What Codes & Standards Apply?

MeyerFire University | FX101.07

By Joe Meyer, PE

RESOURCES

• Notes Page

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TRANSCRIPT

What Codes & Standards Apply to a Project? 

It's great that we have all these requirements for our project, but where do we even start?  

We've talked about the differences between a code and a standard, but what codes and standards specifically even apply to our project?  

Let's start with the Building Code.  

Each jurisdiction mandates a set of building codes that are signed into law under what is called an Ordinance. 

What is a jurisdiction? 

Or, who is the Authority Having Jurisdiction (or what we call the AHJ)? 

Well, it’s usually a government body; be it a township, a city, a county, or even a state. 

Different areas operate differently.  

If I don’t know who that Authority Having Jurisdiction is, I usually start by calling a local building department to ask if they are the review and inspection authority for a project with a specific address.  

In some states, building codes are adopted at the statewide level and apply throughout the state. 

Once I know the AHJ, I will search for their adopted ordinances. 

An ordinance is a piece of legislation that is enacted by a municipal authority.  

That’s a lot of fancy words in there. 

It is a law, that a municipal body, legislates. 

The AHJ can adopt a building code into law by passing an Ordinance.  

When they adopt a building code, they state which edition of the building code applies, and they may make modifications to the base building code as well. 

If I'm doing my initial code research for a project, I want to look up the jurisdiction that a project is in, usually by searching online for the applicable building code. 

Within a set of ordinances by a city that's posted online, I can look for the building code or search the term “building code” and usually find a specific edition of a base building code. Or, for example, I can usually find which edition of the International Building Code that jurisdiction is using. 

In the US we’re predominately under the International Building Code. 

Sometimes that building code is modified; for example, the State of California uses the California Building Code, which is a state-specific modified version of the International Building Code. 

Sometimes this comes with modifications, sometimes it does not, but each time it will give in addition of the building code that the jurisdiction adopts. 

On a side note - now is usually a good time to see if there are any deviations or local ordinances that will affect our project. 

If there are locally-adopted deviations from the model building code, this is the place to explore that. I’ve gotten caught a few times when we think we’re under the base building code like the International Building Code and we later find out that the AHJ has adopted a few specific ordinances that add cost to the project. 

Once we know which edition of the building code applies, we still need to figure out which standards apply to our project. 

If the jurisdiction specifically adopts standards in their legislation, then those standards would apply to our project.  

For instance a local jurisdiction in my area regularly incorporates the latest edition of NFPA 13 within their ordinance.  

When a new edition comes out, of NFPA 13, they update their city ordinances to specifically say NFPA 13 - 2019 Edition, for example. 

When a specific version of a standard is not adopted directly by an ordinance, it could still apply to a project through the building code. 

The building code incorporates standards as part of its reference documents. 

The International Building Code, for instance, has a chapter that’s dedicated to a list of reference standards. In the International Building Code, that’s Chapter 35. 

Within that chapter there is a long list of standards that are referenced by the building code document. 

When a project is under the 2021 edition of the IBC, and the IBC requires a sprinkler system, then that sprinkler system is required to be installed under the 2019 version of the NFPA 13. 

How did I arrive there?  

I go to the IBC 2021 edition, I look up chapter 35, and then look up the reference standards under NFPA and then NFPA 13.  

The IBC 2021 references the 2019 Edition of NFPA 13. Again, all in that Chapter 35. 

The same references would apply for other standards. 

Sometimes the standard can be pulled in from another standard.  

For instance, when we're designing sprinkler systems out of NFPA 13 and have a fire pump, NFPA 20 can get pulled in as a reference publication from Chapter 2 out of NFPA 13.  

So we go from a building code, to a standard, and then that standard is pulling in another standard. 

If there is a reference from the International Building Code or in a jurisdictions ordinance, then that would overrule or take a higher priority thinner reference from another standard. So there’s some hierarchy there as well. 

Some of the more complex questions to answer are when we have specialized systems that use standards that are not adopted by the jurisdiction and are not referenced by a model building code. 

Just because a standard is not adopted by a jurisdiction doesn't mean that it's meaningless.  

When we as a design professional need some basis for specialized system for design or install, maybe like an exposure protection system, kitchen hood suppression or a carbon dioxide suppression system, we can turn to leading, well-established criteria that provide direction and how we design these systems.  

I've ran into this one situations that don’t fall neatly into the building code and need specialized systems.  

As a responsible design professional it’s my job is to ensure public health and protect life safety, and I also don't want to go out of my way to reinvent the wheel or absorb a whole lot of extra liability in doing so.  

When standards exist for a system we’re working on, I generally want to seek out guidance from that standard. It’s well-established it’s well-respected and it protects myself, at least in some respects even if in a small way, as a design professional and it’s also protecting the public in the interest of public health and life safety. 

So in summary - what codes and standards apply to my project? 

Well I start with the jurisdiction where the project is located and search for the adopted building code and any directly adopted standards. Within adopted ordinances I can find the building code, the standard, and can then use references from the building code for which standards apply to my project.  

I'm Joe Meyer, this is MeyerFire University.