ICC B3 cheat sheet

A building permit is required for erection, construction, enlargement, alteration, repair, move, demolition, or change of occupancy; ordinary repairs are exempt.

A permit is abandoned if work does not commence within 180 days of issuance or is suspended for 180 days; the building official may then revoke it.

Construction documents must be approved before a permit is issued, and an approved set must be kept on the site while work is in progress.

A certificate of occupancy is issued after final inspection confirms compliance and is required before a building may be occupied; a change of occupancy requires a new certificate.

The board of appeals hears appeals of building official interpretations and code variances; filing an appeal does not stay enforcement unless the board orders a stay.

Stop work orders must be in writing and remain in effect until the cited conditions are corrected and the order is rescinded.

The building official may order repair, vacation, or demolition of a structure found to be unsafe or dangerous to life or health.

Permit fees are established by the jurisdiction and are typically based on the valuation of the work as determined by the building official.

Occupancy groups are A (assembly), B (business), E (educational), F (factory), H (high hazard), I (institutional), M (mercantile), R (residential), S (storage), and U (utility).

H occupancies subdivide H-1 through H-5, I occupancies I-1 through I-4, and A occupancies A-1 through A-5 according to hazard or use.

An accessory occupancy must be ancillary to the main occupancy and may not exceed 10 percent of the floor area of the story on which it is located.

Incidental uses listed in Table 509 must be separated from the remainder of the building but are not classified as separate occupancies.

Building height is the vertical distance from grade plane to the average height of the highest roof surface.

Grade plane is a reference plane representing the average finished ground level adjoining the building at exterior walls.

A story above grade plane is one whose floor is more than 6 feet above grade plane or more than 6 feet above the lowest adjacent exterior grade.

A mezzanine is an intermediate level with a floor area not exceeding one-third of the floor area of the room or space it occupies.

Construction Types I through V are each split into A (protected) and B (unprotected); Type IA is the most restrictive and Type VB the least.

Table 601 fire-resistance ratings: Type IA structural frame 3 hours, IB 2 hours, IIA 1 hour, IIB 0 hours, IV heavy timber, VA 1 hour, VB 0 hours.

Allowable building area: Aa = At + (At x If) + (At x Is), where At is the tabular area from Table 506.2.

Frontage increase: If = (F/P - 0.25) x W/30, where F is the perimeter on open frontage, P is total perimeter, and W is the open width (maximum 30 feet); If may not exceed 0.75.

Sprinkler increase: Is = 2.0 (200 percent) for a fully sprinklered one-story building and 3.0 (300 percent) for a fully sprinklered multistory building.

Fire walls divide a building into separate buildings, must be continuous from the foundation to at least 30 inches above the roof, and are rated 2 to 4 hours.

Occupancy separations are determined from Table 508.4; mixed occupancies are regulated by Section 508.

Exterior wall fire-resistance ratings and opening limits depend on the fire separation distance per Table 602 and Table 705.8.

Unlimited area buildings are permitted only under the specific conditions of Section 507, which generally require sprinklers and open frontage.

Fire-resistance ratings of assemblies are established by testing to ASTM E119 or UL 263, or by approved prescriptive methods in Chapter 7.

Opening protective ratings are selected from Table 716.5; fire door assemblies must comply with NFPA 80 and fire windows with NFPA 80.

Shaft enclosures are required for stairways, elevators, chutes, and ducts under Section 713, with rated construction and opening protectives at each floor.

Fireblocking is required in concealed combustible spaces to inhibit flame spread; draftstopping must subdivide combustible attics and crawl spaces into areas not exceeding 3,000 square feet.

Through-penetration firestop systems are tested to ASTM E814 or UL 1479; fire-resistive joint systems are tested to ASTM E1966 or UL 2079.

Smoke barriers must have at least a 1-hour fire-resistance rating and be continuous from the floor to the underside of the floor or roof deck above.

Smoke partitions have no fire-resistance rating requirement but must resist smoke movement and extend from the floor to the ceiling above.

Exterior wall openings must be limited by fire separation distance, and protected where required, in accordance with Table 705.8.

