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Building Planning — ICC B1 Practice Questions

44 questions · 8% of the ICC B1 exam

Worked questions

1. The approved plans show a fire-resistance-rated assembly on that wall, and the builder asks whether he can substitute a lighter assembly to save on labor. Under the IRC, what governs the required separation between the two dwelling units?

  • AA two-hour rated assembly is required wherever a wall separates dwelling units, the rating the code assigns to townhouse common walls

    Two hours is the separation assigned to townhouse common walls, not to the units of a two-family dwelling. Carrying that number across is the classic townhouse and duplex mix-up, and it over-rates the assembly.

  • A one-hour rated assembly is required, and a half-hour assembly is permitted only where an approved automatic sprinkler system is installed
  • CNo rating is required so long as the wall is framed as two independent stud walls with a continuous air space separating them

    Double stud framing with an air space is a sound control detail, not a rated assembly. Fire resistance comes from a tested assembly, and no amount of framing separation substitutes for the rating the code requires.

  • DA rating is required on the floor-ceiling assembly only, because the vertical separation between units in a two-family dwelling is unregulated

    The code requires the rating on both the walls and the floor-ceiling assemblies separating dwelling units. Rating only the horizontal separation leaves fire free to travel from unit to unit through the wall.

Why B is correct

The baseline separation between dwelling units in a two-family dwelling is a one-hour fire-resistance-rated assembly, applied to walls, floors or both as the geometry requires. The only relief the code offers is a reduction to a half-hour rating where an approved automatic sprinkler system is installed throughout the building. Nothing in the section lets a builder trade the rating away for a heavier framing arrangement.

What this question is testing

The item tests whether the candidate knows the baseline separation for a two-family dwelling, knows the single condition that permits a reduction, and understands that a fire-resistance rating comes from a tested assembly rather than from framing geometry.

On the job

Duplexes get built by small builders who also build single-family houses, and the rated wall is the detail most often treated as ordinary framing. The giveaways at inspection are single-layer board where the listing calls for two layers, the wrong screw spacing, and penetrations for outlets and plumbing cut back to back through the assembly. Ask which tested assembly the wall is built to and check the actual construction against that listing rather than against a general impression of what a rated wall looks like.

Memory technique

One hour dry, half an hour wet. Sprinklers buy you back half the rating.

Exam tip

One hour is the baseline between units, and sprinklers are the only path to a half hour.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 3, Section R302.3 for two-family dwellings, with R302.2 covering townhouses separately.

2. Below the ceiling line the rated separation is intact, but in the attic the framers stopped the assembly at the top of the ceiling joists and left the space above open across the unit line. What should the inspector require?

  • ANothing, because the attic space above the ceiling line falls outside the required separation

    The attic is expressly inside the required separation. The rating is not allowed to stop at the ceiling line.

  • BDraftstopping material only, because a rated assembly is not required above a ceiling

    Draftstopping limits the spread of fire within concealed spaces and carries no fire-resistance rating. It is not a substitute for continuing a rated assembly.

  • CThat the opening be closed with unfaced batt insulation packed tight against the framing

    Insulation of any type provides no fire-resistance rating and will not close the assembly. Packing the gap gives the appearance of a seal with none of the performance.

  • That the rated separation be continued from the foundation to the underside of the roof sheathing

Why D is correct

A townhouse separation has to be continuous, running from the foundation all the way to the underside of the roof sheathing, with the joint between the wall and the deck closed. An attic that is open over the top of the wall gives fire an unobstructed path from one unit into the next, which defeats the entire separation regardless of how well the wall below was built.

What this question is testing

The item tests whether the candidate understands that a fire-resistance-rated separation must be continuous through concealed spaces, and whether the candidate can distinguish draftstopping from a rated assembly.

On the job

Attics are inspected last, poorly lit, and full of trusses that make sighting down the wall line difficult. This is where separation walls get abandoned, especially where the truss profile changes or a mechanical unit sits over the party wall. Carry a light and walk the full length of the wall on both sides of the unit line. The other frequent finding is a properly built wall with a two-inch gap at the roof deck that nobody thought to close.

Memory technique

Fire goes over the top. A wall that stops at the ceiling is a wall with a door in it.

Exam tip

Follow a rated wall with your finger from the footing to the roof deck. Wherever it stops, that is the answer.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 3, Section R302.2 for townhouses, and R302.12 for draftstopping, which is a separate requirement.

