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Fire code for wall coverings

Saltworks | Posted in Construction Techniques on February 13, 2005 08:32am

I am converting a residence in Michigan to an adult foster care home.  Michigan Licensing Code requires that “interior finish materials shall be at least class C materials throught the adult foster care home”.  I have not found a listing of the class codes for various materials.

Does anyone have any idea how to find this information?  Specifically, I am wondering if MDF wainscotting would meet class C requirements.

Thanks

Bill

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  1. Piffin | Feb 14, 2005 12:49am | #1

    Yes, Class c is not particularly resistant to fire at all.

    Spercifically the Time Savers materials book lists Clas C materials to have flame spread in unsprinklered areas of 76 to 200 in rooms or spaces up to 1500 sq ft . It examples materials as reed oak, plywood paneling, and southern pine or cork, untreated.

    You could be sure by downloading a materials safety data sheet for MDF - go google

     

     

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    1. Saltworks | Feb 14, 2005 02:52am | #3

      Thanks, Piffin.  I will check the MSDS for MDF

      Bill

       

       

  2. Mooney | Feb 14, 2005 12:54am | #2

    What Piff said pretty much . Hes talking about flame spread .

    I dont know if you are supposed to have hour rated walls in your code but thats somthing different all together. They pay the building inspector to answer those questions also. Some are good researchers.

    Tim Mooney

    1. Saltworks | Feb 14, 2005 02:53am | #4

      Thanks Tim.  I do not have to have fire rated walls.  The only requirement is Class C materials attached to drywall, plaster or masonry.

      Bill

      1. Piffin | Feb 14, 2005 03:05am | #5

        I was curious about that. Usually the requirement would be for the twenty minuite or one hour rating rather than the materials flame spread class rating. Class C is not hard to meet. All they are saying pretty much is that the walls have to hae a surface, propbly to be clean instead of open studs and insulation.A gypsum board gives you a class A surface 

         

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      2. Piffin | Feb 14, 2005 03:07am | #6

        What about doors. The building we are doing here is needing twenty minute doors on each bedroom and ####separate egress window 

         

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        1. Saltworks | Feb 14, 2005 03:28am | #7

          Piffin

          Doors are not addressed, except that two means of egress are required, and a solid door is required on the basement.  The standards require that all finish materials be attached to drywall plaster or masonry and prohibit attachment directly to studs or joists (which makes sense).  Checking the msds for mdf does not give me the actual fire class code as defined in the Michigan standards, but I will continue looking. 

          Thanks

          Bill

          1. Piffin | Feb 14, 2005 04:58am | #8

            http://www.greatlakesmdf.com/fireret.phphttp://www.awc.org/Publications/dca/dca1/DCA1.pdf
            looks like the ratings for MDF normal run between 120 and 140 which is within the 75-200
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            Edited 2/13/2005 9:00 pm ET by piffin

          2. firedude | Feb 14, 2005 06:49am | #9

            Looking quick at this, first thing is who has jurisdiction on the project - local building inspector or local fire inspector? does the code requirement say "where" you get that Class C rating from? - UL listing?, FM Global listing?, NFPA standard?, ASTM?egress windows typically are required to 5.7 sq ft, no more than 44 inches off grade and minimum dimensions of 24 x 20 (could be 20x24 - been a while) - can't have a 1 foot wide 5.7 ft tall window20 minute doors are usually solid core 1 3/4 doors in a solid jamb - again, what's the jurisdication and reference - fire code usually requires a door/jamb assembly while building code may allow just the slab (aka "door") to have a rating.and while the building inspector may have "the answer", the real answer is the one you can point to in the referenced code - just watch out for the "local" interpertation

          3. Piffin | Feb 14, 2005 07:08am | #10

            good points. On ours, the archy had three different sets of "codes" to adhere to. There were standards to meet for federal grants, others to meet for state licensing, and then a part of that was that the state fire marshall had to approve the plans and do a fional inspection of premisis. in a nearby town, the state fire marshall approved several things on plans that he then turned down on site, leaving them to redo several items, all interpretable things. 

             

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          4. firedude | Feb 14, 2005 07:32am | #11

            Seems to me if he approved them on the plans and you/they did it as approved on the plans, he can't change them - of course, he is the guy who "signs" and is then legally accountable, sooooo, guess he does get to interpet in the field - still makes things difficult for everyone.For what it's worth - usually the more stringent requirements are the ones to meet (you meet those, you usually exceed the others) and fed projects don't have to meet state requirements - problem comes up when the fed jurisdiction ends

          5. Piffin | Feb 14, 2005 07:48am | #12

            when fed money is involed, you bet you meet fed standards. Half these rooms will be reserved for medicare people, and there were some grants applied for. Turnmed out - I think - that the grants didn't ever happen, or maybe they did. I'm on the building committee, niot fundraisiong. believe it or not, there were even guidlines for colours of floors and walls someplace in those inches of pages... 

             

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          6. Saltworks | Feb 14, 2005 05:33pm | #13

            Thanks for the info Piffin - it is just what I was looking for.  As far as the project goes, this is just a regular 3 BR ranch in a residential neighborhood.  Certification is by the State of Michigan and they have only a few standards that go beyond what a normal built-to-code home would already have.  They specify square footage per resident, wall coverings, number of bathrooms, etc.  The house already meets code and bedroom windows are amply sized for egress.  They had me slightly stumped on the Class 3 thing, but I have the answer I was looking for - thanks to all who replied. 

            Bill

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