Construction Codebooks > Code Books, All > 2009 International Building Code Softcover

It is founded on broad-based principles that make possible the use of new materials and new building designs, and based on years of combined experience andtechnical expertise of the three model code groups: ICBO, BOCA, and SBCCI.

The 2009 International Building Code covers all buildings except detached one and two family dwellings and townhouses not more than three stories in height. This comprehensive code features time-tested safety concepts, structural, and fire and life safety provisions covering means of egress, interior finish requirements, comprehensive roof provisions, seismic engineering provisions, innovative construction technology, occupancy classifications, and the latest industry standards in material design. It is founded on broad-based principles that make possible the use of new materials and new building designs.

Bonus CD included!

This CD contains helpful resources such as excerpts from code references, historical background on code changes, informative articles from ICC's Building Safety Journal, Internet links to many useful tools, and much more.

The 2009 edition of International Building Code (IBC) will better protect occupants of tall buildings, contains new provisions for ambulatory health care facilities and provides guidelines for constructing storm shelters.

New to the 2009 International Building Code:

• Includes new requirements for storm shelters, based upon the new ICC/NSSA Standard, ICC 500-2008.
• Contains provisions for fire service access elevators and emergency evacuation elevators in high rises more than 120 feet in height.
• Establishes standards for Live/Work units.
• New, simplified Alternate All-heights Method for wind design based on and in compliance with the ASCE 7 Analytical Procedure (Method 2).
• Requires an additional stairway in high rises more than 420 feet in height unless the building includes special elevators that can be used for emergency evacuation.
• An option to allow emergency evacuation elevators for building occupants.
• Requirements for more robust fire proofing for buildings greater than 75 feet tall.
• Requires improved structural and fire resistance standards for high-rises over 420 feet in height.
• Allows "open mall" complexes to be considered under covered mall standards.
• Established the "Ambulatory Health Care Center" category to enhance occupant safety at day surgery centers.
• Allows Bed and Breakfast establishments with up to 10 transient visitors to meet standards for R-3 Occupancy rather than R-1 Occupancy.
• Removed the special inspection exemption for Group R-3 Occupancies and clarified the requirements pertaining to special inspector qualifications.
• The prescriptive use of wood structural panels in lieu of impact-resistant glazing or impact resistant covering is now limited only to buildings of Group R-3 or R-4 Occupancy.
• The exception in IBC Section 1707.3 for special inspection of wood light frame construction where the fastener spacing of the sheathing is more than 4 inches on center also applies to cold-formed steel light frame construction.

