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NISTNCSTAR1-1F Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster Comparison of the 1968 and Current (2003) New York City Building Code Provisions Joseph C. Razza Raymond A. Grill National InstituteofStandardsandTechnology TechnologyAdministrofion • U.S. DeportmentofCommerce NIST NCSTAR 1-1F Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster Comparison of the 1968 and Current (2003) New York City Building Code Provisions Joseph C. Razza Raymond A. Grill RolfJensen &Associates, Inc. September 2005 U.S. DepartmentofCommerce Carlos M. Gutierrez, Secretary TechnologyAdministration Michelle O'Neill, Acting UriderSecretaryfor Technology National Institute ofStandards and Technology William Jeffrey, Director F Disclaimer No. 1 Certain commercial entities, equipment, products, or materials are identified in this document in orderto describe a procedure or concept adequately orto trace the historyofthe procedures and practices used. Such identification is not intended to imply recommendation, endorsement, or implication thatthe entities, products, materials, or equipmentare necessarilythe best available forthe purpose. Nordoes such identification imply afinding offaultor negligence bythe National Institute ofStandards and Technology. Disclaimer No. 2 The policy ofNIST is to use the International System of Units (metric units) in all publications. Inthis document, however, units are presented in metric units orthe inch-pound system, whichever is prevalent in thediscipline. DisclaimerNo. 3 Pursuantto section 7 ofthe National Construction SafetyTeam Act, the NIST Director has determined that certain evidence received by NIST in the course ofthis Investigation is "voluntarily provided safety-related information"that is "not directly related tothe building failure being investigated" and that"disclosure ofthat information would inhibitthe voluntary provision ofthattype ofinformation" (15 (JSC 7306c). In addition, a substantial portion ofthe evidence collected by NIST in the course ofthe Investigation has been provided to NIST under nondisclosure agreements. Disclaimer No. 4 NISTtakes no position asto whetherthe design orconstruction ofa WTC building was compliantwith anycode since, dueto the destruction ofthe WTC buildings, NIST could not verifythe actual (oras-built) construction, the properties and condition ofthe materials used, or changesto the original construction made overthe life ofthe buildings. In addition, NIST could not verifythe interpretations ofcodes used by applicable authorities in determining compliance when implementing building codes. Where an Investigation report stateswhethera system was designed or installed as required by a codeprovision, NIST has documentaryor anecdotal evidence indicating whetherthe requirement was met, or NIST has independently conducted tests oranalyses indicating whetherthe requirementwas met. Use in Legal Proceedings No part ofany report resulting from a NIST investigation into a structural failure orfrom an investigation underthe National Construction SafetyTeam Act may be used in anysuit oraction fordamages arising outofany matter mentioned in such report (15 USC 281a; as amended by P.L. 107-231). National Institute ofStandards and Technology National Construction SafetyTeam Act Report 1-1 Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol. Natl. Constr. Sfty. Tm. Act Rpt. 1-1F, 92 pages (September2005) CODEN: NSPUE2 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 2005 Forsale bythe Superintende—nt of Documents, U.S. Gov—ernment Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: (202) 512-1800 Fax: (202) 512-2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-0001 Abstract This report was prepared to support the analysis ofbuilding and fire codes and practices ofthe National Institute ofStandards and Technology World Trade Center (WTC) Investigation. The report provides a comparison and summary ofsignificant differences between the 1968 Building Code ofthe City ofNew York (detennined to bethe currentbuilding code atthe time ofconstruction ofWTC 1 and WTC 2) and the provisions ofthe 2003 (current) edition ofthe Building Code ofthe City ofNew York. Keywords: Building code, emergency power, fire alarm, fire protection, fire suppression, interior finish, means ofegress, reference standard, sprinklers, standpipe. World Trade Center. NISTNCSTAR 1-1F, WTCInvestigation iii Abstract This page intentionally leftblank. iv NISTNCSTAR 1-1F. WTCInvestigation Table of Contents Abstract iii List ofFigures vii List ofTables ix List ofAcronyms and Abbreviations xi Glossary xiii Preface xv Executive Summary xxv , Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Chapter2 Code Comparison and Summary of Significant Differences 3 2.1 Referenced Standards 3 2.2 Compartmentation 3 2.3 Construction 3 2.4 Means ofEgress 3 2.5 Fire Suppression Systems 3 2.6 Fire Alarm, Detection, and Signaling Systems 4 2.7 Emergency Power 4 2.8 Smoke and Heat Venting 4 Chapter 3 References 5 Appendix A Table of Code Comparison and Summary of Significant Differences 7 NISTNCSTAR 1-1F. WTCInvestigation v Table ofContents This page intentionally left blank. vi NISTNCSTAR 1-1F, WTCInvestigation List of Figures Figure P-1 The eight projects in the federal building and fire safety investigation ofthe WTC . disaster xvii NISTNCSTAR 1-1F, WTC Investigation vii ListofFigures This page intentionally leftblank. vni NISTNCSTAR 1-1F, WTC Investigation