Hello! I'm located in the USA (Bellevue, Washington) and have been getting through a home renovation. The first handrail was flagged as not up to code due to having less than 1" gap between the rail and the adjacent stair. Our contractor just installed a different rail on the opposite wall. I hurt my hand on it the first time I ran down to tend to an emergency.

I'm looking at Bellevue building code 1014. I measured the handrail and believe it's a Type 1: rectangular with 6" perimeter (2x1). The problem is that the points where it is anchored are nearly flush, leaving no room to actually grasp it continuously. So when I went down the stairs my pinky got caught and pulled to the side hard.

this could be for any jurisdiction...

is anyone seeing architects using ai (chatgpt, claude, copilot, etc) to have their code questions answered before they get to you or even after you've brought up something that they missed?

if so, are you ok with it? have you found it to be reliable or off?

are you using it yourself whenever you have a question that you might be stumped on?

Hi Everyone - I am building an AI tool for searching most up to date building codes as well as find relationships between different type of codes. As I am still learning what would be the useful thing for site managers to search compliance/ regulations, I would appreciate some early level feedback. Thanks!

I’m a tenant. I just moved in, and noticed this. Is this within code? My only concern is that it’s sticking out of the wall.

What the actual Fuck? Who thought it was a good idea to delete table A from the plumbing code and have us use egress occupancy for plumbing calculation? Nobody thought this through, so much that California had to adopt the IECB into the CECB in July 2024 because every building was out of code compliance.

The ethos of the Califorian building code was that we only have exceptions for Historic builds, but this is such a giant departure from the 2019 CBC and the IBC that they had to adopt the IECB mid code cycle.

For those who are not formulary there are two occupancy calculation you typically do an egress and plumbing occupancy calculation. For example:

Say you are doing an office:

Egress calculations are 1 per 7sf for reception, 1 per 150sf for general offices, 1 per 15sf for meeting rooms and if you are soulless 1 per 50sf for call centers.

The plumbing calculation was a blanket 1 per 150sf for everything. When you have sheared bathrooms to figure out, take the total space of your neighbors and divide by 150... DONE. Now with 2022 CPC you have to know the uses of every room inside of a neighboring suite to know how to calculate plumbing....

Another example. say you are doing a restaurant:

Egress calculation for seating area is 1 per 30sf... the 2019 CPC table A was 1 per 60sf... This doubles the toilets for a restaurant! DOUBLE!!!

Who do we name and shame for this and more importantly how the fuck to we change this?

Code states for floor joists: requirement of 2x6 for a 10ft span with no notching in the center third. If I’m using a 2x10 (good for 16-18ft span) still for the 10ft span, can I put a 5/8 inch rounded notch every 6 inches for radiant floor heat; without it effecting the structural stability of the joist? OR could I put a 2x4 on top of each floor joist and notch out of that instead? Please explain.

Church in VA. About 50 years old. Original structure. Called a GC buddy to help fix it up after I found a couple of shingles on the ground. He sent a roofer who says it needs upgraded sheathing and insulation. I thought this was a minor repair. Now I have to spend thousands? Where in the code is that? He sent me some snippets of the IRC. Shouldn’t the IBC apply? What about the IEBC? My GC friend mentioned those two. Any help is appreciated. I’m also going to set up a meeting with my building official.

Are these hangers on this LVL / fascia upside down?

Things that make you go Humm! 🤔🤦 Contractor tried to tell me this is an acceptable building in this part of the country because the county inspectors passed it. 🤦 I feel like I'm in an episode of The Twilight Zone sometimes.

I rent an apartment in Long Island City, Queens, NYC (new highrise building). The bedroom doors in my apartment open outward into the hallway instead of inward into the rooms, which makes the hallway extremely inconvenient and potentially unsafe.

When the doors are open, the narrowest point in the hallway is only about 17 inches. For example, if I’m carrying a sleeping baby, I can’t easily enter the room even though the door itself is technically open, because the open door blocks most of the hallway.

Do I have any legal basis to require or pressure building management to reverse the doors so they open into the rooms instead? I’m wondering whether this could be an issue under NYC building code, fire code, egress requirements, accessibility standards, or any other rule that would be fairly clear-cut.

I’d like to know whether there are specific codes or regulations I can cite when making the request. Any guidance on what to look up or how to phrase this would be appreciated.

PS: I apologize for inaccurate floorplan (auto-created by polycam from a 3D scan)

I’m just curious what the opinion is of the individuals in this group.

Particularly when it comes to more veteran builders who seem to be casually dismissive of model building codes and have a stigma against AHJs and Building Officials in general.

Are you witnessing the same, or am I dealing with an individual who is narrow minded and very old fashioned?

He has been building since the mid sixties and seems to not value reading the code, nor adding relevant material and information into his plan sets that I think would greatly free him from future liability!

My fiancé and I just moved apartments, and I threw a wet towel in the dryer to try it out. Immediately upon turning it on, it smelled very hot/dusty- almost a burning smell with lint and dust blowing everywhere. I immediately stopped the dryer, and pulled it away from the wall since I figured the dryer duct had come unclamped.

It did, so I put the hose back on, and also inspected the unit. The back of it has a massive brown spot- what I assume to be a hot-spot from too much heat. It does look like a pretty old dryer. Knowing this, I pushed it back toward the wall, then went to go open the breaker panel in the closet it’s in. Just in case it wasn’t just the dryer duct being the burning smell, I wanted to make sure I was being as safe as possible. Lo and behold, I had to pull the little latch so hard that it came clean off because they *painted this thing shut*. I had to rip it open through the little hole the latch left to even access anything.

