The Board of Building Inspection met 04/28/2021. They do not meet regularly and the last time they met was a year ago.
If this meeting is any indication, they seem to perform a function similar to the Board of Zoning Appeals.
The applicant wanted to renovate an office area within a building that exceeds the allowable area for a non-sprinkler, non-separated area, per Table 506.2 in the International Building Code, as adopted by Section 4-136. The office area is approximately 28′ 3″ by 42′ 7″
The discussion kicked off with layman’s explanation of the problem. This is a large storage building that’s wood framed. Within the building, there is a smaller place that has been office space for many years which the owner wants to renovate. There was already a renovation many years ago under a previous owner, and, even at that time, the wood frame portion of the building exceeded the size of a wood frame building that should have sprinklers.
Wood frame buildings have more limitations and restrictions than steel or masonry buildings. A wood frame building is going to need either a sprinkler system or be compartmentalized. They were hoping, instead of having to install a sprinkler system, to be allowed to compartmentalize the office space by putting walls up so if a fire starts in one section it will be contained and not spread to the rest of the building. They understood that the building should have sprinklers even according to the previous code, but, due to the cost, they were hoping to be allowed to compartmentalize the building instead.
The next man who spoke either didn’t have a microphone or it was turned down very low and it was hard to hear him, so I hope I have all the details correct. He was one of the men working on the project and explained that the area that they’re renovating is approximately 1,193 square feet, a little over 6% of the building. The building is a steel structure, but wood was used in parts of it so it’s classified as a wood frame building instead of a steel building. They’re just looking to update the office area. They’re not changing the use or doing anything other than reconfiguring that space.
They are proposing to isolate the area. Two walls are already exterior walls. They would install 2 hour fire breaks to the two interior walls to isolate them from the rest of the building.
Another man who is involved with the project said that they understood that if they were to add onto the building that a sprinkler system would be mandatory to install. Although it’s quite an expense, they would take that on in that case.
One of the committee members said that the initial drawings submitted shows a 1 hour wall. He wondered why they changed that to a 2 hour wall.
The answer was that, after some discussion, it was determined that 1 hour was not a sufficient division so they made it a 2 hour wall instead.
The committee member was comfortable with the fact that the Fire Department was aware that there was a non-compliant situation, that that situation was not caused by the current owner, and the current owner is trying to improve safety.
Another man who sounded like he worked with the city in some capacity said that they had been asked to do a plan review which was then they noticed the lack of sprinklers. They worked closely with the Fire Department. Compartmentalization is a huge part of the building code. They determined that a 1 hour wall was not necessarily a fire barrier for compartmentalization purposes so they suggested the 2 hour which the building owner did go with. He believed that the building owner’s intent is to make the building safer, and the owner does have the understanding that if the building is expanded he would need to install a sprinkler system. He said they believe that meets the intent of the code and is certainly better than what has been in place.
A committee member made a motion to approve the renovation contingent upon the renovation area being isolated with 2 hour firewalls.
That was approved unanimously.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=858175&GUID=B9ABF39A-1BD9-4B70-9F9A-AD0CCB47086E&Options=info|&Search=
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