Building Codes News

Started by MountainDon, January 31, 2009, 02:40:23 PM

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MountainDon

The soon to be published IRC 2009 contains several changes that are referred to "improvements". These may soon affect all new construction as well as major remodels.

The most controversial change is the new mandate for fire sprinkler systems in one and two family homes. Sprinklers systems are included in the code.  :o Local jurisdictions may opt out as always, however it remains to be seen how many do...  ???

Where I am located in NM we are already running into this when it comes to people wanting to operate a home based child care. Our beloved city officials have decreed that new applicants for permits covering 7 to 12 children must have fire sprinklers, whereas those asking for a permit to care for 1 to 6 are exempt. To me it's just another attempt to crush home care. In part this is coming from pressure on the government by lobbying interests of the commercial daycare centers. But that's another topic.

Beyond the fire suppression sprinkler issue there are some more rules that may have to be dealt with. Some may have merit as a good general idea, but I am not convinced that more code rules are needed.

• Carbon monoxide alarms. A new provision requires the installation of carbon monoxide detectors outside all sleeping areas, with the number required varying by the configuration of the space.

• Wall Bracing Requirements. The new code increases the amount of wall bracing needed to resist wind loads for three-story homes, homes with large open plans and homes in high-wind regions. The new code will require uplift straps at braced wall panels for many homes, even in low-wind regions.

• Window Fall Prevention Devices. Builders will now be required to add some sort of fall protection device in the installation of emergency egress windows. While the code says that they cannot hamper the operation of the window or reduce the required opening, there is no standard for fall-prevention devices, so it will be up to the discretion of the building inspector whether a particular device will pass muster and meet the requirements.

• Domestic Clothes Dryer Ducts. NAHB is already working with proponents of this code change, which would require a product available from only one manufacturer and also limit the length of the ducts to 25 feet. The proponents have indicated that the length was proposed in error.

• Shower Liner Test. Building inspectors will now be required to observe whether the liners under showers can hold 2 inches of water for 15 minutes without any leaks. NAHB objected to the requirement, complaining that it would unnecessarily complicate the home inspection process. Immediate leaking should be evident without a water test, NAHB said, and the test will not detect slow leaks that appear later.

Build now!! Or deal with more rules and regs later.  >:(
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

Native_NM

The only one that makes sense is the Carbon Monixide detectors. 

I priced sprinklers when we built our home in NM - it was about $1 a foot.  We opted out, but wish we had done it.  It had a ~ 5 year payback on the homeowner's insurance. 

The rest I cannot comment on.

New Mexico.  Better than regular Mexico.


John_C

They local city BD wanted sprinklers in a commercial building a friend wanted to renovate.  His would have been the only building with sprinklers, the first under some new reg.  They admitted that the county didn't have sufficient water pressure for the sprinklers to work properly but he'd be all set up when/if the county upgrade the water delivery system.  That and a lot of other things were a deal breaker and the building now continues to sit abandoned.

We need more regulations  d*  d* We need more regulations  d*  d*

Don_P

The sprinkler deal was apparently pretty interesting. The firefighters were invited to attend the code hearings, all expenses paid by certain lobbying groups. They showed up for that one vote then 15 minutes later the attendance in the hall dropped in half as they went home, mission accomplished. Several measures that lowered life safety in a fire then went through without a hitch... go figure. I can't wait to see the unintentional water damage these things cause not to mention how many will actually work when needed, I'm sure homeowners will keep the maintenance up on yet another system.

Bracing requirements will go all the way to the foundation if they have not in your particular area yet. The pier foundation will go the way of the buffalo.

I've been in a kind of toasty discussion on the ICC forum, a few areas are requiring all residential plans to be sealed by a certified design professional, no more prescriptive construction period. This is very narrow interpretation outside of the intent of the code, SC has already adopted this statewide. Call it "The Architects full employment act". Presently 2-3% of new homes use an architect, they are upping that to 100%. This trend is gaining momentum. Needless to say the design professionals think its a great idea and most inspectors don't like dealing with homeowners, so they like it. Builders will just tack the cost on, so its a win for everyone  ::).

Several years ago I tried to get our regional inspectors to allow locally produced lumber to be used in construction by having them and the local sawyers trained to grade lumber. I went thru the training, then helped set up a class. The inspectors all walked out halfway through, for residential I now use imported trash to build with while living amongst the poplars, pines and oaks.

