Essentials

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Fire Inspection and Code Enforcement, 7th Edition
Chapter 4 Construction Types and Occupancy
Classifications Inspector I
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DISCUSSION QUESTION
How are construction types and occupancy
classifications established?
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Learning Objective 1

• Describe each of the construction types defined
  by the model codes.

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United States Construction

• International Building Code (IBC) and National
  Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
• Recognize five types, defined by materials and
  fire performance for each building element

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DISCUSSION QUESTION
What building elements make up every type of
structure?
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Type I Construction

• Noncombustible or limited combustible materials
• Highest level of safety
• May include combustible materials in small
  quantities

(Continued)
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DISCUSSION QUESTION
What is protected steel?
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Type II Construction

• Building materials that will not contribute to
  fire development or spread
• Noncombustible materials that do not meet
  stricter requirements of Type I

(Continued)
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DISCUSSION QUESTION
When is Type II construction used?
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Type III Construction

• Churches, schools, apartment dwellings,
  mercantile structures
• Exterior walls constructed of noncombustible
  materials and interior elements of any permitted
  material

(Continued)
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Type IV Construction

• Large-dimensioned lumber for all structural
  elements
• Extremely stable and more resistant to collapse
• May include small-dimensioned lumber glued
  together
• Limitation

(Continued)
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DISCUSSION QUESTION
How does heavy timber construction react when
involved in fire?
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Type V Construction

• Exterior bearing walls entirely wood or other
  combustible materials
• Framing materials include wood studs, steel or
  aluminum studs, or wood sill plates
• Includes wood truss systems

(Continued)
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Canadian Construction

• National Building Code of Canada (NBC)
• Combustible construction
• Noncombustible construction
• Heavy timber construction

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Learning Objective 2
Explain the purpose of occupancy
classifications.
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Occupancy Classification

• Use of all or a portion of a building or
  structure
• Established because certain occupancies will have
  higher fire loads and greater numbers of
  occupants within them than others
• Helps gain reasonable expectation of hazard
  building presents

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Learning Objective 3
Compare the occupancy classification groups
used by the three main building codes.
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General Occupancy Classifications

• Assembly
• Business
• Educational
• Day Care
• Factory/Industrial
• Institutional
• Mercantile

• Residential
• Residential Board and Care
• Storage
• Utility/Miscellaneous
• Multiple

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Learning Objective 4
Describe the types of uses classified as
assembly by the model building codes.
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Assembly Occupancies

• Any building, structure, or compartment used for
  gathering of 50 or more persons
• Subclassifications
• NFPA
• ICC
• Canadian codes

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Learning Objective 5
Describe business and educational occupancies.
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Business Occupancies

• Buildings that provide working place for large
  numbers of occupants in an office environment
• Divided into group areas and individual working
  spaces

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DISCUSSION QUESTION
What are some examples of business
occupancies?
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Educational Occupancies

• Any building or portion used for education of six
  or more persons from preschool through 12th grade
• Significant challenges
• NFPA 101 and NFPA 5000
• ICC building and fire codes
• Canadian codes

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Learning Objective 6
Compare the factory, industrial, and
high-hazard occupancies defined by each model
code.
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Factory/Industrial Occupancies

• Classified differently by each model code
• NFPA codes
• ICC codes
• Canadian codes

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DISCUSSION QUESTION
What are the industrial occupancies
subdivisions of NFPA codes?
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Learning Objective 7
Compare the International Code Council (ICC)
institutional occupancies to the NFPA occupancy
classifications.
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Institutional Occupancies

• ICC Group I Institutional Where people with
  physical limitations due to health or age are
  cared for
• NFPA 1 and NFPA 101 occupancies
• Canadian codes

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Learning Objective 8
Describe various institutional occupancies.
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Health Care Occupancies

• Provide health services to four or more
  individuals who cannot evacuate themselves
• Only in NFPA 1 and 101
• ICC codes
• Canadian codes

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Ambulatory Health Care Occupancies

• Buildings or portions that provide medical
  services to four or more patients on an
  outpatient basis
• ICC codes

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Detention and Correctional Occupancies

• Locations where the occupants are held under
  restraint or security
• Include locks on doors where occupants are kept
• ICC codes
• Canadian codes

