Design for Code Acceptance (DCA) #1 Flame Spread Performance of Wood Products provides building-code-accepted flame spread ratings for various wood products and species which are normally used as interior finishes for walls, ceilings, and floors in buildings. Wood materials may be used as an interior finish in almost all occupancies. IBC Table 803.9 indicates the finish…
For occupancies such as stores, apartments, offices, and other commercial and industrial uses, building codes commonly require floor/ceiling and wall assemblies to be fire-resistance-rated in accordance with standard fire tests. The 2012 International Building Code permits fire-resistance-rating to be established by several methods. Testing is the primary means (703.2, 2012 IBC), but not the only one. The five…
AWC’s Design for Code Acceptance No. 4 (DCA 4) Component Additive Method (CAM) for Calculating and Demonstrating Assembly Fire Endurance describes a procedure to calculate the fire endurance rating of a wood-frame wall, roof, or floor/ceiling assembly. The procedure is based on combining fire resistance times assigned to each separate component of the assembly without the need for…
One-hour fire-resistance-rated floor/ceiling assemblies that are derived by ASTM E119 testing are typically constructed with 2×10 or 2×12 joists. Joists of lesser depths, such as 2×8, are generally not permitted to be substituted unless the assembly is retested. However, with approval of the building official, the empirical methods in IBC 721.6 and AWC’s DCA 4 can…
Chapter 16 of the National Design Specification (NDS) for Wood Construction provides a code-recognized approach for determining the fire resistance of solid sawn, glulam, and select structural composite lumber (SCL) materials, including laminated veneer lumber (LVL), parallel strand lumber (PSL), laminated strand lumber (LSL), and cross-laminated timber (CLT). Design for Code Acceptance Document 2, titled “Design of…
Details for exterior wall/floor intersections in Type III construction are included in Design for Code Acceptance No. 3 Fire Resistance Rated Wood Frame Wall and Floor Assemblies (AWC DCA-3). The details may be helpful when a one-hour floor ceiling assembly intersects with a two-hour exterior wall in traditional platform construction, if there are concerns about the…