Life Safety and Universal Design Flashcards
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
regulates/issues rules covering safety glazing requirement issues
ADA
National Federal Law - Americans with Disabilities Act, regulates removal of barriers for physically disabled. Based on the ICC A117.1 (Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities)
model code
a model code is one that has been written by a group comprised of experts knowledgable in the field, without reference to any particular geographical area. Adopting ta model code allows a city, county, or district to have a complete workable building code without the difficulty and expense of writing its own
BOCA
National building code developed by the Building Officials Code Administrators International.
UBC
Uniform Building Code developed by the International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO)
SBC
Standard Building Code developed by the Southern Building Code Conference International (SBCCI)
ICC merged by what national codes?
BOCA (Building Officials Code Administrators International)
UBC (Uniform Building Code)
SBC (Standard Building Code)
Other ICC Codes
- international residential code for one and two-family dwellings
- International Fire Code
- International Mechanical Code
- International Plumbing Code
- International Zoning Code
NEC
National Electric Code - Electrical Code used by all jurisdictions published by the NFPA
ASTM
American Society for Testing and Materials - an organization that published thousands of test procedures that prescribe how to test apparatus must be set up, how materials must be prepared for the test, the length of the test, and other requirements.
Testing and Material Standards
by themselves, standards have no legal standing. Only when they are referred to in a building code and that code is adopted by a governmental jurisdiction do standards become law
ASHRAE
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers
IES
Illuminating Engineering Society
TCNA
Tile Council of North America
What does ANSI do with standards
does not develop or write standards but approves them and works to avoid duplications between other standards
NRTL and UL
Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (recognized by OSHA)- when a standard describes a test procedure a testing lab must perform the test
Underwriters Laboratories - one of the most well known testing labs
ASTM E119
standard test methods for fire tests of building construction and materials - one of the most commonly used tests for fire resistance of construction assemblies -
NFPA 252
Standard Methods of Fire Tests of Door Assemblies - evaluates ability of door assembly to resist flames, heat and gases
NFPA 257
Standard on Fire Test for Window and Glass Block Assemblies
What do flammability tests for finish materials determine?
- whether a material is flammable. If so, if it burns or supports combustion
- degree of flammability (how fast spreads)
- how much smoke and toxic gas it produces when ignited
ASTM E84
Standard Test Method for Surface Burning Characteristics of Building Materials
ASTM E66
Standard Test Method for Specific Optical Density of Smoke Generated by Solid Materials
NFPA 253
Standard Method of Test for Critical Radiant Flux of Floor Covering Systems Using a Radiant Heat Energy Source
ASTM D2859
Standard Test Method for Ignition Characteristics of Finished Textile Floor Covering Materials
NFPA 265
Standard Methods of Fire Tests for Evaluating Room Fire Growth Contribution of Textile or Expanded Vinyl Wall Coverings on Full Height Panels and Walls
NFPA 286
Standard Methods of Fire Tests for Evaluating Contribution of Wall and Ceiling Interior Finish to Room Fire Growth
NFPA 289
Standard Method of Fire Test for Individual Fuel Packages
ASTM E2573
Standard Practice for Specimen Preparation and Mounting of Site-Fabricated Stretch Systems to Assess Surface Burning Characteristics
NFPA 701
Standard Methods of Fire Tests for Flame Propagation of Textiles and Films
Fire Partition
wall assembly with a fire-resistance rating of 1 hour to
- separate dwelling units
- separate guest rooms
- separate tenant spaces
- elevator lobbies
Fire Barrier
a vertical or horizontal assembly that is fire-resistance rated and designed to restrict the spread of fire in
- enclose vertical exit enclosures, exit passageways, horizontal exits
- separate different occupancies in a mixed-use
Smoke Barrier
continuous vertical or horizontal membrane with a minimum fire-resistance rating of 1 hour, designed and constructed to restrict the movement of smoke.