• Construction.
• Alteration.
• Movement.
• Enlargement.
• Replacement.
• Repair.
• Equipment.
• Use and Occupancy.
• Location.
• Maintenance.
• Removal and Demolition.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 SCOPE AND ADMINISTRATION. . . . 1
PART 1—SCOPE AND APPLICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Section
101 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
102 Applicability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
PART 2—ADMINISTRATION AND
ENFORCEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
103 Department of Building Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
104 Duties and Powers of Building Official . . . . . . . . . 2
105 Permits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
106 Floor and Roof Design Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
107 Submittal Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
108 Temporary Structures and Uses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
109 Fees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
110 Inspections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
111 Certificate of Occupancy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
112 Service Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
113 Board of Appeals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
114 Violations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
115 Stop Work Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
116 Unsafe Structures and Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
CHAPTER 2 DEFINITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Section
201 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
202 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
CHAPTER 3 USE AND OCCUPANCY
CLASSIFICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Section
301 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
302 Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
303 Assembly Group A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
304 Business Group B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
305 Educational Group E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
306 Factory Group F. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
307 High-hazard Group H . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
308 Institutional Group I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
309 Mercantile Group M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
310 Residential Group R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
311 Storage Group S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
312 Utility and Miscellaneous Group U . . . . . . . . . . . 36
CHAPTER 4 SPECIAL DETAILED
REQUIREMENTS BASED ON
USE AND OCCUPANCY . . . . . . . . . . 37
Section
401 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
402 Covered Mall and Open Mall Buildings . . . . . . . 37
403 High-rise Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
404 Atriums. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
405 Underground Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
406 Motor-vehicle-related Occupancies . . . . . . . . . . . 45
407 Group I-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
408 Group I-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
409 Motion Picture Projection Rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
410 Stages and Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
411 Special Amusement Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
412 Aircraft-related Occupancies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
413 Combustible Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
414 Hazardous Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
415 Groups H-1, H-2, H-3, H-4 and H-5 . . . . . . . . . . 62
416 Application of Flammable Finishes . . . . . . . . . . . 74
417 Drying Rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
418 Organic Coatings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
419 Live/work Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
420 Groups I-1, R-1, R-2, R-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
421 Hydrogen Cutoff Rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
422 Ambulatory Health Care Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
423 Storm Shelters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
CHAPTER 5 GENERAL BUILDING
HEIGHTS AND AREAS . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Section
501 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
502 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
503 General Building Height and Area Limitations . . 79
504 Building Height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
505 Mezzanines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
506 Building Area Modifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
507 Unlimited Area Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
508 Mixed Use and Occupancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
509 Special Provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
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CHAPTER 6 TYPES OF CONSTRUCTION. . . . . . 89
Section
601 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
602 Construction Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
603 Combustible Material in
Type I and II Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
CHAPTER 7 FIRE AND SMOKE
PROTECTION FEATURES . . . . . . . . 93
Section
701 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
702 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
703 Fire-resistance Ratings and Fire Tests . . . . . . . . . 94
704 Fire-resistance Rating of
Structural Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
705 Exterior Walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
706 Fire Walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
707 Fire Barriers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
708 Shaft Enclosures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
709 Fire Partitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
710 Smoke Barriers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
711 Smoke Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
712 Horizontal Assemblies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
713 Penetrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
714 Fire-resistant Joint Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
715 Opening Protectives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
716 Ducts and Air Transfer Openings . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
717 Concealed Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
718 Fire-resistance Requirements for Plaster . . . . . . 124
719 Thermal- and Sound-insulating Materials . . . . . 124
720 Prescriptive Fire Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
721 Calculated Fire Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
CHAPTER 8 INTERIOR FINISHES . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Section
801 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
802 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
803 Wall and Ceiling Finishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
804 Interior Floor Finish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
805 Combustible Materials in Type I
and II Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
806 Decorative Materials and Trim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
807 Insulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
808 Acoustical Ceiling Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
CHAPTER 9 FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEMS. . . 181
Section
901 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
902 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
903 Automatic Sprinkler Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
904 Alternative Automatic
Fire-extinguishing Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
905 Standpipe Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
906 Portable Fire Extinguishers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
907 Fire Alarm and Detection Systems . . . . . . . . . . . 194
908 Emergency Alarm Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
909 Smoke Control Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
910 Smoke and Heat Vents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
911 Fire Command Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
912 Fire Department Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
913 Fire Pumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
914 Emergency Responder Safety Features . . . . . . . 215
915 Emergency Responder Radio Coverage . . . . . . . 215
CHAPTER 10 MEANS OF EGRESS . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Section
1001 Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
1002 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
1003 General Means of Egress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
1004 Occupant Load. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
1005 Egress Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
1006 Means of Egress Illumination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
1007 Accessible Means of Egress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
1008 Doors, Gates and Turnstiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
1009 Stairways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
1010 Ramps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
1011 Exit Signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
1012 Handrails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
1013 Guards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
1014 Exit Access. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
1015 Exit and Exit Access Doorways . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
1016 Exit Access Travel Distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
1017 Aisles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
1018 Corridors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
1019 Egress Balconies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
1020 Exits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
1021 Number of Exits and Continuity. . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
1022 Exit Enclosures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
1023 Exit Passageways. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
1024 Luminous Egress Path Markings . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
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1025 Horizontal Exits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
1026 Exterior Exit Ramps and Stairways . . . . . . . . . . 248
1027 Exit Discharge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
1028 Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
1029 Emergency Escape and Rescue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
CHAPTER 11 ACCESSIBILITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Section
1101 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
1102 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
1103 Scoping Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
1104 Accessible Route . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
1105 Accessible Entrances. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
1106 Parking and Passenger Loading Facilities . . . . . 260
1107 Dwelling Units and Sleeping Units . . . . . . . . . . 260
1108 Special Occupancies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
1109 Other Features and Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
