Staff
Analysis for Declaratory Statement Request
DS2015-109
September 09, 2015
Issue: The Petitioner, Robin Davies, PE, Bracken
Engineering, seeks a Declaratory Statement concerning whether repairs of roof
coverings performed in accordance with Chapter 6 of the 5th Edition
(2014) Florida Building Code, Existing
Building need to comply with the requirements of Section 708 Reroofing?
Question: Does the repair of roof
coverings performed in accordance with Chapter 6 of the 5th Edition
(2014) Florida Building Code, Existing Building need to comply with the
requirements of Section 708 Reroofing?
Background:
Bracken
Engineering, Inc. is a consulting engineering firm located and licensed within
the state of Florida. Bracken Engineering is currently in the process of
designing a repair for a detached single family home located in St. Petersburg,
Florida that was damaged during a storm. Specifically, a tree limb impacted the
roof and damaged a 10’x10’ section of the roof deck and approximately 20-30% of the shingles on this roof
section. The damage was determined to be less than
substantial structural damage. Petitioner seeks clarification as to
whether repairs to roof coverings performed in accordance with Chapter 6 -
Repairs, of the 5th Edition (2014) Florida Building Code, Existing Building would need to comply with
the requirements of Section 708 Reroofing.
Language within
past editions of the Florida Building
Code, Existing Building have required the repair of roof coverings to
comply with the requirements of the Repair Chapter as well as the Reroof
requirements contained within the Alterations Level 1 Chapter. However, such
language was not included in the 5th Edition (2104) Florida Building
Code, Existing Building.
The Petitioner
believes the answer to the question outlined above is “No.” The language that required this compliance in
past editions of the Florida Building Code, Existing Building has not been
included in the 5th Edition (2014) Florida Building Code, Existing
Building. Therefore the requirements of Section 708 Reroofing do not apply to
the repair of roof coverings under the 5th Edition (2014) Florida
Building Code, Existing Building.
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Reference Material:
2007 Florida Building Code,
Existing Building
506.2 Repairs to damaged buildings.
Repairs to damaged
buildings shall comply with this section and Section
611, Reroofing.
---
2010 Florida Building Code,
Existing Building
506.2 Repairs to damaged buildings.
Repairs to damaged buildings shall comply with this section and Section
611, Reroofing.
---
5th Edition (2014)
Florida Building Code, Existing Building
SECTION
502 REPAIRS
502.1 Scope. Repairs, as defined in
Chapter 2, include the patching or restoration or
replacement of damaged materials, elements, equipment or fixtures
for the purpose of maintaining such components in good or sound condition
with respect to existing loads or performance requirements.
502.2
Application. Repairs
shall
comply with the provisions of Chapter 6.
502.3 Related
work. Work on nondamaged components that is necessary for the required repair
of damaged components shall be considered part of the repair and shall not be
subject to the provisions of Chapter 7, 8, 9, 10 or 11.
602.2
New and replacement materials. Except as otherwise required or
permitted by this code, materials permitted by the
applicable code for new construction shall be used. Like materials
shall be permitted for repairs and alterations, provided no dangerous
or unsafe condition, as defined in Chapter 2, is created. Hazardous
materials, such as asbestos and lead-based paint, shall not be used where the
code for new construction would not permit their use in buildings of similar occupancy,
purpose and location.
5th Edition (2014)
Florida Building Code, Existing Building
Chapter 2 – Definitions
[B] SUBSTANTIAL
STRUCTURAL DAMAGE. A
condition where:
1. In any story,
the vertical elements of the lateral force resisting system have suffered
damage such that the lateral load-carrying capacity of the structure in any
horizontal direction has been reduced by more than 33 percent from its
predamage condition; or
2. The capacity
of any vertical gravity load-carrying component, or any group of such
components, that supports more than 30 percent of the total area of the
structure’s floor(s) and roof(s) has been reduced more than 20 percent from its
predamage condition and the remaining
capacity of such
affected elements, with respect to all dead and live loads, is less than 75
percent of that required by this code for new buildings of similar structure, purpose
and location.
[B] 606.2 Repairs to damaged buildings. Repairs to damaged buildings
shall comply with this section.
[B] 606.2.1 Repairs for less than substantial structural damage.
For damage less than substantial structural damage, the damaged elements
shall be permitted to be restored to their predamage condition.
[B] 606.2.2
Substantial structural damage to vertical elements of the lateral
force-resisting system. A building that has sustained substantial
structural damage to the vertical elements of its lateral force-resisting
system shall be evaluated in accordance with Section 606.2.2.1, and
either repaired
in accordance with Section 606.2.2.2 or repaired and rehabilitated in
accordance with Section 606.2.2.3, depending on the results of the evaluation.
