Paul's Place
Please feel free to email me at Paul's Place with any questions, comments, submittals, or suggestions on topics you believe need interpretation or explanation. Paul’s Place January 2012
Happy New Year! We made it. Hopefully you all had a great time over Christmas and the New Year. Business seems to be picking up in fits and starts in places also. I do wish the best for everyone in our industry. I do have to apologize for a few typos in last month’s column. Apparently, I was carried away with the 2012 IBC and IRC seminars so much that I referred to those codes in brief description of the various revisions in the 2009 IBC. Sorry about that. News release! This year we will be going through a new California code revision cycle. This means that in one year from today, we will be on a new code edition of the CA codes. Yes! I know you are all looking forward to all the new code changes in the 2013 CA codes. For those of us that are technically constipated, I did not make up that term by the way; we do look forward to such revisions. It is a sicknes I know. Well let’s finish with the 2010 CBC first however. Last month, we left our hero at the beginning of Chapter 10. He had just finished riding through the vast wilderness of Chapter 9. Sorry I have been reading westerns lately. Section 1005.1 is our first revision this month. It is a biggie. Former Table 1005.1 has been deleted in favor of just using two egress width factors. We have gone back to the 0.3 for stairways and 0.2 for everything else. The main issue driving this one was that fire sprinklers were not felt to provide significant enough protection to continue to allow for the reduction in egress width. This is a simple enough change for new construction but for existing buildings undergoing alterations this can be huge. If those existing buildings were constructed using the previous table, the means of egress system may no longer work under the 2010 CBC. Moving on in Chapter 10, we come to Sections 1007.3 and 1007.4. The main gist of the revisions in these two sections is that areas of refuge are no longer required in buildings that are fully protected by automatic sprinkler systems. This is a controversial code change in that the exceptions were once a part of the codes and then removed. We do have to watch for this type of revision in the code process in the future. Section 1008.1.2 has a new exception. The intent was to bring back the allowance of manually operated sliding doors under a very limited occupant load and not in Group H occupancies. Previously the code allowed such sliding doors in specific occupancies. This provides more flexibility in means of egress systems. Our next revision is found in Section 1009.14. This is a new section that requires a fully compliant stairway to roofs when the roof area has elevator equipment that must be accessed for maintenance purposes. No longer are ladders allowed to be used in these cases. Section 1011.1 is the next revision. The intent of the code change is to require exit signage within various exit elements, such as exit enclosures and exit passageways. The code previously only required such signage leading up to and identifying exits. With the increased use of exit passageways to extend exits and for travel distance problems, it had become evident that the egress path in these means of egress elements was necessary. We move on to Section 1012.3 handrail graspability. A new type of handrail is allowed. Type II handrail cross-sections are allowed in many residential occupancies. Fortunately, stairway manufacturers were very involved in the code development process so new handrails are fully compliant. One handrail design that is now allowed is “two by” framing members in a vertical orientation but with routed finger recesses on both sides of the” two by” handrail. Previous codes had eliminated the use of these historic handrails which only had finger recesses on the inside face of the handrail. The idea is that this type of handrail can be used to develop a power grip. Section 1013.1 for guard height is next. The 30 inch measurement for guard height has a new condition. The measurement is taken within 3 feet of the edge of decks, porches, and adjacent fixed seating. This can be used to allow fixed seating 3 feet away from the edge of a deck without elevating the guard height to 42 inches above the height of a fixed bench. Travel distance increases in warehouses in Section 1016.2 are up next. The roof vent increase in Group F-1 and S-1 warehouses has been deleted. This is causing a big stir in the warehousing industry. The CA State Fire Marshal set up a Task Group to address the problems and brought back the 400 foot allowance based on specific conditions. As of the writing of this column the amendment has been submitted to ICC for consideration for the 2015 IBC. So expect more discussion in future columns. Section 1018.4 for dead ends has an expanded exception for the 50 foot dead end in corridors. The previous CBC allowed 50 foot dead ends for Group B and F occupancies only. This revision expands it use to also Group E, I-1, M, R-1, R-2, R-4, S and U occupancies. It should be noted that the conditions requiring fully sprinklered buildings remain. That is it for Chapter 10. There are a number of other revisions in this chapter that you should review. Next month we will continue our review of revisions from Chapter 12 on. I have to tell you all that I do enjoy working with you and look forward to a great 2012. My last thing this month is to encourage you all to become involved in the code development process. It is the best educational opportunity available. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Yours in Code Enforcement, Paul Armstrong, PE, CBO |