1110 Signage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
CHAPTER 12 INTERIOR ENVIRONMENT . . . . . 271
Section
1201 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
1202 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
1203 Ventilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
1204 Temperature Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
1205 Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
1206 Yards or Courts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
1207 Sound Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
1208 Interior Space Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
1209 Access to Unoccupied Spaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
1210 Surrounding Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
CHAPTER 13 ENERGY EFFICIENCY. . . . . . . . . . 275
Section
1301 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
CHAPTER 14 EXTERIOR WALLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Section
1401 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
1402 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
1403 Performance Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
1404 Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
1405 Installation of Wall Coverings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
1406 Combustible Materials on the
Exterior Side of Exterior Walls . . . . . . . . . . . 283
1407 Metal Composite Materials (MCM) . . . . . . . . . . 284
1408 Exterior Insulation and
Finish Systems (EIFS). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
CHAPTER 15 ROOF ASSEMBLIES AND
ROOFTOP STRUCTURES. . . . . . . . 287
Section
1501 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
1502 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
1503 Weather Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
1504 Performance Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
1505 Fire Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
1506 Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
1507 Requirements for Roof Coverings . . . . . . . . . . . 290
1508 Roof Insulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
1509 Rooftop Structures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
1510 Reroofing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
CHAPTER 16 STRUCTURAL DESIGN . . . . . . . . . 303
Section
1601 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
1602 Definitions and Notations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
1603 Construction Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
1604 General Design Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
1605 Load Combinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
1606 Dead Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
1607 Live Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
1608 Snow Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
1609 Wind Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
1610 Soil Lateral Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
1611 Rain Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
1612 Flood Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
1613 Earthquake Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
1614 Structural Integrity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
CHAPTER 17 STRUCTURAL TESTS AND
SPECIAL INSPECTIONS . . . . . . . . 367
Section
1701 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
1702 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
1703 Approvals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
1704 Special Inspections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
1705 Statement of Special Inspections . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
1706 Special Inspections for Wind Requirements . . . 381
1707 Special Inspections for Seismic Resistance . . . . 381
1708 Structural Testing for Seismic Resistance . . . . . 382
1709 Contractor Responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
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1710 Structural Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
1711 Design Strengths of Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
1712 Alternative Test Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
1713 Test Safe Load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
1714 In-situ Load Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
1715 Preconstruction Load Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
1716 Material and Test Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
CHAPTER 18 SOILS AND FOUNDATIONS . . . . . 387
Section
1801 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
1802 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
1803 Geotechnical Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
1804 Excavation, Grading and Fill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
1805 Dampproofing and Waterproofing . . . . . . . . . . . 390
1806 Presumptive Load-bearing Values of Soils . . . . 391
1807 Foundation Walls, Retaining Walls and
Embedded Posts and Poles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
1808 Foundations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
1809 Shallow Foundations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402
1810 Deep Foundations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
CHAPTER 19 CONCRETE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417
Section
1901 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417
1902 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417
1903 Specifications for Tests and Materials . . . . . . . . 417
1904 Durability Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417
1905 Concrete Quality, Mixing and Placing . . . . . . . . 419
1906 Formwork, Embedded Pipes and
Construction Joints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
1907 Details of Reinforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
1908 Modifications to ACI 318 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
1909 Structural Plain Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
1910 Minimum Slab Provisions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
1911 Anchorage to Concrete—Allowable
Stress Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424
1912 Anchorage to Concrete—Strength Design. . . . . 424
1913 Shotcrete. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
1914 Reinforced Gypsum Concrete. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
1915 Concrete-filled Pipe Columns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
CHAPTER 20 ALUMINUM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
Section
2001 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
2002 Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
CHAPTER 21 MASONRY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
Section
2101 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
2102 Definitions and Notations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
2103 Masonry Construction Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . 432
2104 Construction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
2105 Quality Assurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434
2106 Seismic Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
2107 Allowable Stress Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
2108 Strength Design of Masonry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
2109 Empirical Design of Masonry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
2110 Glass Unit Masonry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
2111 Masonry Fireplaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
2112 Masonry Heaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440
2113 Masonry Chimneys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
CHAPTER 22 STEEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
Section
2201 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
2202 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
2203 Identification and Protection of Steel
for Structural Purposes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
2204 Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
2205 Structural Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
2206 Steel Joists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448
2207 Steel Cable Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
2208 Steel Storage Racks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
2209 Cold-formed Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
2210 Cold-formed Steel Light-frame Construction . . 449
CHAPTER 23 WOOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
Section
2301 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
2302 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
2303 Minimum Standards and Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . 452
2304 General Construction Requirements. . . . . . . . . . 456
2305 General Design Requirements for
Lateral-force-resisting Systems . . . . . . . . . . . 466
2306 Allowable Stress Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468
2307 Load and Resistance Factor Design . . . . . . . . . . 469
2308 Conventional Light-frame Construction . . . . . . 469
CHAPTER 24 GLASS AND GLAZING . . . . . . . . . . 521
Section
2401 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521
2402 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521
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2403 General Requirements for Glass. . . . . . . . . . . . . 521
2404 Wind, Snow, Seismic and
Dead Loads on Glass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521
2405 Sloped Glazing and Skylights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523
2406 Safety Glazing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524
2407 Glass in Handrails and Guards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526
2408 Glazing in Athletic Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526
2409 Glass in Elevator Hoistways and
Elevator Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
CHAPTER 25 GYPSUM BOARD
AND PLASTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
Section
2501 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
2502 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
2503 Inspection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
2504 Vertical and Horizontal Assemblies . . . . . . . . . . 529
2505 Shear Wall Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
2506 Gypsum Board Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530
2507 Lathing and Plastering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530
2508 Gypsum Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530
2509 Gypsum Board in Showers and
Water Closets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531
2510 Lathing and Furring for Cement
Plaster (Stucco) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532
2511 Interior Plaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532
2512 Exterior Plaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533
2513 Exposed Aggregate Plaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533
CHAPTER 26 PLASTIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535
Section
2601 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535
2602 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535
2603 Foam Plastic Insulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535
2604 Interior Finish and Trim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538
2605 Plastic Veneer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539
2606 Light-transmitting Plastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539