Occupancy Groups
A - Assembly B - Business E - Educational F - Factory and Industrial H - Hazardous I - Institutional M - Mercantile R - Residential S - Storage U - Utility
Accessory Occupancy
space or room that is ancillary to the main occupancy but does not exceed 10% of the floor area of the story on which it is located
Incidental use Area
ancillary to the main occupancy and has the same classification as the nearest main occupancy but poses a greater level of risk to that occupancy
5 Construction types
I - 3 hr rating, non-combustible II - non-combustible III - 1 hr rating, combustible IV - combustible V - combustible A = fire protected B = not fire protected
Fire protection system
describes any fire alarm or fire-extinguishing device or system that is designed and installed to detect, control, or extinguish a fire, or to alert the occupants or the fire department that a fire has occurred.
Safety Glazing
tempered glass or laminated glass must be used in hazardous locations where it is subject to human impact, such as in doors and shower enclosures
Guards (guardrails)
42” high min.
4” sphere cannot pass through any opening up to 36” high
means of egress
continuous and unobstructed path of vertical and horizontal egress travel from any point in a building or structure to a public way. Consists of 3 parts:
- exit access
- exit
- exit discharge
public way
any street, alley or similar parcel of land essentially unobstructed from the ground to the sky that is permanently appropriated to the public for public use and has a clear width of no less than 10’
exit access
a portion of means of egress that leads to the entrance of an exit (can include rooms, spaces, aisles, hallways, corridors, ramps doorways..)
exit
a portion of means of egress system that provides a protected path of egress between the exit access and exit discharge. Fully enclosed and protected from all other interior spaces by fire resistance
exit discharge
the portion of the egress system between the termination of an exit and a public way
occupant load
number of people that a building code assumes will occupy a given building or portion of a building. Rounds up
Occupant load factor
amount of floor area presumed to be occupied by one person. Based on the generic function of building spaces and not the same as occupancy groups.
- gross floor area - includes stairs, corridors, toilet rooms, mechanical rooms, closets, and walls
- net floor area - includes just the usable space
Number of exits
determined based on occupant load, occupancy of space, limitations on length of common path egress, sprinklers, and specific requirements for large occupany loads
Common Path of Egress Travel
portion of exit access travel distance measured from the most remote point within a story to the point where the occupants have separate access to two exits or exit access doorways and can make a choice about which direction to go.
Two exits from a room
- must be placed a distance apart equal to not less than 1/2 the max. diagonal lenght.
- 1/3 the diagonal if sprinklered
Maximum Travel Distance
based on the occupancy of the building and if it is sprinklered.
Widths of Exits
determined by multiplying the occupant load by 0.3 for stairs and 0.2 for everything else
if spinklered - the factors are 0.2 and 0.15
Corridors
a portion of an exit access leading to an exit.
dead end corridors limited to 20’ (non sprinklered) and 50’ (sprinklered)
minimum width is 44” (for occ. > 50) and 36” (for occ. < 50)
Doors in corridors
when swinging into the corridor and fully open, cannot project more than 7” into required width
doors placed in 1 hr corridors need 20 min fire rating
Lights in corridors
cannot project more than 4” horizontally at a height of 27-80”
Stairways
stairways serving >50 occ. must be 44” wide min.
stairways serving <49 occ. must be 36” wide min.
handrails may project 4.5” on each side
risers are 4-7”
exit stairway
exit component that serves to meet one or more means of egress requirements. interior exit stairways must be completely enclosed
exit access stairways
interior stairway that is not a required interior exit stairway
Handrails
must be provided on both sides of stair intermediate handrails are required so that all portions of the stairway width are within 30" of a handrail 34-36" a.f.f. 1.5-2" dia. gripping dimension 1.5" min between wall and handrail
Exiting residential
one exit required from basement or second story
basements and 2nd stories must have escape window
permitting/contracting process
plan and specs are submitted to the local building dept. and reviewed, a permit is issued, and inspections are performed during construction of the project
info required by building departments
construction documents egress plans site plans smep drawings information for all professionals on project address codes used area construction type occupancy occ. load sprinklered
Certificate of Occupancy
issued after final inspection is made. This document allows the client to occupy the space
(temporary certificate of occupancy sometimes issued when a problem with inspection arises)
