Discussion Materials:

Part 1: Building Codes and Zoning Codes

Read and study the following lecture notes:

Building Codes

Many of the restrictions encountered in building design are imposed by legal regulations. While
all must be met, those in building codes are the most significant because they affect almost every
part of a building.

Building codes are established under the police powers of a state to protect the health, welfare,
and safety of communities. A code is administered by a building official of the municipality or
state that adopts it by legislation. Development of a local code may be guided by a model code,
such as those promulgated by the International Conference of Building Officials, Inc., Building
Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc., and Southern Building Code Congress
International, Inc.
In general, building-code requirements are the minimum needed for public protection. Design of
a building must satisfy these requirements. Often, however, architects and engineers must design
more conservatively, to meet the client’s needs, produce a more efficient building system, or take
into account conditions not covered fully by code provisions.

Construction drawings for a building should be submitted to the building-code administrator

before construction starts. If the building will meet code requirements, the administrator issues a
building permit, on receipt of which the contractor may commence building. During
construction, the administrator sends inspectors periodically to inspect the work. If they discover
a violation, they may issue an order to remove it or they may halt construction, depending on the
seriousness of the violation. On completion of construction, if the work conforms to code
requirements, the administrator issues to the owner a certificate of occupancy.

Forms of Codes. Codes often are classified as specifications type or performance type. A
specification-type code names specific materials for specific uses and specifies minimum or
maximum dimensions, for example, ‘‘a brick wall may not be less than 6 in thick.’’ A
performance-type code, in contrast, specifies required performance of a construction but leaves
materials, methods, and dimensions for the designers to choose. Performance-type codes are
generally preferred, because they give designers greater design freedom in meeting clients’
needs, while satisfying the intent of the code. Most codes, however, are neither strictly
specifications nor performance type but rather a mixture of the two. The reason for this is that
insufficient information is currently available for preparation of an entire enforceable
performance code.

The organization of building codes varies with locality. Generally, however, they consist of two
parts, one dealing with administration and enforcement and the other specifying requirements for
design and construction in detail.

Part 1 usually covers licenses, permits, fees, certificates of occupancy, safety, projections beyond
street lines, alterations, maintenance, applications, approval of drawings, stop-work orders, and
posting of buildings to indicate permissible live loads and occupant loads.
Part 2 gives requirements for structural components, lighting, HVAC, plumbing, gas piping and
fixtures, elevators and escalators, electrical distribution, stairs, corridors, walls, doors, and
windows. This part also defines and sets limits on occupancy and construction-type
classifications. In addition, the second part contains provisions for safety of public and property
during construction operations and for fire protection and means of egress after the building is
occupied.

Many of the preceding requirements are adopted by reference in the code from nationally
recognized standards or codes of practice. These may be promulgated by agencies of the federal
government or by such organizations as the American National Standards Institute, ASTM,
American Institute of Steel Construction, American Concrete Institute, and American Institute of
Timber Construction.

Code Classifications of Buildings. Building codes usually classify a building in accordance

with the fire zone in which it is located, the type of occupancy, and the type of construction,
which is an indication of the fire protection offered.

The fire zone in which a building is located may be determined from the community’s fire-
district zoning map. The building code specifies the types of construction and occupancy groups
permitted or prohibited in each fire zone.

The occupancy group to which a building official assigns a building depends on the use to
which the building is put. Typical classifications include one- and two-story dwellings;
apartment buildings, hotels, dormitories; industrial buildings with noncombustible, combustible,
or hazardous contents; schools; hospitals and nursing homes; and places of assembly, such as
theaters, concert halls, auditoriums, and stadiums.

Type of construction of a building is determined, in general, by the fire ratings assigned to its
components. A code usually establishes two major categories: combustible and noncombustible
construction. The combustible type may be subdivided in accordance with the fire protection
afforded major structural components and the rate at which they will burn; for example, heavy
timber construction is considered slow-burning. The noncombustible type may be subdivided in
accordance with the fire-resistive characteristics of components.

Building codes may set allowable floor areas for fire-protection purposes. The limitations depend
on occupancy group and type of construction. The purpose is to delay or prevent spread of fire
over large portions of the building. For the same reason, building codes also may restrict
building height and number of stories. In addition, to permit rapid and orderly egress in
emergencies, such as fire, codes limit the occupant load, or number of persons allowed in a
building or room. In accordance with permitted occupant loads, codes indicate the number of
exits of adequate capacity and fire protection that must be provided.