3. The room measures 8 feet by 8 feet with full required ceiling height throughout, and it has a door, a closet and a compliant escape and rescue window. What is the correct call on the size of this room?

  • It fails, because a habitable room must have a floor area of not less than 70 square feet
  • BIt passes, because the room exceeds the 7-foot minimum horizontal dimension in both directions

    The 7-foot horizontal dimension is a second, separate requirement. Passing it does not cure a floor area that is below the minimum.

  • CIt fails, because a room used for sleeping must have a floor area of not less than 100 square feet

    One hundred square feet is not a code minimum for a sleeping room in the IRC. It is a figure that comes from rental housing standards and local ordinances.

  • DIt passes, because minimum area applies to the dwelling as a whole rather than to individual rooms

    Minimum area is applied room by room to each habitable room, not to the dwelling as an aggregate.

Why A is correct

Eight feet by 8 feet is 64 square feet, and the minimum floor area for a habitable room is 70 square feet. The separate requirement for a minimum horizontal dimension of 7 feet is satisfied, but area and dimension are independent tests and the room fails on area. Kitchens are excepted from the minimum area requirement, and a bedroom is not.

What this question is testing

The item tests whether the candidate applies minimum floor area and minimum horizontal dimension as separate tests and can compute a simple room area under field conditions.

On the job

Attic and basement conversions produce most of these, because the usable footprint is whatever the framing left behind. The owner has usually already put a bed in the room and is offended by the finding. The practical resolution is often to combine the space with an adjoining area, or to permit it as a study or storage room, which changes nothing about how the owner will use it but does change what the code requires of the escape opening and the ceiling height.

Memory technique

Seventy and seven. One is the floor, the other is the narrowest wall.

Exam tip

Seventy square feet of area and 7 feet in any direction. Two numbers, both required.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 3, Section R304 for minimum room areas, with the kitchen exception noted there.

4. Under the new family room ceiling the clear height is 7 feet, except beneath one girder, well isolated from any other beam, where the clear height drops to 6 feet 6 inches. The finished bathroom measures 6 feet 10 inches from floor to ceiling. What should the inspector cite?

  • AThe girder only, because any projection that brings the clear height below 7 feet is a violation

    Isolated beams and girders are expressly allowed to project up to 6 inches below the required ceiling height, so the girder at 6 feet 6 inches is not a violation.

  • BBoth the girder and the bathroom, because 7 feet is an absolute minimum at every point in the space

    Seven feet is not absolute. The beam and girder allowance is written into the section itself.

  • The bathroom only, because it falls below 7 feet while an isolated girder is allowed to project up to 6 inches
  • DNothing, because a basement is held to a 6-foot 8-inch ceiling height throughout

    The 6-foot 8-inch height applies to basements without habitable space. A basement containing a family room and a bathroom does not qualify for it.

Why C is correct

Seven feet is the required ceiling height for habitable space and also for bathrooms, toilet rooms, laundry rooms and hallways. An isolated beam or girder may project up to 6 inches below that height, so 6 feet 6 inches under a single girder is inside the exception. The bathroom is a full room at 6 feet 10 inches, which is below the requirement and is not a projection, so it is the defect the inspector cites.

What this question is testing

The item tests whether the candidate can apply the ceiling height requirement to the rooms it actually covers, recognize the beam and girder allowance, and reject the reduced basement height where habitable space is present.

On the job

Basement finishes live and die on ceiling height, because the joists, the ductwork and the girder are all fixed before anyone thinks about finishing. Owners routinely learn at the framing inspection that the bathroom they framed under the lowest duct run cannot be permitted. The productive conversation happens before the layout is set: identify the low areas, put the storage and mechanical spaces under them, and keep the habitable rooms and the bathroom under the clear bays.

Memory technique

Seven feet everywhere people go, minus six inches for a beam you can walk around.

Exam tip

Bathrooms, laundry rooms and hallways get the same 7 feet as habitable rooms. Only isolated beams get the 6-inch break.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 3, Section R305.1 and its exceptions for beams, girders and basements.

5. The garage ceiling beneath the bedroom is covered with 5/8-inch Type X gypsum board and the wall between the garage and the house is covered on the garage side with 1/2-inch gypsum board. The steel beam and the two steel columns that carry the garage ceiling framing are left completely exposed in the garage with no covering of any kind. How should the inspector rule?

