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REAL ESTATE
AND
NEW YORK, AUGUST 28, 1915
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TWO NEW ARTICLES FOR THE BUILDING CODE
They Regulate Roofing an(d Roof Structures ancd Chimneys anci Heat¬
ing Apparatus—Tentatively Prepared and Subject to Revision
â– 111
â– III
ANOTHER article in the proposed
revised Building Code has been is¬
sued in preliminary form by Rudolph P.
Miller, e.\pert to the Building Commit¬
tee of the Board of Aldermen, covering
Roofing and Roof Structures, being
Article 20 of the Building Code.
The article starts out with the gen¬
eral proposition that all construction
hereafter placed above any roof of a
building within the fire limits, and of
any building over 40 feet high without
the fire limits, shall be of incombustible
materials. Certain e.xceptions to this are
provided for later on.
Roofing is required, as in the present
code, to be of brick, tile, slate, tin, cop¬
per, iron, or plastic slate, asphalt, slag
or gravel, besides which asbestos roof¬
ing or concrete roofing will be accepted.
Cornices and gutters, as heretofore,
will be required to be of incombustible
materials, except in the case of frame
buildings. Existing cornices that be¬
come unsafe and dangerous or damaged
to the extent of one-half or more must
be taken down and if replaced made to
conform with the requirements for new
cornices. If not damaged more than
one-half they may be repaired.
All buildings are required to have
leaders for conducting water from the
roofs. These leaders must be connected
with the sewer, and where there is no
sewer the water must be conducted by
pipes below the surface of the street to
the street gutter or a cesspool.
Skylights of Metal.
All skylights hereafter must be con¬
structed of metal; the parts must be all
thoroughly riveted together in addition
to any soldering that may be done. Sky¬
lights that are placed over shafts of any
kind must be glazed with plain glass.
When plain glass is used in any skylight,
it must be protected by a wire screen
immediately above the skylight. In pub¬
lic passageways or rooms of public re¬
sort a similar screen must also be placed
below skylights with plain glass. No
pane of glass in a skylight must exceed
720 square inches.
Scuttles are required on all buildings
over 15 feet high, except dwellings with
peak roofs; and where a scuttle is pro¬
vided there must be an iron ladder lead¬
ing to it. They must be covered on the
top and edges with sheet metal or other
approved incombustible material. All
scuttle openings must be at least 2 by 3
feet in size.
Roof Houses.
In the provisions regarding roof
houses a distinction is made and a rather
sharp line drawn between bulkheads and
pent houses. The term bulkhead applies
only to enclosed structures around stair¬
ways, shafts of any kind, tanks, elevator
machinery or ventilating apparatus. Any
other enclosed structure above the roof
is a pent house, provided it is not more
than 12 feet above such roof.
Any enclosed structure except a bulk¬
head is treated as a story of the build¬
in.g. The only purpose in providing for
pent houses is to make provision for a
construction of the exterior walls of pent
houses where they do not come over
walls in the story beneath that is lighter
than the construction required for the
exterior walls of buildings. Walls of
bulkheads on buildings over 40 feet high
must be constructed of fireproof mate¬
rials. Any construction accepted for fire
partitions will be permitted for the con¬
struction of bulkhead walls. This does
not, however, preclude the same con¬
struction for elevator shafts for the part
above the roof as below.
The roofs of any such bulkheads, if
not constructed as a fireproof floor, may
be of angle or tee iron supporting block
tile of terra cotta, concrete or gypsum.
.\11 bulkheads, however, must be covered
on both top and sides with some in-
combustiljle, weatherproof material.
Such walls of pent houses as are set
back more than 5 feet from the walls
of the story below may be constructed
of 8-inch brick or 6-inch terra cotta or
concrete. They must be supported on
steel or reinforced concrete girders.
Windows in roof houses, except
where required to be fireproof by other
provisions of the law, are to be con¬
structed the same as the exterior win¬
dows of the building. Doors in roof
houses of any kind must be metal or
wood covered with metal.