2607 Light-transmitting Plastic Wall Panels . . . . . . . . 540
2608 Light-transmitting Plastic Glazing . . . . . . . . . . . 541
2609 Light-transmitting Plastic Roof Panels . . . . . . . 541
2610 Light-transmitting Plastic Skylight Glazing . . . 542
2611 Light-transmitting Plastic Interior Signs . . . . . . 542
2612 Fiber Reinforced Polymer and
Fiberglass-reinforced Polymer . . . . . . . . . . . . 543
2613 Reflective Plastic Core Insulation . . . . . . . . . . . 544
CHAPTER 27 ELECTRICAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
Section
2701 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
2702 Emergency and Standby Power Systems . . . . . . 545
CHAPTER 28 MECHANICAL SYSTEMS . . . . . . . 547
Section
2801 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547
CHAPTER 29 PLUMBING SYSTEMS . . . . . . . . . . 549
Section
2901 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549
2902 Minimum Plumbing Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549
2903 Toilet Room Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552
CHAPTER 30 ELEVATORS AND
CONVEYING SYSTEMS . . . . . . . . . 553
Section
3001 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553
3002 Hoistway Enclosures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553
3003 Emergency Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553
3004 Hoistway Venting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554
3005 Conveying Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554
3006 Machine Rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555
3007 Fire Service Access Elevator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555
3008 Occupant Evacuation Elevators . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556
CHAPTER 31 SPECIAL CONSTRUCTION. . . . . . 559
Section
3101 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559
3102 Membrane Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559
3103 Temporary Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560
3104 Pedestrian Walkways and Tunnels . . . . . . . . . . . 560
3105 Awnings and Canopies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561
3106 Marquees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562
3107 Signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562
3108 Telecommunication and Broadcast Towers . . . . 562
3109 Swimming Pool Enclosures and
Safety Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562
3110 Automatic Vehicular Gates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563
CHAPTER 32 ENCROACHMENTS INTO THE
PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY . . . . . . . . 565
Section
3201 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565
3202 Encroachments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565
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CHAPTER 33 SAFEGUARDS DURING
CONSTRUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
Section
3301 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
3302 Construction Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
3303 Demolition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
3304 Site Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
3305 Sanitary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
3306 Protection of Pedestrians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568
3307 Protection of Adjoining Property . . . . . . . . . . . . 569
3308 Temporary Use of Streets, Alleys and
Public Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569
3309 Fire Extinguishers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569
3310 Means of Egress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569
3311 Standpipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569
3312 Automatic Sprinkler System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570
CHAPTER 34 EXISTING STRUCTURES. . . . . . . . 571
Section
3401 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571
3402 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571
3403 Additions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572
3404 Alterations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572
3405 Repairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573
3406 Fire Escapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574
3407 Glass Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575
3408 Change of Occupancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575
3409 Historic Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575
3410 Moved Structures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575
3411 Accessibility for Existing Buildings . . . . . . . . . 575
3412 Compliance Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577
CHAPTER 35 REFERENCED STANDARDS . . . . . 587
APPENDIX A EMPLOYEE
QUALIFICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
Section
A101 Building Official Qualifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
A102 Referenced Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
APPENDIX B BOARD OF APPEALS . . . . . . . . . . . 609
Section
B101 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609
APPENDIX C GROUP U—AGRICULTURAL
BUILDINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
Section
C101 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
C102 Allowable Height and Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
C103 Mixed Occupancies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
C104 Exits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
APPENDIX D FIRE DISTRICTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613
Section
D101 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613
D102 Building Restrictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613
D103 Changes to Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614
D104 Buildings Located Partially in the
Fire District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614
D105 Exceptions to Restrictions in Fire District . . . . . 614
D106 Referenced Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
APPENDIX E SUPPLEMENTARY ACCESSIBILITY
REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617
Section
E101 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617
E102 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617
E103 Accessible Route . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617
E104 Special Occupancies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617
E105 Other Features and Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618
E106 Telephones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618
E107 Signage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619
E108 Bus Stops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620
E109 Transportation Facilities and Stations . . . . . . . . 620
E110 Airports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621
E111 Referenced Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621
APPENDIX F RODENTPROOFING . . . . . . . . . . . . 623
Section
F101 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623
APPENDIX G FLOOD-RESISTANT
CONSTRUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625
Section
G101 Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625
G102 Applicability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625
G103 Powers and Duties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625
G104 Permits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626
G105 Variances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626
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G201 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627
G301 Subdivisions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628
G401 Site Improvement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628
G501 Manufactured Homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628
G601 Recreational Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628
G701 Tanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629
G801 Other Building Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629
G901 Temporary Structures and
Temporary Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629
G1001 Utility and Miscellaneous Group U . . . . . . . . . . 629
G1101 Referenced Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630
APPENDIX H SIGNS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631
Section
H101 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631
H102 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631
H103 Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631
H104 Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631
H105 Design and Construction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632
H106 Electrical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632
H107 Combustible Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632
H108 Animated Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632
H109 Ground Signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632
H110 Roof Signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633
H111 Wall Signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633
H112 Projecting Signs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633
H113 Marquee Signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634
H114 Portable Signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634
H115 Referenced Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634
APPENDIX I PATIO COVERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635
Section
I101 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635
I102 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635
I103 Exterior Openings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635
I104 Structural Provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635
APPENDIX J GRADING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637
Section
J101 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637
J102 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637
J103 Permits Required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637
J104 Permit Application and Submittals. . . . . . . . . . . 637
J105 Inspections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638
J106 Excavations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638
J107 Fills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638
J108 Setbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638
J109 Drainage and Terracing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640
J110 Erosion Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640
J111 Referenced Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640
APPENDIX K ADMINISTRATIVE
PROVISIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641
Section
K101 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641
K102 Applicability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641
K103 Permits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641
K104 Construction Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 642
K105 Alternative Engineered Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 642
K106 Required Inspections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 642
K107 Prefabricated Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 642
K108 Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643
K109 Reconnection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643
K110 Condemning Electrical Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643
K111 Electrical Provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643
INDEX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
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Why should you care? These codes form the basis for how construction must be done.

