Building Construction 4Th Ed

Front 1

What fire helped a National push for model building code?

Back 1

Great Baltimore fire of 1904

Front 2

Definition of a building code

Back 2

A building code regulates the actual design and construction of new buildings, providing for MINIMUM levels of health and safety

Front 3

What is the definition of a fire code

Back 3

A fire code regulates the activities that take place in existing buildings including the maintenance of existing fire protection features such as automatic sprinklers and fire doors

Front 4

What are the 3 structural components of a building?

Back 4

Superstructure (the building above grade)

Substructure ( area below grade to the lowest basement floor)

Foundation (from the lowest below grade slab and the footings/caissons/piles

Front 5

What is a brick and what can it do under fire conditions?

Back 5

Smooth sided pieces of clay cured in an oven

Can spall under fire

Front 6

What is sand-lime mortar?

Back 6

Water soluble mortar that can dissolve and cause collapse

Front 7

What are 3 negative characteristics of structural steel?

Back 7

It conducts heat

When heated it elongates

It fails above 1300 degrees and elongates about 1000 degrees

Front 8

What is a Maltese cross window in a high rise?

Back 8

A window that can be broken by firefighters

Front 9

Best option to break a laminated hurricane resistant window?

Back 9

Carbide tipped blade

Front 10

What was asbestos used for?

Back 10

It was used to fireproof steel

Front 11

What is a dry pipe system

Back 11

Systems have automatic sprinklers attached to a piping that contains air or nitrogen under pressure, when a sprinkler is open by heat, the pressure is reduced to the point where water can come out

Front 12

What is a preaction system?

Back 12

A system in which air in the piping that may or may not be under pressure. When a fire occurs, a supplementary fire detecting device in the protected area is actuated, which opens a water control valve

Benefit- won’t flow if a head is broken, desirable feature for areas that have easily damaged contents

Front 13

What is a deluge system?

Back 13

System has all sprinklers open at all times

Front 14

What does a protruding stem on an OS&Y mean?

Back 14

It’s open

Front 15

How many gpm does an early suppression fast response sprinkler put out?

Back 15

As much 100 gpm per head

Front 16

What are the 3 different types of standpipe systems?

Back 16

Class 1- provides a 2.5” connection for fire department

Class 2- provides 1.5” hose stations to supply water for building occupants or FD

Class 3- provides 1.5” hose stations to supply water for building occupants AND 2.5” for the fire department

Front 17

What is a manual-dry and manual-wet standpipe?

Back 17

A dry is a standpipe that does not have a permanent water supply attached to it

A wet is a standpipe connected to a small water supply for the purpose of maintaining water within the system or sharing water with the sprinklers, but does not have a supply just for the standpipe

Front 18

What is a curtain wall?

Back 18

A non load bearing wall, carry no weight and only installed to keep out the weather

Front 19

What is a wall-bearing?

Back 19

A structure where the entire structural load is carried on the walls

Front 20

What is the top and bottom chord of a truss?

Back 20

The top is in compression and the bottom is in tension

Front 21

What is the flammability range of carbon monoxide?

Back 21

12.5-74%

Ignition temp is 1128 degrees

Front 22

What type of building causes the most firefighter fatalities?

Back 22

Ordinary construction (Type 3)

Front 23

Is concrete fire resistive?

Back 23

No, it is non combustible, but can be formulated to be fire resistive

Front 24

What is type 2 construction?

Back 24

Non combustible

Front 25

What is the difference between non combustible and fire resistive?

Back 25

The level of fire resistance, non combustible has little or no fire resistance VS type 1 has moderate to heavy fire resistance

Front 26

How many stories can type 2 construction be?

Back 26

Most are 1-3 stories, but the max height is 12

Front 27

What type of material is used in type 2 construction?

Back 27

Relies heavily on the use of steel, but concrete can be used as well

Front 28

What are two basic types of in concrete construction?

Back 28

Cast-in-place concrete- plain concrete, reinforced and post tensioned

Precast concrete- plain concrete, reinforced and pretensioned concrete

Front 29

What is type 1 construction?