A provision is made for sun parlors
and similar roof houses, which must be
of incombustible materials throughout
and the floors of which must be con¬
structed as is required for the roof of
the building.
Roofs having a slope of more than 60
degrees with the horizontal must be
constructed fireproof, as heretofore, and
the dormer windows in any such roofs
must also be of fireproof construction.
Roof Tanks.
Tanks are to be supported on masonry,
reinforced concrete or steel construc¬
tion of sufficient strength and carried
to a proper foundation. An emergency
valve must be placed in or near the
bottom of every tank. No tank shall
be placed near a line of stairs or an
elevator shaft. All roof tanks shall have
covers with proper slope and if of wood,
covered with metal. When hoops are
used on tanks they must be of steel of
round section.
Provision is made that in all cooling
towers all the material must be incom¬
bustible except the drip bars,- which may
be of wood.
Chimneys and Heating Apparatus.
As another part of the revision of the
Building Code now under way by
Rudolph P. Miller, expert to the Build¬
in.g Committee of the Board of Alder¬
men, another article. No, 19, dealing
with Chimneys and Heating Apparatus,
is ready and has been issued in a pre¬
liminary form. In general it deals with
chimney construction and the installa¬
tion of all forms of heating devices, from
ordinary ranges and stoves to cupola fur¬
naces. In this connection it covers the
subjects of flues, fireplaces, _ drying-
rooms, smoke houses, hot air ducts,
registers, smoke pipes, steam and hot-
water pipes, and outside metal smoke¬
stacks.
All smoke flues under this proposed
article must be encased in masonry, the
thickness of the walls depending on the
character of the heating apparatus to be
served. For this purpose heating devices
are divided into three grades: low, me¬
dium, and high; the low grade being
those in which the temperature does not
e.xceed 600 degrees Fahrenheit, such as
bake ovens, coffee roasters, hotel ranges,
hot-water furnaces, low-pressure steam
boilers, etc.; medium grade heating de¬
vices are those in which the temperature
varies between 600 and 1,500 degrees
Fahrenheit, such as high-pressure steam
boilers, annealing furnaces, snioke
houses, gas producers, etc.; the high
grade heating devices are those in which
the temperature runs over 1,500 degrees
Fahrenheit, such as blast furnaces,
cement kilns, earthenware kilns, porce¬
lain baking ovens, etc.
For ordinary kitchen ranges the thick¬
ness of the masonry around flues must
be 4 inches, unless wood studding, fur¬
ring or sheathing is placed against it,
when 8 inches is required. All flues,
however, must be lined. For other low
grade heating devices the wall thick¬
nesses of the flues must be 8 inches,
besides being lined. For medium grade
heating devices 8-inch walls are required,
besides 4 inches of fire brick for 25
feet from the smoke connection. The
flues for high grade devices must be built
double, there being an inner lining of
fire brick.
Solving an Old Problem.
The cutting off of the draft of flues
of e.xisting buildings by reason of carry¬
ing adjoining buildings to a greater
height, which has given more or less
trouble in the past, is taken care of by
a provision requiring those who are
erecting new buildings or raising exist¬
ing ones to a height greater than adjoin¬
ing chimneys to carry the chimneys up
as the building progresses, placing the
responsibility for this on the parties do¬
ing the new work.
The provisions as to fireplaces and
mantels are very much the same as those
in the present code. Eight-inch back¬
ing with a fireproof lining is required
for fireplaces. Trimmer arches support¬
ing hearths must be provided to al! fire¬
places or chimney breasts. When heat¬
ers are placed in fireplaces, the mantels
must be of incombustible material.
Woodwork of mantels must not be
nearer than 12 inches to the sides or
top of open fireplaces. Flame fireplaces
must be built against brick walls.
Metal Stacks.
.A new section is added covering the
construction of metal stacks. "Three
types of stacks are provided for: inde-
p'endent stacks which stand by them¬
selves and must rest on an independent
foundation, stacks immediately outside
of the building which they serve, and
interior stacks â– which must be enclosed
in at least 8 inches of masonry. All
metal stacks must be carried at least 10
feet above the highest point of any roof
within 25 feet.