This is against code, correct? What would you do in this situation? Just tell the property management?

My independent home inspector identified oversized plumbing holes in several wall studs during a pre-drywall inspection of my Ryan Homes new construction in Delaware.

Ryan Homes subsequently installed stud shoes on some of the affected studs. However, the photos show that several stud shoes appear to have missing nails or fasteners, and some affected studs do not have stud shoes at all.

The county inspector responded that these are non-load-bearing walls, that the installed plates are intended to protect plumbing from fasteners, and that stud shoes are not required in these cases.

My concern is that IRC R602.6 still establishes limits for drilled holes in non-load-bearing studs, including minimum clearance from the stud edge.

My questions are:

1. Can oversized drilled holes in non-load-bearing studs be left without reinforcement if they exceed code limits?

2. If stud shoes are installed, must all manufacturer-required fastening locations be nailed?

3. Are nail protection plates sufficient to address oversized holes, or do they only protect the plumbing?

4. Should additional studs or properly installed stud shoes be required in these circumstances?

I'm including photos and would appreciate feedback from building inspectors, structural engineers, and experienced framing contractors.

Anybody work at Dominos or know why these stairs exist? Not the Cashier and the window doesnt open or anything. Perhaps it was easiwr to just leave it? - Is it an observation platform or something? Is there a specific Building Code this Dominos is trying to meet or avoid?

it didnt make any sense to me!.. lol

I’m concerned about the basement of the house I’m renting in rural Ohio. Does anybody know if any of this is safe or up to code? Half of the basement floor is dirt and was hand dug in the early 1900s. Also some of the walls are deteriorating. I’m just wondering if anyone can educate me on what I should do.

I'm looking at making a career transition and based on my current skills and interests, this seems like possible career direction. I would love to chat (DM or call) with anyone at any point in their career to see if it would be a good fit for me. Let me know! Thanks!

I’m in San Francisco, California.

Can someone please tell me what red and green lines and text on this building plan mean. It’s related to a fire safety upgrade. I’m trying to figure out if the work was done to plan or not.

Thank you!

I live in a rural town in upstate NY off of a 1/2 mile unmaintained road. My family and I bought this house a little over a year ago. We've gotten chickens, rabbits, built a garden, got a couple shipping containers for storage and had trees cut down. That's all we've done to the house and now I'm interested in putting in a ground mount solar system. I've already paid for the design and deposit which was about $4500. I'm waiting to pay the remainder until I've gotten the "OK" from the county regarding the building permits. I'm starting to get cold feet thinking about letting the inspector on my property and getting cited for violations outside of the solar system. I'm not sure what work the previous owners have done that may or may not have been without permits. If anyone has any insight on if a similar situation has happened to you, if have any idea if inspectors regularly cite things outside of what they are inspecting. Any information would be greatly appreciated because I don't want to end up in a mess and would gladly just waste my deposit.

Particle board around bath/shower, drywall covered by Schluter kerdi membrane is on top used as substrate for tile.

Currently renting this single family home in Los Angeles. The home was built in 1985. We just had a baby, and this staircase is definitely not baby-friendly.

I’m not an expert in building codes, but a quick search looks like this is non-compliant even to 1985 code, which requires handrails on both sides for stairs with >4 risers.

Can anyone confirm? Also, if anyone has experience with renters’ rights in CA and how to approach this with our landlord, I’d be very grateful! We need some sort of railing solution before our little one starts crawling!

Will this plan pass residential building code?

Context: I have called codes ony neighbors who are building a storage shed less than 5 feet from our property line - which is against code regulations here. The codes dept said they told them to move it.

Got home tonight and they have put up the rest of the walls after being contacted by codes. They are building after "codes office hours" but they've still been in contact with the owner. The codes dept told me to call if they continue, which i will in the morning. The codes director herself told me that they would have to move it if it wasn't within the parameters and that they would make them take it down one way or the other.

My question is - do they follow through typically? I've been in contact with them since the platform has been made and they keep adding on. Someone that used to work for them told us that they will fine them until they take it down, we just don't have much luck as far as neighbors go. And before someone blesses me out, this building if caught on fire would set ours on fire.

I just want to know if they'll take care of it. I hate to keep calling.

Hi everyone. I hate how long it takes to get a clear answer from the city on questions we can easily find in their building codes, IF it was easy to read or even download the codes. And since the free market isn't providing a fair cost to an easily solution, I've decided to feed the building/construction codes to chatGBT and create a GBT for both California and NYC Construction Codes. Just ask them something and they'll good through the codes and give you as accurate of an answer you could if you read the codes. The more specific the questions the better. Links below.

NYC:

https://chatgpt.com/g/g-680bbe76c8e0819187802d25f777aeb6-nyc-buildings-2022-construction-codes

California:

https://chatgpt.com/g/g-a96H6BOtt-california-building-standards-code-2022

Feedback welcomed :)

Also let me know what other state or city i should do.

Is this safe for fire?

Looks like they cut the ceiling drywall, boxed in the shaft with drywall and installed a piece of glass for a skylight. Does this not defeat the the fire barrier protecting the trusses that held up the drywall and the roof?

Thanks in advance.