  • Issue a correction: the structure supporting a required separation assembly must itself be protected with not less than 1/2-inch gypsum board or an equivalent, so the beam and the columns have to be covered
  • BAccept it: structural steel is a noncombustible material that will not add fuel to a fire, so the beam and the columns need no covering and the gypsum board on the ceiling and the wall completes the separation

    Noncombustible is not the same as fire-resistant. Unprotected structural steel loses a large share of its strength at temperatures a car fire reaches easily, which is why the structure supporting a separation is protected.

  • CAccept it: the requirement addresses the ceiling and wall membranes only, so members that pass through or carry those membranes are left exposed the way the tested assemblies show them

    The membranes are the visible part of the requirement, but the structure supporting them is expressly included. Leaving beams and columns bare lets the separation fall in a fire while both of its faces are still intact.

  • DIssue a correction requiring the beam and the columns to be covered on all faces with 5/8-inch Type X gypsum board, matching the material used on the garage ceiling under the bedroom

    Type X on all faces exceeds what the code asks of the supporting members, which is not less than 1/2-inch gypsum board or an equivalent. Writing the heavier requirement invites an appeal the department will lose.

Why A is correct

The provision reaches past the membrane to the structure carrying it. Beams, columns and posts supporting a required separation assembly must be protected with at least 1/2-inch gypsum board or equivalent. Exposed steel in a garage fire softens and deflects while the ceiling above it is still intact, which defeats the entire separation.

What this question is testing

The item tests whether the candidate extends the garage separation requirement to the structure supporting the assembly, knows the level of protection required on that structure, and understands why a noncombustible material still needs protection.

On the job

Garages with living space above almost always have a flush beam or a pair of columns, and the drywall contractor treats them as trim rather than as part of the separation. Look up at the beam and down at the column base at the framing and drywall inspections. Also check that the column protection continues to the floor and that the ceiling membrane is properly fastened, since a beam wrapped neatly but a ceiling screwed at 24 inches on center is still a failure.

Memory technique

A protected ceiling on a bare beam falls with the beam.

Exam tip

Protect the membrane and whatever holds the membrane up.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 3, fire-resistant construction, the garage separation section including the sentence on supporting structures.

6. The room has a single fixed window with 4 square feet of glazing that does not open. Judging the room against the natural light and ventilation option, what is the finding?

  • AIt complies; 3 square feet of glazing is required and this window provides 4 square feet

    The glazing area is only half the requirement. Openable area is a separate condition and this window provides none of it.

  • It fails; half the required 3 square feet must be openable, so 1.5 square feet of openable area or a fan is needed
  • CIt complies; fixed glazing is acceptable in a bathroom because the door provides the air exchange the room needs

    A door is not ventilation to the outdoors and is not credited. It moves moisture into the rest of the house rather than out of the building.

  • DIt fails; a bathroom requires 8 percent of its floor area in glazing, the same as any other habitable room

    Eight percent applies to habitable rooms. A bathroom is not a habitable room, and it has its own smaller fixed requirement with the mechanical alternative.

Why B is correct

Bathrooms taking the natural option need at least 3 square feet of glazing with not less than half of that openable, which is 1.5 square feet. Fixed glazing provides none, so the window must be replaced with an operable unit or mechanical exhaust must be installed at the required rate.

What this question is testing

Whether the candidate knows the bathroom natural light and ventilation option has both an area and an openable portion, and does not apply habitable room percentages to a bathroom.

On the job

Fixed decorative windows in bathrooms are common in production housing and in remodels where privacy glass was chosen from a catalog. Inspectors check whether the sash opens before doing any arithmetic. Where it does not, the practical fix at the final is a fan, since replacing the window means opening the exterior wall, and the fan then brings its own requirement to terminate outdoors.

Memory technique

Three and a half of three.

Exam tip

Three square feet of glass, half of it openable, or install a fan instead.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 3, light and ventilation, the bathroom paragraph with its mechanical alternative.

7. The ceiling joists were sized from the table column for an uninhabitable attic with limited storage at 20 pounds per square foot, and the stair is now framed and finished. How should the inspector judge the framing?

  • AAccept it; the stair affects how the attic is reached and not the load the framing has to be designed for

    Access is exactly what the table keys on. A fixed stair changes how a space gets used, and the table assigns a higher load for that reason.

  • BAccept it; the limited storage column already accounts for occasional foot traffic during maintenance

    The limited storage value contemplates occasional light storage in a space reached by a hatch or a pull-down. It is not the value the table assigns once a fixed stair is provided.

  • Reject it; an attic served by a fixed stair is designed for 30 pounds per square foot, so the joists must be rechecked
  • DReject it; an attic reached by a fixed stair becomes a habitable room and must meet the ceiling height requirements

    A fixed stair does not by itself make the attic habitable; habitable space brings ceiling height, light, ventilation and egress requirements that follow from finishing the space, not from the stair. The immediate issue is the design load.

Why C is correct

The live load table gives attics served by fixed stairs 30 pounds per square foot, against 20 for an uninhabitable attic with limited storage. Adding the stair changed the governing load, so the joists must be rechecked against the higher value and reinforced if the span no longer works.

What this question is testing

Whether the candidate can read the live load table by how a space is accessed and used, recognizes that a field change to access can change the governing load, and knows the correct response is to recheck the framing.

On the job

Owners add attic stairs all the time, sometimes under a permit for something else and sometimes with none at all. Inspectors who see a new stair look at what the ceiling joists were sized for, which means going back to the plans. The correction is usually sistering the joists or adding a beam, and it is far easier before the attic is floored and filled.

Memory technique

Give an attic a stair and it fills up.

Exam tip

The live load table treats attics by access. A fixed stair moves it to 30 pounds.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 3, design criteria, the live load table with its attic entries.

8. The bedroom measures 11 feet by 12 feet. With the lower sash raised, the clear opening measures 30 inches wide by 26 inches high. The framed rough opening for the unit is 34 inches by 62 inches. Natural ventilation requires openable area of not less than 4 percent of the floor area, and no mechanical alternative appears on the approved plans. What is the finding?

  • AIt fails, because 780 square inches is 5.4 square feet against the 10.6 square feet that this room requires

    The 8 percent figure belongs to natural light, not to ventilation. Applying it here roughly doubles the requirement and turns a complying window into a failure.

  • BIt fails, because the openable area has to equal the glazed area, and the sash exposes only half of the glass in the unit

    Nothing requires the openable area to match the glazed area; a double-hung opens half its glass by design and the code accounts for that by setting a lower percentage for ventilation than for light.

  • CIt complies, because the rough opening of 34 by 62 inches gives 14.6 square feet, which is well over what is required

    The rough opening includes the frame, the sash stiles and the fixed upper sash, none of which pass air. Measuring the hole in the framing rather than the clear opening is the most common way this calculation goes wrong.

  • It complies, because the 30 by 26 inch opening is 5.42 square feet against the 5.28 square feet required

Why D is correct

Required openable area is 0.04 times 132 square feet, or 5.28 square feet. The sash leaves 30 by 26 inches, which is 780 square inches, or 5.42 square feet. The opening exceeds the requirement, so the room passes on natural ventilation.

What this question is testing

Whether the candidate measures the clear sash opening rather than the rough opening or the glass, converts square inches to square feet, and applies the ventilation percentage rather than the light percentage.

On the job

Openable area is measured at the opening, which means an inspector raises the sash and puts a tape across it. Casements deliver nearly their whole glazed area, double-hungs deliver about half, and horizontal sliders deliver half as well. Awning units in basements are the ones that surprise people, since the sash swings out into a well and the clear opening can be much smaller than the glass.

Memory technique

Rough openings frame walls; clear openings move air.

Exam tip

Measure what opens. Then divide square inches by 144 before comparing.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 3, light, ventilation and heating, the openable area required for natural ventilation.

9. The great room's exterior bearing walls are framed with continuous 12-foot studs and the floor framing above them is 14 inches deep, and the approved plans carry no engineering for these walls. The prescriptive limit here is the laterally unsupported bearing wall stud height the stud table permits, which is 10 feet, plus a floor framing depth of not more than 16 inches. What is the finding?

  • The wall exceeds the prescriptive story height limit, so it needs an engineered design rather than prescriptive approval
  • BIt complies, because the story height comes to 13 feet 2 inches, under the 13 feet 7 inches the code permits for a story

    Thirteen feet seven inches is a story height figure the code states for masonry walls. Applying a masonry allowance to a wood-framed wall borrows a real number from the wrong material.

  • CIt complies, because a 12-foot stud is permitted wherever the wall is sheathed with wood structural panel on its outside face

    Sheathing braces a wall against racking; it does not extend the permitted unsupported height of a stud. The stud table governs the stud, sheathing or no sheathing.

