Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: [v. 96, no. 2476: Articles]: August 28, 1915

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REAL ESTATE AND NEW YORK, AUGUST 28, 1915 iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii ail 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 ■111 ■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 ■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.