I've been to my state representative but these type issues are not as glamorous as abortion or prayer in the schools, so it gets dismissed, we are only talking about the right to shelter. In this country that is not considered a basic human right  ::)

Only about 3% of the population are building at any given time then they lose interest in these issues, the powers that be and the industry lobbiests know that and use it. If we do not turn out with torches and pitchforks we will pretty much deserve what we get.

I believe that qualifies as a rant  d*

MountainDon

While reading up on this I ran across a detail John_C's posted reminded of...

In the case of a home with a well, they stated it was possible that the well system would not have enough pressure to operate some sprinklers system with a large number of heads. The solution "they" came up with was to require the well to be fitted with a higher pressure (higher priced) pump, even though the other pump might be fine for the home owners use.

That raises the question of how much pressure is required?

We installed a pressure reducer/regulator after out re-pipe. It's set to a nice comfortable 35 PSI. I don't think that would do too many fire suppression sprinkler heads.



And yes Don_P that would qualify as a rant.  :)
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.


MountainDon

And I was going to add..

How many heads do you think are going to get painted over because some homeowner doesn't like the sprinkler heads color, shininess or whatever. Don't laugh it off, I've seen it done in a commercial building.  d* d* d*
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

rwanders

One more reason to be glad I live in Alaska---The only code areas here are in a few urban areas such Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau. Most of the state doesn't even have a local government or taxes either. If you can deal with the wilderness and a few wild animals, you can live with a level of personal freedom other Americans lost several generations ago-----and all the good and bad things that went with it.
Rwanders lived in Southcentral Alaska since 1967
Now lives in St Augustine, Florida

MountainDon

rwanders, you left out one thing, or rather two. Snow & Cold.

I'd take the wilderness and the wild animals all in stride, but I grew weary of winters.

I'm from Manitoba, Canada. Not so much snow there as many places, but cold. Too many -30 degree memories.  :(
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

8x8x8

Building codes are ridiculous and unconstitutional.  They never used to have them.  There are old abandoned farmhouses around here still standing, and they were built in the 19th century.  I don't care what anyone says... I'd be willing to bet that despite all of these "building codes", a house built in 1850 would outlast one built in 2009 in high winds and such.  People built things to last back then; they put good quality time into their products.

I'm going to make some of those nice no trespassing signs that Glenn has mentioned in the past, and hang them up on the borders of my parcel.  As I said, building codes are unconstitutional, so are building permits.  I'll be damned if the government is going to decide how I live, and if they're going to tell me what my dwelling has to look and function like.


Don_P

This is pretty much recognized as the first building code ~1760 BC, The code of Hammurabi

  If a builder build a house for some one and complete it, he shall give him a fee of two shekels in money for each sar of surface.

If a builder build a house for some one, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built fall in and kill its owner, then that builder shall be put to death.

If it kill the son of the owner the son of that builder shall be put to death.

If it kill a slave of the owner, then he shall pay slave for slave to the owner of the house.

If it ruin goods, he shall make compensation for all that has been ruined, and inasmuch as he did not construct properly this house which he built and it fell, he shall re-erect the house from his own means.

  If a builder build a house for some one, even though he has not yet completed it; if then the walls seem toppling, the builder must make the walls solid from his own means.

The walls of a wattle and daub house were woven of sticks and plastered with mud. It was not a difficult wall to break a hole in, thus 'breaking and entering"

If any one break a hole into a house (break in to steal), he shall be put to death before that hole and be buried.

Ol Hammurabi would have taken care of this recent contaminated peanut butter thing pretty quickly I think.

Don't confuse code with code enforcement. It often simply means the area doesn't have a sheriff in town. The city that was requiring design professionals is in a state I have worked in several times. In the county there are no inspections, no contractor licensing even, there is however code (law). It lulls people into thinking there's no need to worry it won't happen in their back 40... it will.

"In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me —
and by that time no one was left to speak up."

Building codes do have a purpose and the original intent is good, life safety. Its worth remembering the homes we see now from the past are the well built survivors, we don't see the failures. The unfireblocked balloon frame was one firetrap that it is good codes do not allow anymore. They killed scores of people because we weren't thinking about flamespread inside the walls. I've also worked on floors that were way overspanned and have replaced broken rafters and joists. We do learn and should stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before. I've been in some fine old homes too. In natural disasters worldwide look at the losses of life in underdeveloped regions compared to ours, good codes save lives.