  • DIt fails, and the remedy is to double the studs at 16 inches on center, which restores the prescriptive limit without engineering

    Doubling studs changes the compression capacity and the spacing but not the unsupported height, which is what the limit is about. It also is not a substitution the prescriptive provisions offer.

Why A is correct

The prescriptive limit is stated as the permitted stud height plus a limited floor framing depth. A 12-foot continuous stud exceeds the 10-foot stud height the table allows, so the prescriptive provisions no longer cover the wall and an engineered design is required.

What this question is testing

Whether the candidate knows the prescriptive provisions are bounded by story height, can assemble that limit from stud height and floor depth, and knows the remedy is design rather than a field substitution.

On the job

Tall great room and stairwell walls are the most common place a house steps outside the prescriptive provisions without anyone saying so. What the inspector looks for is a continuous stud from plate to plate with no floor or blocking line breaking it, and then for engineering in the approved set. Balloon-framed gable ends behind a two-story window wall are the same problem, and they usually come with a strap and blocking detail somebody has to have drawn.

Memory technique

Ten feet of stud plus sixteen inches of floor is the prescriptive ceiling.

Exam tip

Prescriptive rules have an envelope. A 12-foot stud is usually outside it.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 3, building planning, story height, read with the stud table in Chapter 6.

10. The address is spelled out in 3-inch brass script letters on the front door, the door stands 60 feet back from the street, and the brass sits against a brass kick plate. The builder asks whether that satisfies the address requirement. What does the code require?

  • ANumbers not less than 3 inches high placed anywhere on the dwelling, with visibility from the street left to local ordinance

    Three inches is under the required size and visibility is not a matter left open. The provision is aimed at a fire crew finding the house at night, so where the numbers can be seen from is central to it.

  • BNumbers not less than 6 inches high and internally illuminated, so the address stays legible at night from a moving vehicle

    Six inches and illumination exceed what the code asks. Requiring more than the provision asks is still incorrect at an inspection, and it invites an argument the department will lose.

  • Numbers at least 4 inches high with a stroke of 1/2 inch, contrasting with their background and visible from the street
  • DNumbers placed on the mailbox rather than on the dwelling, so that the address sits at the street however far back the house is

    A mailbox is not the building, and mailboxes are moved, knocked down and grouped at the roadside in clusters. Where the dwelling cannot be identified from the street, additional identification at the driveway is the usual remedy, in addition to the numbers on the building.

Why C is correct

Three requirements have to be satisfied together: character size of at least 4 inches with a 1/2-inch stroke, contrast with the background, and plain visibility from the street fronting the property. This address fails all three, which is why the size of the numbers alone does not settle it.

What this question is testing

Whether the candidate can state the three parts of the requirement, size and stroke, contrast, and visibility from the fronting street, rather than remembering only the height.

On the job

Address identification is the last item on many final inspection checklists and one of the more consequential ones. Fire and emergency medical crews lose real minutes on rural and deep-set lots. The two failures an inspector sees constantly are decorative numbers chosen for looks with no contrast, and correct numbers mounted where a porch column or a hedge blocks the sight line from the road.

Memory technique

If the truck cannot read it from the street, it does not count.

Exam tip

Four inches, half-inch stroke, contrasting, and visible from the road.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 3, building planning, premises identification.

11. The adopted wind speed map places this lot in a wind-borne debris region. The builder installed ordinary insulated glazing with no shutters, tracks, panels or anchors of any kind, and states that the windows carry a design pressure rating higher than the wind pressure calculated for the site. What is the finding?

  • AThe design pressure rating satisfies the requirement, because the glazing is then rated for the wind the site will actually see

    Pressure rating and impact resistance are two different tests. A window can carry a high design pressure and still be ordinary annealed or tempered glass with no debris resistance at all.

  • BProtection is required on the windward elevations alone, so the units on the leeward walls may be left as they were installed

    Wind direction is not fixed and a storm's approach angle is unknown when the house is built. The provision reaches glazed openings in the building rather than a chosen set of elevations.

  • CProtection is required above the first story alone, since debris near grade is stopped by fencing and by landscaping

    Debris at grade level is exactly the hazard, since gravel, roof material and fence sections are all launched low. Nothing in the provision exempts the first story.