• Many jurisdictions in the USA have adopted International Codes--sometimes in addition to other codes, sometimes in place of them. All fifty states (and U.S. possessions and many jurisdictions outside the USA) have adopted one or more of the International Codes, either with amendments or exactly as is.
• Many owners (construction customers) are bound by International Codes, due to corporate policies--especially if the parent company is based outside the USA.
• Code convergence is increasing. Other codes are becoming more like the International Codes with each code cycle.
• Conforming to these codes, even if not specifically required to do by the local authority having jurisdiction, can make a huge difference in a liability suit.
• The International Codes, if not required in your jurisdiction, can fill some "holes" in other applicable codes for engineering or design quality purposes. Thus, they make it easier for you to "sell" to the customer the right way to do the job. You have an authoritative basis for the "price hike" you are proposing over a less suitable design.
• If you are not using International Codes now, you will be. Get in the habit of working with these codes.

Bonus! Now, here's a bonus for you. Suppose the state doesn't list a specific code. You do the work, something happens, and you are in court defending yourself against claims that your work resulted in an unsafe installation. There's no inspection report, because there was no standard required by your state. But wait. You did the work per the applicable ICC codes. Now, assuming good workmanship and good materials, the other party has a frivolous case.

Safety first. The International Codes, or I-Codes, published by ICC, provide minimum safeguards for people at home, at school, and in the workplace. The I-Codes are a complete set of comprehensive, coordinated building safety and fire prevention codes. Building codes benefit public safety and support the industry’s need for one set of codes without regional limitations.

