II.4.3 Fire Partitions.

A fire partition is a barrier to

restrict the spread of fire and is used to separate
dwelling units, guestrooms, tenant spaces in covered
malls, and corridor walls. Fire partitions are often
required to provide a 1-hour fire resistance rating.
Generally, the structure supporting fire partitions
should have a fire resistance rating equal to the rating
of the fire resistive construction supported. However,
the need to provide a 1-hour fire resistance rating for
structures supporting a fire partition in Type IIB
construction is exempted. The support of fire
partitions in Type IIB construction is allowed without
having to upgrade the structure’s fire resistance rating
to 1-hour as described in IBC Section 708.4.
II.4.4 Height Modifications. Maximum building
height and story modifications are possible by
incorporating the use of an approved automatic
sprinkler system. Requirements for using these height
modifications are described in Section 504 of the IBC,
and are illustrated in Example II.1 in this chapter.
II.4.5 High-Rise Building Modifications. In lieu of
area and height modifications, the IBC allows high-rise
buildings (i.e. buildings with occupied floors located
more than 75 ft (22.9 m) above the lowest level of fire
department vehicle access) to have a reduction in the
minimum construction type. The IBC requires that
additional life safety provisions be made to use the
reduced construction type. All the provisions included
in IBC Section 403 High-Rise Buildings must be
satisfied to use the reduction in minimum construction
type. These provisions include automatic sprinkler
protection, secondary water supplies, special sprinkler
control and initiation devices, standby power, and
several other requirements. The improved safety due
to these enhancements is recognized by allowing a
reduction in the fire resistance rating as follows: