construction type essay

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1 Demolition and Renovation Dangers Christian Herrington FIR 2304 Building Construction for Fire Protection Paul Hasenmeier 11/28/2023

2 Construction, renovation, and demolition, all present unique hazards for firefighters and occupants due to the condition of the building. Each one is a part of the lifecycle of a building and all are equally dangerous in their own way. At some point in time each one has killed occupants, bystanders, and firefighters. The dangers of renovation and demolition surpass those of construction. This is increased by the type of renovation and the type or purpose of the building. Demolition presents its own unique challenges based on the type of building and those performing the demolition. Only one of these processes should firefighters consider risking their lives. The demolition of a building depending on the type of building can be a simple but still dangerous process involving one or more pieces of heavy equipment such as a bulldozer for a single story residence. But the demolition of something larger like an apartment building or highrise, or large commercial structure involves more precision and planning and poses a greater risk to those performing the demolition as well as surrounding buildings. The process of demolition begins when the building has either been damaged such as flooding or a fire, or the owner has decided to replace it and a plan for demolition has been made and approved. The next step is the removal of any hazardous materials inside of the building and removal of the interior parts of the building. Then floor by floor the building is taken apart either by hand tools or large machinery, sometimes the buildings are even demolished using explosives. According to OSHA demolition is “ the dismantling, razing, destroying or wrecking of any building or structure or any part thereof.” ( Demolition - Overview | Occupational Safety and Health Administration , n.d.) A building under construction or renovation poses additional threats to safety as well. Under construction depending on which phase is occurring determines the potential threats to firefighters. The building may be at a semi complete phase but still lack fire protection systems.

3 A building under renovation is especially dangerous to firefighters because of the possible changes to the buildings layout that may not be known to firefighters. The fire protection systems may be inoperable or there may be void spaces and false walls that can disorient firefighters. During the construction and even demolition process there are a set of safety standards that are in place to protect workers at the site. This is enforced by OSHA and falls under the construction standards regulation. Prior to construction beginning, the building falls under building code and certain regulations or codes apply to the type of building being built and the design construction and safety of it. Fire codes come during and after the construction of the building. They provide for the safety of occupants and firefighters alike with the fire safety codes that must be followed such as types of events in buildings and sprinkler systems. In the international fire code and building code in chapter 8 ( 2021 INTERNATIONAL FIRE CODE (IFC) | ICC DIGITAL CODES , n.d.) that details the interior furnishings of buildings so that they don’t contribute to fire hazards in the occupied building. This is extremely important for buildings that have a potential for higher occupancy. This can help increase the fire resistiveness and not hinder firefighting efforts. Chapter 7 of the international building code ( 2021 INTERNATIONAL BUILDING CODE (IBC) | ICC DIGITAL CODES , n.d.) details how fire and smoke protection features are constructed. Chapter 7 in the international fire code discusses how these systems must be maintained and utilized in order to provide the fire resistive ratings. Both coincide with each other and help to create a fire resistive building and also slow or stop the spread of fire within a building using the sprinklers. Firefighting efforts for a building under demolition can be extremely dangerous due to the condition of the building. Key structural elements that provide for the stability of the building may have been removed or damaged during demolition (Steine, 2009) or the subsequent fire. The

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4 safety for firefighters at a demolition site fire should be paramount. The risk to personnel is to great and any inside firefighting functions should not be performed. Any building that catches fire and is under demolition, unless there is a known direct threat to life, should be attacked defensively to provide the greatest safety to firefighters. A building under renovation holds unique challenges and dangers to firefighters. If the building being renovated is a residential building with current occupants, every effort to protect life should be made. If the building is commercial in nature and there is no direct threat to life, a more methodical approach needs to be made. The building is in a condition that is unknown to responders and the fire resistiveness of the building may have changed with renovation due to the exposure of key structural elements or changes to those elements. The possibility of having the fire suppression systems turned off is a large danger to firefighters as well. During both of these types of building construction phases, GIS systems play a huge role in determining strategy and tactics, as well as providing for firefighter safety. For example, some departments have the ability to view GIS preplans of buildings and have a visual layout of the building prior to entering. This can help prevent any confusion of what the inside of the building is like. If the building is under demolition, the GIS system can show responders what the building used to look like and where some key structures of the building were. In 1972 Boston Fire Department lost nine firefighters in the Hotel Vendome fire ( Boston’s Hotel Vendome Fire: 9 Firefighters Killed in Collapse , n.d.) (Corbett & Brannigan, 2021) and collapse. The hotel was under renovation and it is believed that renovation weakened a structural beam and with the weight of firefighters and water as well as damage from the fire, this led to the eventual partial collapse of the building. This led to the creation of the Boston Fire departments

5 Construction Safety Division which is involved in the permitting and construction process throughout the city. In New York in 2007 the Deutsche Bank building ( Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation Report F2007-37 | NIOSH | CDC , 2020) was being demolished and special asbestos abatement was taking place. The building caught fire from a cigarette and resulted in the deaths of two firefighters. This fire ultimately led to changes in New York’s building and construction codes to follow more closely the NFPA guidelines which could have prevented this tragedy by keeping fire protection systems in place on the floors that were not ready to be demolished.

6 References 2021 INTERNATIONAL BUILDING CODE (IBC) | ICC DIGITAL CODES . (n.d.). Codes.iccsafe.org. Retrieved November 29, 2023, from https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IBC2021P2/chapter-7-fire-and-smoke-protection- features 2021 INTERNATIONAL FIRE CODE (IFC) | ICC DIGITAL CODES . (n.d.). Codes.iccsafe.org. Retrieved November 29, 2023, from https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IFC2021P1/chapter-7-fire-and-smoke-protection- features Boston’s Hotel Vendome fire: 9 firefighters killed in collapse . (n.d.). FireRescue1. https://www.firerescue1.com/firefighting-history/articles/bostons-hotel-vendome-fire-9- firefighters-killed-in-collapse-HMqLE6rFBrY3Ae68/ Corbett, G. P., & Brannigan, F. L. (2021). Brannigan’s building construction for the fire service . Jones & Bartlett Learning. Demolition - Overview | Occupational Safety and Health Administration . (n.d.). Www.osha.gov. https://www.osha.gov/demolition Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation Report F2007-37 | NIOSH | CDC . (2020, May 28). Www.cdc.gov. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/reports/face200737.html Steine, M. (2009, June 24). Commercial Construction Considerations: Buildings Under Construction and Renovation . Www.firehouse.com. https://www.firehouse.com/operations-training/article/10471432/commercial- construction-considerations-buildings-under-construction-and-renovation

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