flame through the assembly sufficient to ignite ________ waste. * Excess temperature on ________ members.

* load * 250*F * cotton * steel p 48-49

Certain wall and partition assemblies are subjected to application of a ______ ________ to duplicate the impact and thermal shock of water that might occur during fire fighting operations.

hose stream p 49

Testing: Fire resistance rating for test specimens, including fire doors and windows, are expressed in standard intervals such as ____, ____, or ____ minutes, ____, _____, ____, ____, or ____ hours. Thus, if a given assembly failed one hour and ten minutes into a test, it's fire rating would be ?

15, 30, or 45 / 1, 1 1/2, 2, 3, or 4 / one hour p 49

Testing: The test furnace used by Underwriters Laboratories, Inc, (UL) for testing beams, floor, and roof assemblies has an approximate plan dimensions of ____ X ____ feet.

14 X 17 p 49

Testing: It must be remembered that the standard time-temperature curve may not duplicate the situations encountered in ______ ______.

real fires p 49

Testing: This test would be useful for evaluating the structural members used in such occupancies as petroleum refineries ?

ASTM Standard 1529, Standard Test Methods for Determining Effects of Large Hydrocarbon Pool Fires on Structural Members and Assemblies p 49

Fundamentally, a _______________ material is one that "in the form in which used and under the conditions anticipated, will not ignite, burn, support combustion or release flammable vapors, when subjected to fire or heat."

Noncombustible p 53-54

Building classifications: * Type I, ______ __________ * Type II, _________________ or protected ______________ * Type III, ___________ protected (___________) * Type IV, Heavy _________ * Type V, _______ frame

* Fire-resistive * Noncombustible / Noncombustible * Exterior / (masonry) * timber * Wood p 54

NFAP 220 * The _________ digit refers to the fire resistance rating (in hours) of exterior bearing walls

* first p 54

NFPA 220 * The ___________ digit refers to the fire resistance rating of structural frames or columns and girders that support loads of more than one floor.

* second p 54

NFPA 220 * The _________ digit indicates the fire resistance rating of the floor construction.

* third p 54

In ______ ___ or ______ __________ construction, the structural members are of non-combustible construction that has a specific fire resistance.

Type I or fire resistive p 55

Type I Interior partitions enclosing stairwells and corridors are required to be fire-resistive as specified by local code, usually ______ or ______ hours.

one or two p 55

Type I The fire-resistive compartmentation provided by __________ and _______ tends to retard the spread of fire through a building.

partitions and floors p 57

___________ is an inherently non combustible material with good thermal insulating properties.

Concrete p 57

Type I When steel is used in fire-resistive design it must be protected by an ____________ ____________.

insulating material p 58

Type II The use of unprotected ________ is the most common characteristic of unprotected, non combustible construction.

steel p 58

Type II In II-A construction the structural components are required to have _____-_______ fire resistance.

one-hour p 58

Type II In II-B construction structural components are _____________.

unprotected p 58

Type III construction is frequently constructed with exterior walls of __________, but from a technical standpoint any non combustible material with the required ______ __________ can be used for the exterior walls.

masonry / fire resistance p 58

Type III Interior structural members including walls, columns, beams, floors, and roofs are permitted to be partially or wholly _____________.

combustible p 58

Type III The interior structural members of Type III construction may be ___________ or ______________.

protected or unprotected p 59

When structural components of Type III construction are required to have a fire rating they can be protected by several means. Probably the most common are the use of _________ in older buildings and ________ ________ in newer buildings.

plaster / gypsum board p 59

The dimensions of the wood used in Type III construction are permitted to be ___________ than those required in Type IV construction.

smaller p 59

There are two important distinctions between Type III and Type IV construction: * In Type IV construction the beams, columns, floors and roofs are made of ________ or _____________ wood with dimensions greater than in Type III construction. * Concealed spaces are not permitted between structural members in ________ _____ construction.

* solid or laminated * Type IV p 60

The greater ________ of the heavy timber components provide greater structural endurance under fire conditions than the structural members used in Type _____ buildings.

mass / III p 61

The basic method of construction in a Type V building consists of using a ______ ________ to provide the primary structural support.

wood frame p 61

Many Type V structures are required to have a ____ hour fire resistance for the structural members. This is typically accomplished by protecting the combustible frame members with __________ or fire rated _________ board.

1 / plaster / gypsum p 61

A fundamental problem posed by Type V construction is the creation of combustible _____________ ______ and ___________ more extensive than are found in Type III construction.

concealed voids / channels p 62

Several different methods can be used to construct a Type V building. In modern practice, wood frame buildings are most often constructed using a method known as _______-________ construction.

light-frame p 62

Mixed construction: For example, in some jurisdictions it is permissible to have Type ____ construction over Type ____ construction up to a height of _____ feet.

V / I / 70 p 62

A three story parking garage with Type V construction above is an example of ?

Mixed construction p 62

Building with _____________ structural components (Types ____, ____, and ____) have an inherently greater fire load than Types ____ or _____ because the structural framing materials contribute a significant amount of fuel to a fire.

combustible / III, IV, and V / I or II p 63

A fire load does not translate into an equivalent ___________ load.

structural load p 63

Building codes classify buildings according to their ____________ as well as their construction type.

occupancy p 63

The occupancy classifications assign building occupancies into groups with broadly _________ ______ ________.

similar fire risks p 63

Mixed occupancies: Building codes may require fire-resistive ___________ between various occupancies.

separations p 66