I built a log home on the coast some years ago. Engineering is required in that region due to the high winds, I've really got no problem in cases like that. We went beyond the plans in many areas with the owners help and blessing. They got hit by a big hurricane a year later that was stronger than the design wind speed. It destroyed pretty much everything else on the farm. It's hard to beat well nailed plywood sheets and bolted steel brackets.

Depending on the day I'll rant on either side of the issue, my father was a builder and then a code official. Our local building official went to bat for us when the national body declared our entire region a high wind area instead of realizing that only certain areas in the mountains get ripped. Stay alert and make your voice heard because those with their interests certainly are.

glenn kangiser

That's interesting info, Don_P.  Thanks.

Here is my latest letter to the editor regarding the septic money  grab here in California.  I sent this letter as posted elsewhere to the State Water Resources Board then sent it with the additional commentary to the Editor of the online paper who has been great about spreading the news - and happens to be a friend. :)

Quote

Sierra Sun Times - Goldrushcam.com

Jerry,

Special thanks to you and your staff for doing the public service of getting this issue out in the open.

Here is a copy of my letter to the State of California.


To: ab885@waterboards.ca.gov
Subject: Criminal Ripoff of Rural California - copy to state and interested individuals
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2009 21:05:10 -0800

State Water Resources Control Board
Division of Water Quality
Attn: Todd Thompson, P.E.
1001 I Street, 15th Floor, P.O. Box 2231
Sacramento, CA 95812


Lets quit pretending that rural California has a septic problem.  Our local health department has been doing a great job with our water quality.  We have no cases of dysentery or cholera here.

As good public servants I would like to ask you to direct your attention to the millions of gallons of sewage that is dumped at sea it the brown fountain of turds from LA and other coastal cities.

This is nothing more than a poorly disguised money grab by the State of California....

....a method  of financing the welfare recipients posing as state officials who have nothing better to do than scheme to steal money from the public they have sworn to serve, padding their own paychecks and seeing to it that special interest groups are benefitted by their legislation.

I suggest you divest yourselves of all ties to profit taking from this endeavor.  Time to wipe that greedy grin from your face as the days of big business benefitting from their political cohorts are fast coming to an end.  People are at the end of their ropes as there is little left for you to steal.

You will see that the  rural people of California are getting tired of supporting the parasites they have come to know as "the good ol' boys" running our government and the time has come to make them walk the plank -- straight into the sewage being spewed by the very big cities they are afraid to touch.

It's so much easier to just pick on the poor defenseless little guys in the country.  Possibly the internet can change that --- before you and your type get control of it too.

I hope you become worried about your very own jobs as opposition continues to grow against you and your criminal ways.

Forget help from your cronies in big business.  We were not impressed by your parrot at the town meeting in Mariposa and were aware that he was a shill by the fact that he stayed and conferred after the meeting with the water board guys who brought him in there.  He needs to work an his act a bit so he will sound a bit more spontaneous.

Do a lot of you have ties to his or other similar companies?  I suggest we investigate that also.  I am requesting an attorney friend look into it further.

Sincerely,

Glenn Kangiser

cc: mailing list


That was the letter I sent to the state with a couple of typo's corrected.



Since the engineered septic system manufacturer brought into the Mariposa town meeting was obviously an invited special interest insider and since an attorney friend has found that there seems to be some kind of a conflict of interest going on, I though it would be well for the public to inquire into possible inside deals where the state officials that don't want to hear the public's opinion are getting set to make personal profits.

Yes -- they are making the token town meeting appearances and the extensions of time for public comment as fear of getting found out prompts them to cancel town meetings when too many of the outraged public show up.

It is time to get to the bottom of this and start disassembling the fascist state that our treasonous public officials and big business are trying to make.  This government legislated ripoff of the California Citizens is not what this country was meant to be about.  This is a land where our forefathers and ancestors lived, toiled and died trying to survive.  They did not sacrifice so much of their lives for big business and big greedy government to rip their grandchildren off by legislated theft.