Back 29

Fire resistive

Front 30

What is a global collapse?

Back 30

Complete failure of the building (WTC)

Front 31

What is a cantilever floor collapse?

Back 31

A collapse where one end of the floor is still supported while the other end is unsupported

Front 32

What is a fire cut?

Back 32

Ends of girders are cut to release in the event of a collapse without bringing down the walls

Front 33

What are purlins?

Back 33

Beams, usually channels, set at right angles to trusses or roof rafters to provide support for lightweight roofing

Front 34

What are piles and caissons made of?

Back 34

Piles are made of wood or steel

Caissons are typically made of concrete

Front 35

What is a slurry wall?

Back 35

A trench is dug, steel reinforcement is placed in the trench, and a slurry compound is placed in the trench to support the trench walls

Front 36

What is false work? Or formwork?

Back 36

Used in the construction of concrete buildings are often made of wood

Front 37

How does steel differ between compression and tension?

Back 37

It doesn’t

Equally the same

Front 38

Is it okay to cool steel with water?

Back 38

Yes, should be done

Front 39

Which has greater resistance to fire, wired or ordinary glass?

Back 39

Wired glass, but it passes radiant heat as readily as regular glass

Front 40

What is gypsum?

Back 40

Typically used in a wallboard

Inhert material pressed between two sheets of cardboard to create a sheet of gypsum wallboard

Front 41

What is a semiautomatic-dry standpipe?

Back 41

Dry standpipe system that is arranged through the use of a device, such as a deluge valve, to admit water into the system piping upon activation of a remote control device located at a hose connection

Front 42

Smoke management systems

Back 42

Smoke control- usually in the form of pressurization to prevent movement into protected areas

Purge- venting of smoke

Zoned smoke control- combination of pressurization and venting, typical in high rises where the fire floor is vented and the surrounding floors are pressurized to prevent migration

Airflow- the use of high air velocity to stop smoke movement

Front 43

What is a wooden walled building?

Back 43

A frame building, it’s actually a wall bearing building that carries the load of the structure and contents

Front 44

Chamfer?

Back 44

To cut off the corners of a timber to retard ignition

Front 45

End matched?

Back 45

Lumber with tongue and grooves at the end

Front 46

Lumber?

Back 46

Wood that has been sawn and planed

Front 47

Splines?

Back 47

Wooden strips that fit into grooves in two adjacent planks to make a tight floor

Front 48

What is the common vertical means of fire spread in ballon frame and platform frame construction?

Back 48

Open stairwells

Front 49

Fire stops vs draft stops

Back 49

Firestops typically limit vertical movement through relatively small, concealed passages such as under stairs and inside walls

Draftstops limit horizontal movement through large concealed passageways such as open web floor trusses or attics

Front 50

What are finger joints?

Back 50

Are made by cutting a series of long points into the end of each piece

Front 51

Chipboard?

Back 51

Wood chips, glued together to make flat sheets, sometimes used as floors in mobile homes

Front 52

Flitch plate girders?

Back 52

Composite of a steel plate or plywood sandwiched between two beams

Easily can cause failure

Front 53

Sawn beam vs I beam?

Back 53

Wooden beam sawn out of a tree trunk

To some extent they have been replaced by the wooden I beam due to the weight and cost

Sawn is better under fire than I beam

Front 54

What are scuppers?

Back 54

Drains in the wall to drain water

Front 55

What is a lintel?

Back 55

Arches and beams which are two ways to carry a wall above an opening, such a beam is called a lentil

When heated they elongate and the Masonary can fail

Front 56

How do you breach a masonary wall?

Back 56

Make a triangular cut

Do not cut a straight line across the top of the opening, you could cause a collapse

Front 57

What is a chase?

Back 57

Passageway, usually vertical, cut into a masonary wall for a pipe or conduit

Front 58

What is the spandrel space?

Back 58

Instance between the top of one window and the bottom of the one above

Front 59

What is dynamic fire protection for steel?

