Inspectors and plans examiners met for a seminar focused on the IBC and NFPA 101.
David Dodge of McKEON was invited by the City of Detroit Buildings, Safety Engineering & Environmental Department to conduct a building code seminar. The event took place on December 10th in the Detroit City Council auditorium.
Over 120 inspectors and plans examiners met for this half-day seminar. Mr. Dodge addressed the history of the IBC, the building code development process, and the relevance of NFPA 101, the Life Safety Code, as an appendage standard.
Specific to the IBC, David focused on the intent and purpose of “exceptions” that permeate the code. This particular part of the curriculum helped class attendees realize exceptions are not “exceptions to the rule” but accepted code changes that have been discussed, voted on and thoroughly vetted by ICC code development process. Each class member recognized that exceptions are as binding if not more binding than original charging language. And as such are not approached in plan check by way of alternate methods or substitute processes for approval.
The seminar defined Fire Resistance & Fire Protection ratings as they apply to the five walls of the IBC. The allowable uses of Smoke and Fire rated Curtain Assemblies were also discussed helping folks understand what is approved in the US based codes and standards.
Refreshments provided by Bareman and Associates, Inc., the McKEON distributor representatives for the State of Michigan, were available throughout the morning.
Class members were given a hard copy of “Fire Door Systems, A Guide to Code Compliance” as a followup reference document.