Jim,

Your question may be a bit confusing. Is the issue a new building being designed or an existing building that has existed through a number of code revisions?

Generally, the issuing of a building permit will provide the details as to what specific edition of a model code needs to be followed. Some jurisdictions make significant modifications to the model codes before adoption. Other jurisdictions fully adopt the model code(s) without modifications.

Unless there are changes to the building that trigger requirements from a more recent edition of a model code, the code requirements at the time of the issuing of a building permit are still the code requirements.

Additionally, in some states, the newly adopted code may not be the most recent edition. Some jurisdictions lag behind a couple of previous editions.

As previously stated, you need to drill down into the specific details of the building. If you are not comfortable with this, then the capabilities of a fire protection engineer might be warranted.

Doug Carpenter

Douglas J. Carpenter, MScFPE, CFEI, PE, FSFPE
Vice President & Principal Engineer
Combustion Science & Engineering, Inc.
8940 Old Annapolis Road, Suite L
Columbia, MD 21045
(410) 884-3266
(410) 884-3267 (fax)
www.csefire.com