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DISCUSSION QUESTION
What may occupants of a detention and
correctional occupancy do in an emergency
situation?
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Residential Board and Care Occupancies

• NFPA 1 and NFPA 101
• Provide lodging, boarding, personal care to four
  or more residents unrelated to owner
• ICC codes
• Canadian codes
• Responsibilities of staff members

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DISCUSSION QUESTION
What are the evacuation classifications of
residential board and care occupancies?
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Learning Objective 9
Explain the primary concern or hazard found in
day-care occupancies.
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Day Care Occupancies

• Provide care, maintenance, and supervision of
  persons of any age for periods of less than 24
  hours per day
• Provide care by someone other than a relative or
  legal guardian of the child
• NFPA 101
• ICC codes

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Learning Objective 10
Describe the hazards usually associated with
mercantile occupancies.
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Mercantile Occupancies

• Any building that is used to display or sell
  merchandise
• Contain large quantities of combustible materials
  and potential for high life loss
• Arrangement of merchandise can result in high
  fire load and can restrict exit access

(Continued)
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DISCUSSION QUESTION
What are some examples of mercantile
occupancies?
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Learning Objective 11
Compare each of the residential occupancy
classifications.
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Residential Occupancies

• Provide sleeping accommodations under conditions
  other than health care or detention and
  correctional occupancies
• Required to meet minimum fire andlife safety
  requirements

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One- or Two-Family Dwelling

• NFPA Structures having no more than two
  dwelling units, including detached units,
  semidetached units, and duplexes
• Not exempted in model codes
• Not subject in periodic inspections
• Exception

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DISCUSSION QUESTION
What is a lodging or rooming house?
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Lodging (Boarding) or Rooming House

• NFPA 1 and NFPA 101
• ICC and Canadian codes
• Boarding or rooming houses
• Most common problem Knowing number of
  individuals permitted

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Hotels

• Provides sleeping rooms for transients
• Present wide range of fire and life safety
  challenges
• ICC and Canadian codes

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DISCUSSION QUESTION
What types of functions can a hotel include?
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Dormitory

• Building or portion in which sleeping
  accommodations are provided to 16 or more persons
  who are not related
• One room or series of smaller rooms
• No cooking facilities
• Fraternity houses

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Apartment Building

• Single or multistory structures containing three
  or more independent dwelling units with cooking
  and bathroom facilities in each
• May have direct access to exterior or have
  interior corridors
• Greater than 7 stories High-rise structures

(Continued)
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Apartment Building
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DISCUSSION QUESTION
What unique problems do apartment buildings
present for fire inspectors?
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Learning Objective 12
Describe storage, utility, and miscellaneous
occupancies.
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Storage Occupancies

• Used to store goods, merchandise, products,
  vehicles, or animals

Aircraft hangars Grain elevators Barns Stables

• NFPA
• Warehouses
• Storage units
• Freight terminals
• Parking garages

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DISCUSSION QUESTION
What usually determines the classification of
a storage occupancy?
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Utility/Miscellaneous Occupancies

• ICC code only
• Buildings or structures that do not fit any other
  classification
• Incidental or accessory buildings or structures
  that do not pose a hazard to primary occupancy

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DISCUSSION QUESTION
What are some examples of utility/miscellaneous
occupancies?
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Learning Objective 13
Determine occupancy classification of a
single-use occupancy. Learning Objective 13 is
measured in Learning Activity 4-I-1.
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Summary

• The ability of the inspector to determine the
  construction type and occupancy classification of
  a structure is critical to the success or failure
  of an inspection.

(Continued)
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Summary

• During periodic inspections and when alterations
  are made, inspectors must ensure that fire and
  life safety requirements are consistent with
  current use and alterations.
• Model building and fire codes provide the
  inspector with guidelines for ensuring that life
  safety requirements are met.

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Review Questions
1. How many types of construction are recognized
by the International Building Code
(IBC)? 2. What is heavy timber
construction? 3. What type of occupancy is a
jail?
(Continued)
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Review Questions
4. How many stories must an apartment building
be to be considered a high-rise
structure? 5. List several types of
incidental-use areas.
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