Back 59

Accomplished with various types of automatic sprinklers

Front 60

What is passive fire protection for steel?

Back 60

Fireproofing the steel

Front 61

What are the 4 types of steel structures?

Back 61

Unprotected

Dynamically protected

Passively protected

Passive/dynamic combo protection

Front 62

Which is worse, post tensioned concrete or conventional reinforced concrete?

Back 62

Post tensioned presents a greater catastrophic collapse hazard

Front 63

What’s the purpose of concrete in fire resistive construction?

Back 63

It resists compressive stresses and protects the tensile strength of steel from fire

Front 64

Progressive collapse

Back 64

This type of collapse occurs when a small area of structural damage results in a lost of localized load carrying capability, initiating a chain reaction and possibly a global collapse

Front 65

Pancake collapse

Back 65

A collapse of a buildings floors and possibly roof in a pancake stack fashion with each floor on top of the other

Front 66

Lean to floor collapse

Back 66

A collapse which one end of the floor is still supported

A triangular void space is created

Front 67

Inward outward collapse

Back 67

A collapse in which the exterior wall fails horizontally with the interior wall folding horizontally

Front 68

90 degree wall collapse

Back 68

A collapse in which an entire wall fails as one unit

Front 69

Lean over collapse

Back 69

Limited to wood frame, this type of collapse is characterized by a wooden building that shifts at upper levels, leaning or totally collapsing

Front 70

What is a cavity wall?

Back 70

Hollow wall, that’s tied together with steel or masonry trusses

Front 71

Girder?

Back 71

Any beam, of any material (not just steel) that supports other beams

Front 72

What is a set of regulations passed in 1990 that includes, among other things, regulations requiring areas of refuge for disabled people in a multistory building?

Back 72

The Americans with disabilities act

Front 73

Size of structural member (wood)

Board

Dimensional lumbar

Timber

Back 73

Board- greater than 2” nominal thickness

Dimensional lumber- 2”-4” nominal thickness

Timber- equal or greater than 5” nominal thickness

Heavy timber- equal or greater than 8”

Front 74

What will marble turn to after being exposed to fire?

Back 74

Can look perfect, but may turn to chalk, it will collapse under the weight of a FF

Front 75

Is cement and concrete the same thing?

Back 75

No, cement is a component of concrete

Concrete is cured (hardened to full strength) using form work

Concrete is mixed and proportioned to the desired strength, different admixtures are added to give the concrete special characteristics such as corrosion resistance if steel reinforcing rods are to be added

Front 76

Does concrete have tensile strength?

Back 76

No, it’s tested in compression because it virtually has no tensile strength

Front 77

Thermoplasics VS thermosets

Back 77

Thermoplastics can produce flaming, dripping plastic, which will product secondary fires

Thermosets- plastics that char and burn, but do not flow

Front 78

What is sprinklers tested at after install?

Back 78

Sprinkler piping is hydrostaticially tested at 200 psi for 2 hours after install

Front 79

Where a fire pump is installed, it has a manifold for testing, each 2.5” outlet indicates how many gpm pump capacity

Back 79

250 gpm of pump capacity

Front 80

What’s the size of early suppression fast response sprinklers Vs conventional sprinklers?

Back 80

0.75”

0.5”

Front 81

How much gpm and at what pressure does each outlet of a class 1 and 3 standpipe provide?

Back 81

250 gpm at 100 psi

Class 2 provides 100 gpm at 65 psi

Front 82

What is engineered wood?

Back 82

Wood modified from its natural state

Front 83

What is the size of heavy timber?

Back 83

8” or more in its smallest dimension

Front 84

What is a ribbon board?

Back 84

A horizontal board is nailed to the studs in ballon frame construction

Front 85

What does steal expand to at 1000 degrees?

Back 85

A steel member will expand 9.5” over 100 feet at length

Steel will expand .06%-.07% in length for each 100 degree rise in temp

Front 86

What are the compressive connecting members and tensile connecting members of a truss called?

