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REAL ESTATE
AND
NEW YORK, JULY 10, 191.5
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NEW REVISION OF THE BUILDING CODE
A Review and Explanation of the Parts That Have Been Com¬
pleted and Enacted—Three New Chapters Passed This Week
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WITH the articles passed by the Board
of Aldermen this â– week the revision
of the Building Code has so far pro¬
gressed that practically one-half of the
work has been entirely completed. With
the preliminary work that has been done
on the balance of the articles perhaps
three-quarters of the work of revision is
done-
The three articles which were passed
this week relate to masonry construc¬
tion, fireproof construction and rein¬
forced fireproof construction, and are
designated as Articles 13, 16 and 17 re¬
spectively. They will go into effect
three months from the date of their
passage or on October 6, and will be
found printed in full in the official pro¬
ceedings of the Board of Aldermen. The
work of revising the code has been in
charge of the Building Committee, which
has had the assistance of Supt. R. P.
Miller, who has drafted the articles
which have been reported out by the
committee in the form of ordinances and
they have been passed by the board sep¬
arately. They will eventually be com¬
piled all in one code-
Masonry Construction.
Article 13, on Masonry Construction,
is one of those that were passed at the
latest meeting of the board. The most
striking change perhaps, and one over
which there was more or less contro¬
versy, is the provision allowing the use
of hollow building blocks for the exter¬
ior walls of buildings of less than forty
feet in height, and in buildings of skel¬
eton construction the use of hollow terra
cotta blocks provided they are faced
with at least four inches of brickwork.
The present practice as to the thickness
of walls is continued with some few
minor changes, except that in buildings
of skeleton construction 12-inch walls
may be used throughout the entire height
of the building.
Article 16 is a new article providing
for Reinforced Concrete Construction.
The provisions of this article are in sub¬
stance those of the e,\isting rules of the
Superintendents of Buildings, and with
the exception of somewhat larger loads
allowed on spirally reinforced columns,
no change is made in the present
practice.
Article 17 on "Fireproof Construction
contains provisions which in previous at¬
tempts at revision have generally given
the most trouble. Most of the provisions
of the article represent existing prac¬
tice, though not all embodied in the old
law. The greatest interest in this art¬
icle naturally centers around the forms
of construction permitted for fireproof
floors. Brick arches, constructed as
heretofore required, are provided for.
In the case of terra cotta arches the
required depth of the arch blocks for
flat construction has been somewhat re¬
duced from the present practice, but an
increased depth in the blocks and an in¬
crease in the thickness of shells and
webs is required according as the load
to be carried is increased. Arches of
terra cotta reinforced with steel, not
heretofore recognized in the law, are
now provided for.
RUDOLPH P. MILLER, C. E.
Who is drafting New York City's new Building
Code.
For concrete floor arches both stone
and cinder concrete are accepted, a differ¬
ence, however, being made in the carry¬
ing capacity of the arches when these
two inaterials are used. Under this
article it is no longer necessary to de¬
termine by test the carrying capacity of
cinder concrete arches when they vary
in span and in thickness or the amount
of reinforcement, as a method of calcu¬
lating the strength of these arches is
provided. This allows both owners and
contractors a greater freedom in the use
of cinder concrete-
Other forms of construction which are
not provided for may still be used under
this article, provided they meet the fire
and load tests prescribed in the article.
No material change has been made in
the existing practice as to the use of fire-
proofed wood in buildings over ISO feet
in height, the only difference between
this and the old law being that here¬
after the sleepers, door bucks and
grounds when not exposed on any side
need not be treated to make them fire¬
proof.
Articles Previously Enacted.
The articles that have been previously
enacted, in revised form with the prin¬
cipal changes in the same, are as fol¬
lows:
-Article 2 on Materials of Construction
governs the strength, weight and quality
of materials. The specifications for
each material are brief and expressed in
plain language. Wrought iron is not
provided for, as it is no longer manu¬
factured for structural purposes, but
second-hand shapes of this material are
permitted when iu good condition. The
article provides for tests under the di¬
rection of the Superintendent of Build¬
ings for new materials or materials not
provided for specifically in the chapter.
For several of the materials of con¬
struction unless the rules of the suoer-
intendents prescribe specifications the
standard specifications of the American
Society for Testing Materials are desig¬
nated to apply. Among the materials of
construction provided for in this new
code and not heretofore recognized are
hollow building blocks, both of terra
cotta and concrete.
Article 3 prescribes the working
stresses for the different materials of
construction and the minimum loads that
must be assumed for floors used for
different purposes. Generally speaking
the working stresses heretofore pre¬
scribed are continued. In the case of
timber, however, the working stresses
on the timbers ordinarily used are raised
above those of the old code. The
stresses prescribed by the old code -were
so low that in several of the boroughs
of the city they were, as a matter of
practice, disregarded, and stresses used
which had been prescribed by the old law
of 1892, but which were inordinately
high. If it had not been for the fact that
floors in residence buildings are not
loaded to the extent assumed by the old
building code there might have been ser¬
ious results from this practice. The in¬
crease in the working stresses is offset
in the matter of residence buildings by
a reduction in the live loads assumed on
the floors of dwellings.
Article 4 on Classification of Build¬
ings is a new article dividing buildings
ac(:ording to occupancy into public
buildings, residence buildings and busi¬
ness buildings, and according to con¬
struction into fireproof, non-fireproof
and frame.
Fire Limits.
Article S, entitled "Restricted Areas,"
covers the fire limits and also a new
restricted zone designated as Suburban
Limits. The fire limits in Manhattan, the
Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens have been
extended, and the new limits are clearly
defined. The suburban limits section
applies to Manhattan, where it includes
all that part of the borough not within
the fire limits; the Bronx, in which two
large sections are defined, and Brooklyn.
Queens has no suburban limits because
of the large areas as yet unimproved,
and for a similar reason Richmond has
been omitted from both restrictions.
One amendment has been made since
this ordinance was passed last year, re¬
moving the limitation of time within
which a frame building may be moved
from one lot to another within the fire
limits.
Article 11, Partition Fences and Walls,
contains little that is new, but codifies
and clarifies the situation created by the
three sets of ordinances heretofore ex-
istin.g on the subject and applying dif¬
ferent parts of the city. The President
of the Borou.gh, and not the Alderman
of the district, is made the arbiter in the
event of a dispute as to the necessity for
a retaining wall, or the division of the
cost.
In Article 12 on Excavations and
Foundations, the old code has been
closely followed. The provisions, how¬
ever, for taking care of neighboring
buildings when an excavation is made,
have been strengthened so that the
parties responsible for the care of the