  • Glazed openings in a wind-borne debris region have to be protected by impact-resistant glazing or approved coverings

Why D is correct

The requirement is impact protection, met by impact-resistant glazing or by an approved covering tested to the referenced standards. A design pressure rating addresses wind load on the assembly rather than the debris strike that the provision exists to resist.

What this question is testing

Whether the candidate distinguishes wind pressure resistance from windborne debris resistance, and knows what forms of protection the code accepts for glazed openings.

On the job

Coastal work is where this is enforced hardest, and it is also where a substitution is most tempting because impact glazing costs several times what ordinary insulated glass does. Panels and tracks count as an approved covering, but they only count if they are actually delivered and if the anchors are installed, so the field check is for anchors in the wall and hardware on the site, not for a bundle of plywood in the garage. Local adoption may add requirements.

Memory technique

Rated for the wind is not rated for what the wind throws.

Exam tip

Pressure rating is not impact rating. Different test, different label.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 3, building planning, wind design, protection of openings, with its tables.

33 more in the bank

Answers and explanations for these are in the app.

  • The side wall of the house sits 2 feet 6 inches from the lot line, and the framers have roughed in two bedroom windows in that wall. The dwelling has no automatic sprinkler system. What is the correct call?
  • The garage side of the common wall is covered with half-inch gypsum board, the garage ceiling under the bedroom is covered with the same half-inch board, and the door from the garage into the house is a hollow-core wood slab 1 and three-quarter inches thick. What must the inspector cite?
  • The finished ground surface next to the foundation falls only 2 inches over the first 10 feet away from the wall, and there is no swale, drain or other approved means of carrying water away. What does the IRC require here?
  • The base flood elevation for the site is 12 feet and the design flood elevation is also 12 feet. The builder set the lowest floor of the dwelling at exactly 12 feet, matching the map. How should the inspector rule under the IRC?
  • The room contains a tub and a toilet, and the ventilation is a ceiling exhaust fan rated at 30 cfm operated by a wall switch, discharging to the outdoors. How should the inspector rule?
  • The room measures 14 feet by 18 feet. Its only glazing is a fixed unit with 12 square feet of glass and a casement with 6 square feet of glass, and no artificial lighting alternative was approved on the plans. What does the inspector find?
  • The bedroom measures 12 feet by 15 feet. It has two double-hung windows, each with 15 square feet of glazing, and each sash opens to expose half of that glazing. No whole-house mechanical ventilation alternative is shown on the approved plans. What does the inspector find?
  • The drawings show one building holding three attached dwelling units side by side. Each unit is four stories above grade plane, each has its own separate means of egress directly to the outside, and each is separated from the next by a wall running from the foundation to the roof along a property line. Which statement correctly describes how the project is governed?
  • In this row the floor joists of one unit bear on a ledger fastened to the wall framing that belongs to the adjacent unit, and the roof framing of one unit is carried on the top plate of its neighbor's wall. The common wall itself is a single assembly with the required fire-resistance rating. How should the inspector rule?
  • The side wall stands 4 feet from the lot line used to determine fire separation distance. The wall measures 40 feet long by 9 feet high, and the framers have roughed in window and door openings totaling 92 square feet. At this fire separation distance the maximum permitted area of openings is 25 percent of the wall area. How should the inspector rule?
  • The new dwelling sits 40 feet from every property line, but only 5 feet from the existing dwelling standing on the same lot. The contractor argues that fire separation distance is measured to the property line, so the wall facing the existing house needs no rating and carries no limit on openings. How should the inspector respond?
  • Between the finished faces of the knee walls the space will be 6 feet 6 inches across, and it runs 12 feet the other way, so the floor area works out to 78 square feet. Full required ceiling height is available throughout that footprint, and the plans label the space a bedroom. The minimum floor area for a habitable room is 70 square feet and the minimum horizontal dimension is 7 feet. How should the inspector rule?
  • The new basement bathroom has 6 feet 10 inches of clear height over most of the room, dropping to 6 feet 6 inches beneath a duct soffit that crosses the room, and the soffit passes directly over the shower so that the clear height at the shower head position is also 6 feet 6 inches. The minimum ceiling height in a bathroom, toilet room or laundry room is 6 feet 8 inches, and that height must be provided over the shower head area. How should the inspector rule?
