About
the
Codes
Code Officials
&
Code Process
Occupancy Classification & Loads
Construction Types &
Building Sizes
Means
of
Egress
100
One of the first regulatory codes on record, this collection of laws governing Babylonia made the builder accountable for the houses he built with an eye-for-an-eye penalty.
What is The Code of Hammurabi?
100
As the designer, you will be working most closely with this codes official.
Who is the plans examiner?
100
When two or more occupancies exist in a building, but one or more of them is less than 10 percent of the total area.
What is an accessory occupancy?
100
Materials that will not ignite, burn, support combustion, or release flammable vapors when subject to fire or heat. They are used to prevent substantial fire spread, since they do not contribute fuel to a fire.
What are noncombustible materials?
100
This rule requires that the distance between two exits be at least one-half of the longest diagonal distance within the building or the building area the exits are serving.
What is the half-diagonal rule?
200
To ensure the health, safety, and welfare of the people using the buildings, and includes structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, life safety, fire safety, natural light and air, accessibility standards, and energy conservation.
What is the principle purpose of codes?
200
A legally defined area, organization, code department, or an individual code official that has the authority to decide whether the design and construction are compliant with the required codes and to enforce code compliance.
What is Authority Having Jurisdiction?
200
This is generally determined by the way that a building or space is to be used in order to address the different risk factors associated with each type of use.
What is occupancy classification?
200
These are the strictest construction types. These buildings are typically constructed with steel and concrete and are considered noncombustible.
What are Types I and II construction?
200
The portion of a means of egress that leads to the entrance of an exit. It includes any room or space occupied by a person and any doorway, aisle, corridor, stair, or ramp traveled on the way to the exit.
What is exit access?
300
This is not a building code, but rather. a code that concentrates on problems involving the removal or evacuation of all persons from a building.
What is the Life Safety Code?
300
A good rule of thumb is that when the occupant load is 50 or more, you should research the requirements for this type of occupancy.
What is Assembly occupancy type?
300
The structure or building elements of a building that have not been treated in any additional way to increase their fire resistance beyond the natural characteristics of the materials.
What are unprotected elements?
300
The portion of a means of egress between the termination of an exit and the public way. It can be inside a building such as the main lobby, or outside a building such as an egress court, courtyard, patio, small alley, or other safe passageway.
What is an exit discharge?
400
The purpose of this type of codes is to allow for more creative design solutions in the use of materials and systems of construction and to allow innovative engineering to meet code requirements in ways that can be specific to each project.
What is Performance Codes?
400
A majority of the research should be done in this stage of the design process at the same time that you are collecting client and building information
What is the programming stage?
400
A building or part of a building that is not typical and/or cannot be properly classified as any of the other occupancy groups is often classified as
What is a Utility occupancy?
400
This is the most combustible construction type and is basically an all-wood structure. These buildings are typically small. Common examples include a residential house, a small dentist's office, or a convenience store.
What is Type V construction?
400
The maximum distance from within a single space to the exit access corridor; the distance all the occupants of that space will have to travel in approximately the same direction before they come to two options for exiting.
What is a common path of travel?
500
Originally founded in 1896 to develop standards for the early use of sprinklers, today it is one of the largest standards organizations.
What is NAFPA?
500
This is the highest level of certification a code official can obtain from the ICC.
What is a Master Code Professional (MCP)?
500
Uses within a building that are determined to be hazardous when they exist within any occupancy type. Typically, these spaces are relatively small compared to the rest of the building and, therefore, are not considered as a separate occupancy.
What are incidental use areas?
500
are defined as materials that do not meet the requirements of noncombustible material because they do have some capacity to burn
What are limited combustible materials?
500
A corridor with only one direction of exit. In other words, if a person turns down a corridor with a dead end, there is no way out except to retrace his or her path.
What is a dead-end corridor?
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