Zoning Codes

Like building codes, zoning codes are established under the police powers of the state, to protect
the health, welfare, and safety of the public. Zoning, however, primarily regulates land use by
controlling types of occupancy of buildings, building height, and density and activity of
population in specific parts of a jurisdiction.
Zoning codes are usually developed by a planning commission and administered by the
commission or a building department. Land-use controls adopted by the local planning
commission for current application are indicated on a zoning map. It divides the jurisdiction into
districts, shows the type of occupancy, such as commercial, industrial, or residential, permitted in
each district, and notes limitations on building height and bulk and on population density in each
district.

The planning commission usually also prepares a master plan as a guide to the growth of the
jurisdiction. A future land-use plan is an important part of the master plan. The commission’s
objective is to steer changes in the zoning map in the direction of the future land-use plan. The
commission, however, is not required to adhere rigidly to the plans for the future. As conditions
warrant, the commission may grant variances from any of the regulations.

In addition, the planning commission may establish land subdivision regulations, to control
development of large parcels of land. While the local zoning map specifies minimum lot area for
a building and minimum frontage a lot may have along a street, subdivision regulations, in
contrast, specify the level of improvements to be installed in new land-development projects.
These regulations contain criteria for location, grade, width, and type of pavement of streets,
length of blocks, open spaces to be provided, and right of way for utilities.

A jurisdiction may also be divided into fire zones in accordance with population density and
probable degree of danger from fire. The fire-zone map indicates the limitations on types of
construction that the zoning map would otherwise permit. In the vicinity of airports, zoning may
be applied to maintain obstruction-free approach zones for aircraft and to provide noise-
attenuating distances around the airports. Airport zoning limits building heights in accordance
with distance from the airport.

Control of Building Height. Zoning places limitations on building dimensions to limit

population density and to protect the rights of occupants of existing buildings to light, air, and
esthetic surroundings. Various zoning ordinances achieve these objectives in a variety of ways,
including establishment of a specific maximum height or number of stories, limitation of height
in accordance with street width, setting minimums for distances of buildings from lot lines, or
relating total floor area in a building to the lot area or to the area of the lot occupied by a
building. Applications of some of these limitations are illustrated in Fig. 1.11.

Figure 1.11a shows a case where zoning prohibits buildings from exceeding 12 stories or 150 ft
in height. Figure 1.11b illustrates a case where zoning relates building height to street width. In
this case, for the specific street width, zoning permits a building to be erected along the lot
boundary to a height of six stories or 85 ft. Greater heights are permitted, however, so long as the
building does not penetrate sky-exposure planes. For the case shown in Fig. 1.11b, these planes
start at the lot line at the 85-ft height and incline inward at a slope of 3:1. Some zoning codes
will permit the upper part of the building to penetrate the planes if the floor area of the tower at
any level does not exceed 40% of the lot area and the ratio of floor area to lot area (floor-area
ratio) of the whole building does not exceed 15. To maximize the floor area in the building and
maintain verticality of exterior walls, designers usually set back the upper parts of a building in a
series of steps (Fig. 1.11b).

Some zoning ordinances, however, permit an alternative that many designers prefer. If the
building is set back from the lot lines at the base to provide a streetlevel plaza, which is a
convenience to the public and reduces building bulk, zoning permits the building to be erected as
a sheer tower (Fig. 1.11c). The code may set a maximum floor-area ratio of 15 or 18, depending
on whether the floor area at any level of the tower does not exceed 50 or 40%, respectively, of
the lot area.

OTHER REGULATIONS

In addition to building and zoning codes, building design and construction must comply with
many other regulations. These include those of the local or state health, labor, and fire
departments; local utility companies; and local departments of highways, streets, sewers, and
water. These agencies may require that drawings for the building be submitted for review and
that a permit be granted before construction starts.

Also, building construction and conditions in buildings after completion must comply with
regulations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) based on the
Occupational Safety and Health Act. There is, however, no provision in this law for reviewing
building plans before construction starts. OSHA usually inspects buildings only after an accident
occurs or a complaint has been received. Therefore, building owners, designers, and contractors
should be familiar with OSHA requirements and enforce compliance with them.

Other government agencies also issue regulations affecting buildings. For example, materials
used in military construction must conform with federal specifications. Another example:
Buildings must provide access and facilities for disabled persons, in accordance with
requirements of the Accessibiltiy Law.