Pathways must be over areas capable of supporting firefighters accessing the roof.
Where a path straddles roof planes, it counts as one path, but can be attributed to either roof plane to meet the requirements of the first bullet. or wider pathway on that roof plane, an adjacent roof plane, or straddling that plane and an adjacent one-for example, a valley or hip. Each roof plane with a PV array on it must have a 36-in.At least one of the paths must be accessible from a public way or driveway.or wider paths must be provided on separate roof planes from the lowest roof edge to the ridge.
To provide the most effective panel arrangement possible, while still providing a path for firefighters, the code gets a little complicated and specific: Not all surfaces of a roof are solar-friendly in the northern hemisphere, south-facing, unshaded exposures are the prime real estate for solar-panel installations. On the other side of the discussion is the science of solar and the difficulty of efficiently placing panels to provide the most watts. It takes enough bravery to scale the roof of a burning home, and putting solar panels in the way just increases the danger. Doing so provides a way for the smoke to exit a room and allow for a rescue operation.
Often firefighters will ascend to the ridge of a roof to cut a hole and vent the smoke. Fighting fire requires managing smoke and air, and that means controlling and creating openings. Though firefighting practices differ from district to district, the concept of venting and controlling the smoke and heat of a structure fire is universal. I’m going to focus on the most commonly encountered issues, though there are numerous exceptions I encourage you to check out on your own. These provisions were recently developed, and there’s a lot of new stuff. It’s the nonelectrical provisions-the ones contained in the Building Planning chapter of the International Residential Code (IRC)-that get overlooked the most.įor installations on houses, Section 324 of the IRC is where the majority, but not all, of the nonelectrical solar provisions are found. Electrical and solar contractors know the electrical provisions of the solar code well. It is simply a conglomeration of the various solar provisions scattered in other code volumes. Unlike other codes, it was not developed independently. The International Code Council, partnered with other stakeholders, now publishes a volume titled International Solar Energy Provisions, which combines the requirements from various code publications into one book. On Colorado’s front range, for example, roofs with solar arrays are scattered everywhere. Now, solar PV has a solid foothold in the residential market. While the technology was rapidly changing, installation practices were just that- “practice”-and many hazards and failures were yet to be revealed and addressed in building codes and standards. Rooftop PV was still pretty niche a couple decades ago, though it was growing and becoming more established.
Meanwhile, solar photovoltaics (PV), which turn sunlight into electricity, have grown into a leading technology. Though those systems are still available and used and mentioned in codes, the idea never really took off in the U.S. Back then, it was all about solar-thermal systems that heat water for space heating and domestic hot water. The Uniform Solar Energy Code was published in the 1970s. I think similar things have happened with rooftop solar. Consider how ride-sharing apps started as an off-the-wall idea, but now there are entire parking-garage levels at major international airports dedicated to the services. These provisions include creating safe pathways for first responders and emergency egress, leaving adequate air space for plumbing vents, determining structural loads, and sealing and flashing penetrations and other connections.īig changes usually happen slowly, and often it takes time for society to catch up to the implications that result. Synopsis: In this installment of Know the Code, code-expert Glenn Mathewson details the commonly encountered issues with the nonelectrical code provisions for solar PV.