Construction Codes Undergo Significant Renovation

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Significant safety and efficiency benefits are in store for users of International Codes such as the International Building Code (IBC) and International Residential Code (IRC). Earlier this year, the International Code Council released new versions of all 13 of its building safety codes, also known as the I-Codes. With the 2009 I-Codes, users will find changes and additions designed to increase building and occupant safety, simplify design processes and improve energy use.

According to Hamid Naderi, Code Council vice president of product development, some of the most significant changes in the I-Codes can be grouped into five categories:

Fire sprinklers
High-rise safety
Structural lateral loads
Emergency responder communication
Building mechanical ventilation

Fire Sprinklers
“Fire sprinkler changes impact several codes,” says Naderi.

Two of the most important changes are in the IBC:

The means of egress width calculation no longer changes based on whether or not a building has a fire sprinkler system.
Buildings with sprinkler systems are no longer required to include an area of refuge for stairways that serve as an accessible means of egress.

The IRC also is affected by changes associated with fire sprinkler systems. All new townhouses will be required to be sprinklered upon adoption of the 2009 IRC. In addition, starting January 1, 2011, all new one- and two-family dwellings will be required to have sprinkler systems installed. The 2009 IRC also includes simplified sprinkler design methods for residential sprinkler systems.

High-Rise Safety
A number of changes have been made to the I-Codes to strengthen the safety of high-rise buildings. Some of these include requirements for smoke-removal systems and luminous markings for egress features. In addition, architects must plan for an additional stairway for high rises more than 420 feet tall unless the building includes elevators that can be used by building occupants for emergency self-evacuation. Fire service access elevators in high rises with an occupied floor more than 120 feet above the level of fire department vehicle access also are required under the 2009 I-Codes. Furthermore, the new I-Codes include new structural integrity requirements for certain types of high rises.

Structural Lateral Loads
One of the changes associated with structural lateral loads is the method for wind design. “There is a new wind design method in the 2009 IBC which is called ‘alternate all-heights method,’” says Naderi. “This is a simplified method to arrive at wind pressures to calculate wind loads and determine your wind design.”

The alternative all-heights method has some limitations. It only applies to buildings up to 75 feet in height, and the building must have a height-to-least-width ratio of four or less to qualify to use this method. In addition, the building must be regularly shaped, must be a simple diaphragm building and should be either enclosed or partially enclosed.

Another change is with the IRC lateral bracing provisions. “This is one of those areas that is more complicated and seems to have been more confusing to the IRC users. Therefore, the bracing provisions have been completely rewritten. The intent here was to make the bracing provisions a lot more user-friendly, easier to understand and more consistent,” says Naderi.

Emergency Responder Communication
Changes involving emergency responder radio coverage can be found in both the 2009 IBC and the 2009 International Fire Code (IFC), Naderi says. “They are related to situations we’ve seen in which emergency responders in certain portions of large buildings discover that the radio performance is poor. That impacts all the emergency responders and their operations.”

Under the 2009 IBC and 2009 IFC, new buildings will be required to install approved emergency responder radio coverage systems unless the fire official determines the system is not needed for a specific building. This new requirement ensures continuous coverage for emergency radios inside and outside buildings.

Building Mechanical Ventilation
Another change found in the 2009 I-Codes has to do with buildings’ ventilation requirements. Older versions of the International Mechanical Code (IMC) require greater amounts of air to be brought into a building compared with the 2009 IMC. Modifications made to the airflow rate tables and equations in the 2009 IMC should improve energy efficiency and benefit building owners by allowing them to use smaller-size equipment to condition outside air as it’s brought into the building.

Other Changes
These are only a small sampling of the many changes and additions that have been made to improve the 2009 I-Codes. Others include revised formatting, references to new standards and the inclusion of complementary documents. For example, the 2009 International Plumbing Code (IPC) now includes the International Private Sewage Disposal Code. Also, the I-Codes now reference two new standards: ICC 500-08, Standard on the Design and Construction of Storm Shelters, and ICC 600-08, Standard for Residential Construction in High-Wind Regions.

Improvements in energy efficiency also are addressed in the 2009 I-Codes. This is particularly true for the 2009 edition of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), which is expected to offer approximately 15 percent in energy efficiency gains compared to the 2006 edition.

To learn more about the 2009 IECC, view the web seminar, Understanding the growing demand for infrastructure and the challenges and possibilities that lie ahead, featuring IHS Global Insight.

To view free 2009 overview webinars on the 2009 IBC, IRC, IFC and IPC/IMC/IFGC visit the ICC website at http://www.iccsafe.org/ps/overview-webinars.html