  • The new family room is fully below grade with no glazing of any kind. The owner has installed recessed lighting throughout and asks whether the room can be approved without any glazed area. Leaving the emergency escape and rescue requirement aside, what does the light requirement permit here?
  • The study measures 13 feet by 16 feet with an 8-foot ceiling, and none of its windows open. The mechanical alternative to natural ventilation calls for an outdoor air supply capable of 0.35 air change per hour in the room, but not less than 15 cubic feet per minute of outdoor air per occupant, and the room is designed for two occupants. What is the minimum required outdoor air supply?
  • The lowest floor is elevated above the design flood elevation as the plans require. Below it, the builder has enclosed the pier area with framed walls and gypsum board, fitted a solid entry door, and finished the space as a hobby room. There are no openings of any kind to let floodwater in or out of the enclosure. How should the inspector rule?
  • The unit has a kitchen sink, a water closet and a lavatory, all connected to an approved water supply and drainage system. It has no bathtub and no shower, and the owner explains that the occupants will use the bathroom in the main house 40 feet away. How should the inspector rule?
  • The approved site plan shows the front wall of the house 25 feet from the front lot line and the side wall 8 feet from the side line. Measuring from the surveyor's pins, you find the forms sit 25 feet off the front but 6 feet 3 inches off the side line. The excavator explains that he shifted the hole over to save a large tree. What is the appropriate inspector response?
  • The adopted table gives an ultimate design wind speed of 130 miles per hour for this jurisdiction, and the designer's notes state that the house was designed for 115 miles per hour, citing a regional map. How should the inspector or plan reviewer treat this?
  • The space is insulated and finished, the electrical is complete, and no heating equipment of any kind serves it; the owner intends to use a portable plug-in heater. How should the inspector judge this?
  • The water closet flange is set with its centerline 13 inches from the finished face of the side wall, and 20 inches of clear space in front of the bowl to the opposite wall. How does this layout stand?
  • The exhaust fan is rated at 80 cubic feet per minute and switched at the door, and its flexible duct runs 6 feet into the attic and simply ends there, discharging above the insulation. How should the inspector judge this?
  • The structure is roofed, its long side facing the driveway is open, and the three remaining sides have been framed and sheathed with siding, with a service door in the rear wall. How should the inspector classify and judge it?
  • The set shows the required separation between units and no automatic fire sprinkler system anywhere in the row, and the designer states that sprinklers are optional for residential construction. How should the plan reviewer respond?
  • The room measures 12 feet by 14 feet. The window's sash gives a net clear opening of 5.9 square feet and its total glazed area is 9 square feet, and natural light requires glazing of not less than 8 percent of the floor area. Does the room comply for light?
  • The house is 2,400 square feet with three bedrooms, and the ventilation rate is figured as 0.01 times the floor area plus 7.5 times the number of bedrooms plus one. What continuous rate does this house require?
  • The only glazing proposed for the room is a fixed unit with 14 square feet of glass, and natural light requires a glazed area of not less than 8 percent of the floor area. No artificial lighting alternative is shown on the plans. What is the largest floor area this room may have and still be approved for natural light on that glazing alone?
  • The room measures 15 feet by 16 feet. Its windows give a combined 20 square feet of glazing, of which 8.5 square feet is openable. Natural light requires glazed area of not less than 8 percent of the floor area and natural ventilation requires openable area of not less than 4 percent, and no mechanical alternative is shown on the approved plans. What is the finding?
  • The bathroom measures 7 feet by 10 feet. Its only opening is an awning window with 4 square feet of glazing, and the sash swings out to leave 2.5 square feet of clear opening. The natural option for a bathroom calls for an aggregate glazing area of not less than 3 square feet, one-half of which must be openable. What is the finding?
  • The outdoor air intake for the ventilation system is a hooded opening in the side wall. The clothes dryer exhaust terminates 4 feet from it and the furnace vent terminal is 6 feet from it, all three at about the same height on the wall. What is the finding?
  • The tub surround is tile that stops 5 feet above the bathroom floor, and from there to the ceiling the wall is painted gypsum board. The builder says the tile height matches the curtain rod. What is the finding?
  • The clear height over the open floor is 7 feet, and a trunk duct crossing the middle of the space leaves 6 feet 2 inches beneath it, measured to the finished floor. The path from the stairs to the laundry passes under that duct. What is the finding?
  • The insulation contractor has adhered 2-inch extruded polystyrene to the exterior face of the concrete foundation wall from the sill plate down to the footing, and the walls framed above are ordinary untreated lumber. What is the finding?

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