Exceptions:
1. Buildings
assigned to Seismic Design Category A, B, or C whose substantial structural
damage was not caused by earthquake need not be evaluated or rehabilitated for
load combinations that include earthquake effects.
2. One- and
two-family dwellings need not be evaluated or rehabilitated for load
combinations that include earthquake effects.
[B] 606.2.2.1
Evaluation. The
building shall be evaluated by a registered design professional, and the
evaluation findings shall be submitted to the code official. The evaluation shall establish whether the
damaged building, if repaired to its predamage state, would comply with the
provisions of the Florida Building Code, Building for load combinations
that include wind or
earthquake
effects, except that the seismic forces shall be the reduced FBC-level
seismic forces.
[B] 606.2.2.2
Extent of repair for compliant buildings.
If
the evaluation establishes that the building in its predamage condition
complies with the provisions of Section 606.2.2.1, then the damaged elements
shall be permitted to be restored to their predamage condition.
[B] 606.2.2.3
Extent of repair for noncompliant buildings. If the evaluation does not establish
that the building in its predamage condition complies with the provisions of
Section 606.2.2.1, then the building shall be rehabilitated to comply with the
provisions of this section. The wind loads for the repair and rehabilitation
shall be those required by the building code in effect at the time of
original construction, unless the damage was caused by wind, in which case the
wind
loads shall be
in accordance with the Florida Building Code, Building. The seismic
loads for this rehabilitation design shall be those required by the
building code in effect at the time of original construction, but not less than
the reduced FBC-level seismic forces.
[B] 606.2.3
Substantial structural damage to gravity load-carrying components. Gravity
load-carrying components that have sustained substantial structural damage shall
be rehabilitated to comply with the applicable provisions for dead and live
loads in the Florida Building Code, Building. Snow loads shall be
considered if the substantial structural damage was caused by or related
to snow load effects. Undamaged gravity load-carrying components
that receive
dead, live or snow loads from rehabilitated components shall also be
rehabilitated if required to comply with the design loads of the rehabilitation
design.
[B] 606.2.3.1
Lateral force-resisting elements. Regardless of the level of damage to
gravity elements of the lateral force-resisting system, if substantial
structural damage to gravity load-carrying components was caused primarily by
wind or seismic effects, then the building shall be evaluated in accordance
with Section 606.2.2.1 and, if noncompliant, rehabilitated in accordance
with Section
606.2.2.3.
Exceptions:
1. Buildings
assigned to Seismic Design Category A, B, or C whose substantial structural
damage was not
caused by earthquake need not be evaluated or rehabilitated for load
combinations that include earthquake effects.
2. One- and
two-family dwellings need not be evaluated or rehabilitated for load
combinations
that
include earthquake effects.
[B] 606.2.4
Flood hazard areas. In
flood hazard areas, buildings that have sustained substantial damage shall
be brought into compliance with Section 1612 of the Florida Building Code,
Building or Section R322 of the Florida Building Code, Residential, as
applicable.
5th Edition (2014) Florida
Building Code, Existing Building
Chapter 7 – Alterations – Level 1
SECTION 708 REROOFING
708.1 General.
Materials and methods of application used for recovering or replacing an
existing roof covering shall comply with the requirements of Chapter 15 of the Florida
Building Code, Building or Chapter 9 of the Florida Building Code,
Residential. Roof repairs to existing roofs and roof coverings shall comply
with the provisions of this code.
Exception: Reroofing shall not be required to meet the minimum design
slope requirement of 1/4:12 in Section 1507 of the Florida
Building Code, Building for roofs that provide positive roof drainage
(high-velocity hurricane zones shall comply with Sections 1515.2.2.1 and 1516.2.4
of the Florida Building Code, Building).
708.1.1
Not more than 25 percent of the total roof area or roof section of any existing
building or structure shall be repaired, replaced or recovered in any 12-month
period unless the entire roofing system or roof section conforms to
requirements of this code.
Staff analysis:
Question: Does the repair of roof coverings
performed in accordance with Chapter 6 of the 5th Edition (2014)
Florida Building Code, Existing Building need to comply with the requirements
of Section 708 Reroofing?
Answer: No, as per Section 606.2.1 of the 5th Edition (2014) FBC, Existing Building “the Code), the project in question is permitted to be restored to its predamage condition without meeting the requirements of Section 708.1.1 of the Code. Building materials to be used in the restoration of the project in question must be in accordance with Section 602.2 of Code.