Back 86

Compressive- struts

Tensile- ties

Front 87

When a truss is cantilevered, is the top still in compression and bottom in tension?

Back 87

No, it reverses

Front 88

What are two types of fire stopping in the brannigans book?

Back 88

Inherent fire stopping- result of normal building construction

Legal fire stopping- installed with no other purpose than to meet requirements of a code

Front 89

Is there effective fire separation within ordinary construction?

Back 89

No, even when fire separations exist up through regular floors of the building, they often are imperfect or nonexistent in attic spaces

Front 90

What is the most dangerous collapse?

Back 90

The worst or most dangerous is when the wall breaks at ground level and falls straight out along the full height, bricks and other debris will fly even further

Front 91

What can a horizontal crack in a brick building mean?

Back 91

That the wall is being pushed out by steel roof beams, elongating in summer heat

Front 92

Masonary buildings with spans greater than how many feet must have interior bearing walls?

Back 92

Spans greater than 25 feet

Front 93

The effective strength of the wood under fire attack is determined by what?

Back 93

By the size of the thinnest portion, not the mass of the member as a whole

Front 94

Where can you find self releasing floors?

Back 94

Old interior mercantile buildings

Front 95

What is a light well?

Back 95

A vertical shaft with windows that provides light and ventilation to enclosed rooms

Front 96

What is the best roof?

Back 96

One in which the roof beams rest on girders

Front 97

What are the top and bottom of an “I” beam called?

Back 97

The top and bottom are called flanges

The stem is called the web

The top flange resist compression and the bottom flange resist tension

Front 98

What is used in an excavation bracing?

Back 98

Rows of vertical beams called soldier beams are put inside

They are tied by a horizontal beam called a waler

Diagonal columns called rakers brace the entire structure

Front 99

How should control a fire involving a metal deck roof?

Back 99

By continuous application of water to the underside of the roof

Removing the fuel

Front 100

What is monolithic construction?

Back 100

A method where all the concrete in a building is properly bonded together

The resultant structure can be likened to one piece of stone

Front 101

What are vertical reinforcing bars in concrete beams designed to prevent cracking under shear stress called?

Back 101

Stirrups

Front 102

How many times does steel have more compressive strength than concrete?

Back 102

15 times, but steel costs more money

Front 103

What is the most dangerous hazards from buildings under construction?

Back 103

Heating

Sometime workers burn scrap wood in steel barrels or use kerosene heaters to keep warm

By far the most dangerous and perhaps most common heating method is the use of LPG

Front 104

Which has more of a catastrophic collapse hazard, post tensioned concrete or conventional reinforced concrete?

Back 104

Post tensioned

Front 105

What are clear signs that a concrete building is in trouble?

Back 105

Deteriorated concrete, spalling that exposes reinforcing rods, and cracks that can admit corrosive moisture to the reinforcing rods

Front 106

Concrete in fire resistive construction serves what two purposes?

Back 106

It resists compressive stresses

Protects the tensile strength of steel from fire

Front 107

What is a partial collapse?

Back 107

Failure of a portion of the building

Floor gives out without bringing down the rest of the building

Can be just as deadly as a global collapse

Front 108

What collapse is when the floor fails near the center, with the perimeter of the floor still partially supported by the walls?

Back 108

V shaped floor collapse

Creates two void spaces

Front 109

What collapse is when one of the collapsed floor is supported by an interior wall?

Back 109

Frame floor collapse

Front 110

Which collapse often associated with brick veneer non load bearing walls, but also included other masonry walls. The wall falls like a curtain, straight down?

Back 110

Curtain fall wall collapse

Front 111

What usually is the cause of a pancake collapse?

Back 111

When the connection between the floor and a load bearing wall are lost, such as wood joists pulling out a brick wall

Front 112

True or false, it’s often impossible to tell a bearing masonry wall from a veneered wall by external appearance alone

Back 112

True

Front 113

What is deflection?

Back 113

Bending that combines both compression and tension