The International Code Council (ICC) Public Comments Hearing (PCH) for development of the 2024 I-Codes concluded on Saturday, September 17, following four days of hearings in Louisville, Kentucky. In the next few weeks, ICC Validated Voters will have the opportunity to take further action on several changes through participation in the Online Governmental Consensus Voting (OGCV) process. The OGCV is extremely important in ensuring your voice as a fire or building official is heard. For most items, AWC’s recommendations are in support of the recommended actions approved during the PCH. However, your consideration of AWC’s recommendation for S212-22 which adds reference to a new ANSI/AWC consensus standard for the design of connection protection in Tall Mass Timber construction and RB74 which adds a new ASTM consensus standard for evaluation of wood-based floor assembly fire protection, would be appreciated. Click here to view this information as a pdf.
| AWC Top Voting Recommendations for cdpACCESS | ||
|
Change |
AWC Recommends |
Reason |
| S202-22 | AS | Revises requirements governing design values for fire-retardant treated plywood and fire-retardant treated lumber for consistency with AWC and ASTM standards, where fire-retardant treatment adjustments are required in addition to adjustments for untreated wood. Support the PCH action for Approved as Submitted. |
| S205-22 | D | Conflates fire-retardant-treated wood with the treatment of wood or options for use of coatings to achieve flame spread requirements. Adds prohibition of site-applied coatings which are often used to achieve flame spread requirements for interior finishes. Support the PCH action for Disapproved. |
| S212-22 | AS 1 | Adds reference to the latest ANSI/AWC Fire Design Specification (FDS) for Wood Construction for the design of fire protection of connections. Provides a tool for designers to use, and for building officials to approve, a design of fire protection for connections in Type IV-A, IV-B and IV-C buildings.1 Support Approved as Submitted. |
| RB61-22
RB63-22 |
AMPC1 AMPC3 |
Public Comment 1 of RB61-22 and Public Comment 3 of RB63-22 clarify the intended continuity of fire-resistance rating in platform construction, consistent with requirements approved for the International Building Code under FS19-21 for Type III platform construction. Support the PCH action for Approved as Modified by both Public Comments. |
| RB74-22 | AM 2 | Adds a new standard, ASTM D8391, for determining the equivalency of wood-based floor assembly fire protection to unprotected 2 by 10 dimension lumber. This proposal was recommended for approval as modified by the ICC Code Development Committee at the Committee Action Hearings.2 Support CAH action for Approved as Modified. |
| RB176-22 | AMPC1 | Without modification by the Public Comment, exterior wood deck structural elements such as guards, deck boards, stair treads and stringers would be excluded from requirements to be protected from decay or termites. Support the PCH action for Approved as Modified by Public Comment 1. |
| RB193-22 RB195-22 RB239-22 |
AMPC1 AMPC1 AMPC1 |
Adds prescriptive fastening options for roof, wall, and soffit sheathing attachment to wood frame which avoids engineered design when low specific gravity framing is used. Support the PCH action for Approved as Modified by Public Comment 1. |
| RB254-22 | AS | Approval of the original proposal as submitted reverses an incorrect limitation that wood structural panels used as sheathing for wood shingles is limited to plywood in accordance with the PS1 standard. Support the PCH action for Approved as Submitted. |
Abbreviations:
AS: Approved as submitted
AM: Approved as modified by the committee
AMPC1: Approved as modified by Public Comment 1
AMPC3: Approved as modified by Public Comment 3
D: Disapproved
1 AWC recommended position differs from PCH vote. S212-22 inserts a reference to AWC’s newest consensus design standard, ANSI/AWC FDS-2022 Fire Design Specification (FDS) for Wood Construction, for the sole purpose of designing fire protection of connections in Tall Mass Timber buildings (Types IV-A, IV-B, and IV-C) as required in IBC 2304.10.1. The FDS, available to the public as a pre-standard beginning in May 2021, has been under review and development by AWC’s consensus committee comprised of designers, regulators, manufacturers, and academicians since that time. Final balloting concluded in August 2022 and the standard was recognized as an ANSI American National Standard on September 13, 2022. Testimony at the PCH suggesting that the standard wasn’t available for review until September 13th was misleading given availability of the pre-standard and development though a consensus process which includes public review. Testimony in opposition at the PCH that focused on provisions related to fire-retardant-treated wood was unrelated to the narrowly scoped reference to the ANSI/AWC FDS in S212-22, which pertains solely to design of fire protection for connections. Testimony supporting approval of S212-22 was provided by building officials who favored the inclusion of code provisions providing standard guidance for fire protection of connections. AWC recommends approval of S212-22 As Submitted to provide consensus standard requirements for designing fire protection of connections in Type IV-A, IV-B and IV-C mass timber construction. The 2022 ANSI/AWC FDS is available on the AWC website at the following location: https://awc.org/codes-standards/publications/fds-2022.
2 AWC recommended position differs from the PCH vote but is consistent with the CAH vote. RB74-22 adds ASTM D8391 Specification for Demonstrating Equivalent Fire Performance for Wood-Based Floor Framing Members to Unprotected 2 by 10 Dimension Lumber or Equal-Sized Structural Composite Lumber to define an acceptable method to evaluate alternatives to 2×10 dimension lumber recognized under R302.13 Exception 4. Approval as Modified is preferable to Disapproval because the new standard provides detailed requirements for establishing equivalent fire performance. Such guidance is absent in the existing IRC language and would possibly allow untested methods if the proposal is disapproved. Requirements for testing and acceptance of alternatives are recognized in the new ASTM specification and are aligned with evaluation criteria of International Code Council Evaluation Service in ICC-ES AC14.