I urge everyone to call, write and email your representatives and the State Water Board and let them know how you feel about up to $45000 you will have to shell out via your large excess of cash or through unobtainable loans, not to mention the $325 fee and around $1500 estimated costs to open your septic tank as well as possibly damage your distribution bozx and drain field while looking.  This will occur every 5 years.  How many of you know exactly where your tank, depth and leach field are?  Prepare to pay to find it and repair it in most cases.  Repairs may require a permit wich may be dis-allowed in leiu of the $45000 engineered system.


Let's stand up as our past families would have done, voice our opinions and get the officials responsible for this treason out of office as well as get this unjust legislation repealed.

Please contact them at several of the contacts listed below in case they have trouble getting your message or lose it due to innefficiencies on their part.

e-mail:   ab885@waterboards.ca.gov.
tthompson@waterboards.ca.gov.

Address and attention:
State Water Resources Control Board
Division of Water Quality
Attn: Todd Thompson, P.E.
1001 I Street, 15th Floor, P.O. Box 2231
Sacramento, CA 95812


If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Todd Thompson (primary) at (916) 341-5518 or tthompson@waterboards.ca.gov.

links

http://www.westcountygazette.com/blog/2009/01/ab-885-onsite-wastewater-treatment.html
West County Gazette: AB 885 Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems in California

http://auburnjournal.com/detail/104673.html
Repeal septic system inspection legislation: Ted Gaines - Auburn Journal

Cancelled meeting video
http://www.brendancoen.com/2009_01_01_archive.html


http://rosevillept.com/detail/104559.html?content_source=&category_id=&search_filter=&user_id=&event_mode=&event_ts_from=&list_type=&order_by=&order_sort=&content_class=1&sub_type=&town_id=&page=

Proposed septic tank regulations would burden residents - Roseville Press-Tribune


http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/septic_tanks/

State Water Resources Control Board


Please don't put this off - act on these issues in your own best interest today - make noise - tell you concerned friends who may be affected by this - that would be anyone who uses the restroom in any place except a municiple system.

Do you visit the country ever?   It should concern you too then. If you keep it to yourselves they will run over you like a steam roller.

Remember the gross unregulated polluters that may be affecting your health and your ability to swim on the beaches without ingesting fecal coliform are the big cities who dump raw sewage into the ocean.  As little as a few inches of good soil have been found to prevent the types of polution that these big cities are creating.  They don't have it...we do.

Lets make the Water Board address these issues instead of harrassing the small private systems just to look like they are doing the job they were elected or installed to do.  Lets stop this criminal money grab in it's tracks by letting them know that we have had it.


Glenn Kangiser




"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.

ScottA

The pipe manufactures have been pushing the fire sprinklers for years. I can remember seeing their propaganda 10 years ago. Many of the codes are driven by special intrests trying to sell stuff but the primary forces are the banks and insurance companies. They are supported by building officials who want job security.

tesa

first of all don_p, i love that code! i vote for that now

second, can someone elaborate on the "bracing" changes?

here in grimes county, i dont have any inspectors/permit dept.s to deal with, but we'd
still like to build as much as possible to code, not wishing to leave my children
a troubled home

we're not building a three story, and i don't consider the plan to be overly "open" but we are
in a high wind area, as anything within 120 miles from the coast has to build using those
stats

and wouldn't you know it, we're something like 117 miles due north of the galveston area

is this something i should be concerned about?

i'm seriously considering using selective hearing on that sprinkler revision

"i didn't hear that", "i don't know what your talkin' about"

but i'm unclear on what a "fall prevention" device would be for a window

tesa
"building a house requires thousands of decisions based on a million bits of information"-charlie wing

glenn kangiser

I have seen google ads here for a ladder thing you throw out a window - hangs inside below the window - don't know if that's it.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.


bayview

#14

   We have a new International Residential Code (minimum standard for the building code followed in Texas) that is going to require fire sprinklers in single and two family homes and townhomes for homes built after January 1, 2011.

   I am building in an un-incorporated area that doesn't require permits or inspections.  Previously the only thing that would be inspected was the septic.

   So, I could build a shack with exposed wiring, shoddy construction, leaking plumbing, etc. But I am required to have a fire sprinkler system! ;)

  By the way, the average cost will be $2.50 to $3.00 per sq ft.  I expect to build my own home for about $40,000.  Now add another 3 grand . . .


    . . . said the focus was safety, not filling town coffers with permit money . . .