Garage Attic Ladder Fire Code

Shared attic space is where the garage attic and living space attic has no fire break fire wall which continues from the garage wall s up to the underside of the roof to separate garage attic from living space attic.

Garage attic ladder fire code.

No access from attic over garage to attic over living area. 2009 ibc commercial construction. But codes can vary from county to county and this might be one of those. Solutions for the new code requirements r 42 attic access hatch exceeds all code requirements 22x30 pre finished white wood frame trim e zh t h triple gasketed air tight seal z hatch mark d.

Most homes have a 1 2 drywall panel installed in the attic access opening which is fine. It may be easier to install a regular non fire rated attic access in the garage then make sure that the walls of the garage that abut the living area are 1 2 or 5 8 whichever is code in your area from foundation to roof line. Most fires were caused by sparks from electrical arcing. The united states fire administration estimates that in just a two year period from 2006 to 2008 close to 10 000 residential attic fires occurred resulting in nearly half a billion dollars worth of damage.

The easiest way to do this is to replace the access door itself to be fire rated and simply retrofit the ladder to it. Wooden pull down stairs do not comply with todays fire rating standards if there is no fire break that separates the garage. But when you put something else in the opening it must be equivalent to 1 2 drywall which has roughly a 20 minute fire resistance. The international residential code irc is similar.

Still the information might be of some interest to inspectors. Fire as a cause of injury and death is the main reason for these restrictions. Combustion air also called make up air can also be provided by a vent through the wall.