Notice to Industry Regarding Unlimited Area Buildings

CEBA’s Construction Codes Committee has identified a code issue related to unlimited area buildings and the requirement imposed on refrigerated facilities. The Construction Codes Committee has established a Task Group to review the unlimited area building code provisions of Section 507.2.1 of the International Building Code (IBC). These provisions require a 3-hour firewall when a structure is built between 40ft and 60ft of a property line. The industry has difficulty specifying a domestically sourced, UL-listed wall envelope system that provides a high R-value and a 3-hour fire rating.

The Task Group seeks to understand field experiences when contractors and facility owners are challenged with this IBC code provision. These would include, but not be limited to, ways of complying with the current provisions, available products to achieve the necessary fire ratings, or recommended modifications to the existing code section. Therefore, if there is experience with complying with these provisions or your project was cited by the authority having jurisdiction, we would like to hear about it. Also, we would welcome examples of installing a firewall in cold storage facilities of any type or size. You can send your information to Jeff Greenwald. We’d appreciate any feedback in the 1Q2025 timeframe.