Federal applications. Many federal agencies (such as the Architect of the Capitol, General Services Administration, National Park Service, Department of State, U.S. Forest Service and the Veterans Administration) require work to be done per the the I-Codes. The Department of Defense references the International Building Code for constructing military facilities, including those that house U.S. troops, domestically and deployed.

Where ICC came from. The founders of the ICC are Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc. (BOCA), International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO), and Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc. (SBCCI). At one time, they each published their own codes. But in 1994, they established the International Code Council (ICC) as a non-profit organization dedicated to developing a single set of construction codes. The International Code Series subsequently replaced the codes previously published by these organizations.

• Obviously, you need to know what the regulations and requirements are. That's why you should buy this standard.
• As you apply a requirement, look at the principle behind it. If you satisfy the principle, you won't be subject to "interpretation revisions" being forced on you later.
• To understand a particular provision, understand its context. So rather than look up a sentence and try to parse out its meaning, look at the entire code and how it's arranged. Where does the provision fit within this framework, and what is that chapter or section trying to accomplish?
• Remember that members of all code-making bodies write the codes in respect to the laws of physics, and to the body of knowledge in the respective trade or skill area addressed by the code. If you also understand these things, then you will be able to more properly apply a given code requirement.
• Codes are nearly always written as minimum requirements. You may need to go beyond the code requirements for optimum operational efficiency or to satisfy engineering requirements based on best practices. The codes almost never limit you from going beyond the requirements.