2000 International Building Code - Classification of Occupancy and Construction Type

Course Outline

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will:

• Be familiar with the building use and occupancy classification;
• Be familiar with the types of buildings under each use group;
• Be familiar with the types of building construction;
• Be familiar with the required separation between use groups;
• Understand the special design requirements for buildings containing hazardous materials; and
• Be able to effectively coordinate design work with other trades on the design team.

Course Introduction

The International Code Council (ICC) was founded in 1994 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing a single set of comprehensive and coordinated national model construction codes. The founders of the ICC are Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc. (BOCA), International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO), and Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc. (SBCCI).

The first draft of International Building Code was prepared in 1997. The first edition of International Building Code (IBC 2000) was officially published in March 2000 following several public hearings in 1998 and 1999 and a public comment forum in 1997. As of October 2004, forty-four states have adopted IBC 2000.

Course Content

As practicing engineers, we welcome the efforts of the existing code organizations to produce a single set of codes. The purpose of this course is to help engineers and architects get familiar with the use and occupancy classification and types of construction defined in IBC 2000. In this course, you are required to study Chapters 3 and 6 of International Building Code 2000 (17 pages). If you or your office do not have this publication, you may order a copy from the Online Store of ICBO.

Chapter 3 of IBC 2000 deals with the classification of all buildings and structures as to use and occupancy while Chapter 6 the classification of all buildings and structures as to type of construction. It is very important for engineers to understand these classifications so that they can work effectively with architects.

The following contains the outline of Chapters 3 and 6 of IBC 2000:

Chapter 3 - Use and Occupancy Classification

Table of Contents

Section 301 - General
Section 302 - Classification
Section 303 - Assembly Group A
Section 304 - Business Group B
Section 305 - Educational Group E
Section 306 - Factory Group F
Section 307 - High-Hazard Group H
Section 308 - Institutional Group I
Section 309 - Mercantile Group M
Section 310 - Residential Group R
Section 311 - Storage Group S
Section 312 - Utility and Miscellaneous Group U

Chapter 6 - Types of Construction

Table of Contents

Section 601 - General
Section 602 - Construction Classification
Section 603 - Combustible Material in Types I and II Construction

To protect the safety and welfare of the public, all engineers must get familiar with the latest building code requirements. This course and its quiz questions highlight the basic classification of occupancy and contruction types in IBC 2000.

Related Links

Building Code of the City of New York
Policy on Occupancy Groups according to 1994 Uniform Building Code
Building Code Analysis Sheet for New Buildings, Additions and Change of Occupancy (a PDF file)
ebuildingcodes.com

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.