Occupant load equals floor area divided by the occupant load factor in Table 1004.5; business use is 150 gross square feet per occupant.

Egress width is 0.2 inch per occupant for level components and 0.3 inch per occupant for stairs in unsprinklered buildings; 0.15 and 0.2 inch respectively where sprinklered.

The number of required exits is set by Table 1006.2.1 based on occupant load and number of stories, with two exits commonly required at 50 or more occupants.

Dead-end corridors are limited to 20 feet in unsprinklered buildings and 50 feet in sprinklered buildings for Groups B, E, F, M, R-1, S, and U.

Exit signs are required where the path of egress travel is not readily apparent, and means of egress must be illuminated to at least 1 footcandle average and 0.1 footcandle minimum at the floor.

The accessible route must be at least 36 inches clear; clear floor space for a wheelchair is 30 by 48 inches and turning space is a 60-inch circle or T-shape.

Doors in an accessible route must provide at least 32 inches clear width and the required maneuvering clearance on each side.

Ramps have a maximum slope of 1:12, a maximum rise of 30 inches between landings, and landings at least 60 inches long.

Accessible parking requires a 96-inch-wide space with a 60-inch access aisle; van-accessible spaces require a 96-inch aisle or a 132-inch-wide space.

Design live loads come from Table 1607.1: office 50 psf, residential 40 psf, public corridors 100 psf, light storage 125 psf.

Dead load consists of the weight of all materials, equipment, and fixed partitions supported by the structure.

Basic strength (LRFD) load combination: 1.2D + 1.6L + 0.5(Lr or S or R).

Wind design uses ultimate design wind speeds from the code maps, adjusted for exposure category, risk category, and height above grade.

Seismic design category is assigned from mapped spectral accelerations Ss and S1, the site class, and the risk category, and ranges from A through F.

Deflection limits: floor members L/360 under live load where supporting plaster or stucco ceilings and L/240 otherwise; roof members L/180 under live load.

Structural materials are governed by ACI 318 for concrete, AISC 360 for steel, NDS for wood, and TMS 402 for masonry.

Special inspections under Chapter 17 cover items such as welding, high-strength bolting, concrete placement, and soils, performed by an approved agency.

Fire separation distance is measured from the exterior wall face to the lot line, the centerline of a street or alley, or the nearest wall of another building on the same lot.

Exterior walls must be rated and protected in accordance with Table 602 based on occupancy group and fire separation distance.

A weather-resistant barrier must be installed behind exterior wall cladding, with flashing at openings, penetrations, and wall bases.

Combustible exterior wall coverings are limited by height, fire separation distance, and sprinkler protection in accordance with Chapter 14 tables.

Roof coverings are classified A, B, or C by ASTM E108 testing; the required class depends on occupancy and fire separation distance.

The exterior wall envelope must be designed to prevent water accumulation within the assembly, using drainage planes, weep holes, and vapor retarders as appropriate.

Glazing in hazardous locations, including glazing adjacent to walking surfaces and in doors, must be safety glazing per Section 2406.

Automatic sprinkler systems are required by occupancy, area, and height; NFPA 13 applies to most buildings, NFPA 13R to residential occupancies up to four stories, and NFPA 13D to one- and two-family dwellings.

Fire alarm and detection systems are required by Chapter 9 and include manual pull stations, occupant notification appliances, and automatic detection where specified.

Standpipes are Class I (2.5-inch fire department outlets), Class II (1.5-inch occupant hose), or Class III (both), installed per Section 905.

Smoke control uses pressurization, exhaust, or passive separation to maintain tenable conditions along egress paths during a fire.

Portable fire extinguishers must be provided in accordance with IFC Section 906, with spacing and classification based on the hazard.

A high-rise building has an occupied floor more than 75 feet above the lowest level of fire department vehicle access and triggers additional features such as a fire command center.

Chapter 13 adopts the International Energy Conservation Code, regulating envelope, mechanical, lighting, and power requirements by climate zone 1 through 8.

Fire department access roads and fire department connections must be provided and maintained for the building's fire protection systems.