Garage Attic Ladder Fire Code

The 2009 edition of the international building code ibc and the 2006 edition of the international residential code irc offer guidelines regarding attic access although not specifically pull down ladders.

Garage attic ladder fire code.

But codes can vary from county to county and this might be one of those. Shown below is an example of what not to do a grille cut into pull down attic ladder and an example of the right way to add a vent a register in the ceiling of garage that connects directly to a roof vent via a metal duct viewed from the attic. 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 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 international residential code irc is similar. The only time it is required is if the garage attic is separated from the house attic. Wooden pull down stairs do not comply with todays fire rating standards if there is no fire break that separates the garage. 2009 ibc commercial construction.

Fire as a cause of injury and death is the main reason for these restrictions. 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. 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. 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.

Combustion air also called make up air can also be provided by a vent through the wall. Most fires were caused by sparks from electrical arcing. Still the information might be of some interest to inspectors.