HomeMy WebLinkAboutPermit Correspondence 1993-12-01A.^a
CITY OF OREGO'U
SPRINGFIELD
D EV ELOPM ENT SERV ICES D EPA RTM ENT
,December 1, 1993
Villiam BeII
821 Northridge Avenue
Springfield, 0R 97477 ' ..
Re: 1420 North 30th Street, Springfield, Oregon
225 FIFTH STREET
SPRINGFIELD, OR 97477
(50s) 726-3753
FAX (50s) 726-3689
Dear Mr. BelI:
Thank you for your Ietter dated November 26, 1993 and for your expressed
"ppi""i.tion for City staff vho have assisted you to date. I spoke vith Susan
D;i;JJr;g, Developrent Serrices Director. She requested I send you a detail-ed
i"p"it iEentifyini items that need to be completed before occupancy at !h"
above address. I7m providing you vith the folloving technical information and
offing my assistance to meet vith you to help clarify any_questions you may
[ur"." Aithough I will attempt to provide as much flexibility as possible, it's
important to note that the "Building Coderr-is Oregon lav, and a.statevide
uniforrn minimum-maximum code. Loca1 jurisdictions eannot in a discretionary
manner. choose to enforce only certain sections of this lav.
STRUCTURAL
A) The oregon structural Specialty Code- (ossc) requires commercial
o"cupan"i"" ,fth exterior building va1ls closer than 20 feet to property lines
to UL of one-hour fire resistive ionstruction. This requirement deals only
vith valls vhich are facing the property line. Ila1ls vhich are perpendicular
(iurned 90 degrees) to the propeity line do not require fire protection. The
most common one-hour rated vali in vood-framed construction consists of a layer
of 5/8r' Type-X gypsum sheathing on the outside of the vall vhich is then
covered Uy'ttre Uiri:.alng siding, and an additional layer of 5/8" Type-X gypsum
va1l boari on the inside surfice of the val1. The Type-X gypsum is a fire
resistive material and the 'rgypsum sheathing" is a moisture resistant material
designed to be installed under exterior siding.
An alternative method of achieving the same protection on existing val1s vhere
an existing layer of 1/2" gypsum board is already il place vould be to install
a second llyer- of standard-gypsum board or a L/8" thin-coat of plaster over the
existing gypsum on the inteiibr surface of the exterior vall. The outside layer
of gypsilm-sireathing vould stil-1 be required hovever. A second alternative
"ouli'be as Mr. Mo6re suggested, by adding a second stud vall inside the
exterior vall as long as-6oth sides of that vall are protected by any of the
methods described above.
Vhere fire-resistive va11 constructiorr is required, openings in valls closer
than ten feet to property }ines must be protected by 3/4-hr. rated
fire-resistive vindov or door assenbly. For vindovs, this consists of
vire-g1ass install-ed in a steel frame iuith steel trim securing the glass into
the fiame. A 1ess expensive al-ternative may be the removal of the existing
vindovs in these valls.
Parapets are also required on valls less than 10 ft. from property lines. As
you mentioned in your letter, parapet valls must extend at least 30 inches
above the roof. Hovever, vhere sloping roofs are involved, the parapet must
extend 30 inches above the 1eve1 of the roof located vithin the ten foot
setback distance. You are also correct that both sides of the val1 nust be
protected vith Type-X gypsum, hovever, only the top 18 inehes of the roof sideof the parapet must be covered vith a non-combustible material.
llhere gutters and dovnspouts are eliminated on the sloping roof by the
installation of the parapet, roof drainage often present difficult and
expensive problems. Redsign of roof slopes to divert vater to roof scuppers
installed on the outside of the building are often the only solution.
A less expensive method than a roof parapet may be the adding of an interior
area separation vall. The 0SSC aIlovs an exception to the parapet requirement
for exterior val1s if the building is less than 1000 s.f. in area. It may be
possible to divide the building into tvo separate buildings (by Code
interpretation only), each having less than 1000 s.f. total building area.
Installation of an rrarea separation va11fr somevhere around the middle of the
building may accomplish such a division.
Area separation valls are some\,/hat different from the exterior fire vaIIs inthat they extend through the building rather than around it, and must be of atleast tvo-hour fire resistive construction. This vould require theinstallation of tvo layers of Type-X gypsum board applied to each side of thevall rather than the single layer required in the one-hour vaI1s. Any
penetrations through the area separation va11 must also be protected by fireresistive assemblies. Hovever, it may be possible to locate the valI, i.e. at
the edge of the carport, vhere no penetrations vould be necessary.
An area separation vall must extend to the exterior valls of the building
and to a point 30 inches above the roof. Hovever, the vaII may stop at the
underside of the roof sheathing if the roof franing on both sides of the val1
are protected in one of the folloving manners:
1. l.Ihere the roof framing is parallel to the vall, the ceiling must be
protected vith a layer of 5/81' Type-X gypsum board for a minimum distance
of five feet from the va11 and then extend upvard to the underside of the
roof sheathing.
2. IJhere the roof framing is perpendicular to the area separation va11, the
layer of 5/8" Type-X gypsum board must extend across the ceiling to the
next supporting vaII for the ceiling, and then extend upvard to the
underside of the roof sheathing.
The supporting va11s for the ceiling in both cases mentioned above must be
protected by one-hour fire resistive construction.
B) Landings are required at al1 exterior doorvays and constructed as foll-ovs:
1. Cannot be more than lrtbelow the door threshold or !/2" for facilities
required to comply vith handicapped access regulations.
2. Steps cannot be higher than 7'r nor lover than 4rr in height.
3. Steps must not be less than 11" in depth.
4 Handrails are required on steps having more than tvo vertical risers. Theheight of the handrails above the stef sha1l be 34" - 3Bn and the ends ofthe handrail must return to the vaII or nevel post. The handraildimension must be L-'1,/2tt - 2'f in cross section or provided vith anapproved gripping surface. Finger space behind handrails must be no lessthan 1.-l/2tt .
ELECTRICAL
A)On1y one electrical service (meter) is alloved per building.One of theexisting meters must be removed and a single service installed. If thebuilding is divided into tvo separate buildings by the use of a areaseparation vaIIr then each building eould be provided vith a separate
service.
B) The electrical service conductors lack sufficient clearance above the roofto adequately protect the vires from physical damage or accidental
contact.
Please note that installation or repair of electrical systems on property
vhich is intended for lease, sale or rent must be done by a electrical
contractor vho is licensed by the State of 0regon.
As you can see from the above, several options are available to you regarding
your project. As mentioned earlier, I vill be available to meet vith you
regarding these options or any additional questions you may have. I can be
contacted at 726-3668. I look forvard to discussing this matter vith you.
Sincerely,
Dave Puent, Community Services Manager
cc: Susan Daluddung