[CC 1974 §505.010; Ord. No. 845 §201, 1969]
A. 
Every building hereafter erected or enlarged within the fire limits as set out in Section 500.010 of this Title, shall, except as provided for in Section 500.050 of this Title, be enclosed on all sides with walls constructed wholly of brick, stone, hollow tile, hollow or solid concrete block, concrete or other equivalent incombustible materials; and shall have the roof, also top and sides of all roof structures, including dormer windows, covered with incombustible or fire retardant materials. All cornices shall be incombustible material.
B. 
Buildings with wooden frame-work clad with sheet metal or stucco or veneered with brick or its equivalent shall be classed as frame.
[CC 1974 §505.040; Ord. No. 845 §204, 1969]
A. 
The floor area of buildings between fire walls shall not exceed the following:
TYPE OF CONSTRUCTION
ONE STORY
EXCEEDING ONE STORY
Ordinary construction
9,000 square feet
6,000 square feet
Unprotected non-combustible
construction
9,000 square feet
6,000 square feet
Wood frame construction
6,000 square feet
4,000 square feet
B. 
If fronting on more than one (1) street above areas may be increased twenty-five percent (25%) for each additional street.
C. 
For the purpose of this Section, a street shall be deemed to include any avenue, boulevard, street, alley or lane, twenty (20) feet or greater in width or any court, parking space or yard with direct connection to a street and not less than twenty (20) feet wide. Such court, parking space or yard shall be the property of the owner of the building and shall not be enclosed or roofed over.
D. 
Non-fire-resistive buildings, fully equipped with approved automatic sprinklers, may be two hundred percent (200%) greater in area than the above.
E. 
Outside the fire limits, buildings of protected or unprotected non-combustible construction may be unlimited in area, if not exceeding one (1) story in height without basement, if the entire building is protected by an approved automatic sprinkler system (except areas permanently occupied exclusively by stocks of non-combustible material not packed or crated in combustible material), if a horizontal separation of at least eighty (80) feet is provided on all sides of buildings and if buildings are provided with means of egress complying with the provisions of Section 515.030 and so located that no part of the building shall be a greater distance, measured along the line of travel, from an exit doorway, than two hundred twenty-five (225) feet in assembly and business occupancies, one hundred fifty (150) feet in educational, industrial, institutional, mercantile, residential and storage occupancies and one hundred twenty (120) feet in high hazard occupancies.
F. 
Fire-resistive buildings (reinforced concrete frame, floors and roofs or the equivalent) shall not be limited as to area or height.
G. 
No building shall exceed three (3) stories or forty-five (45) feet in height unless fire-resistive construction (reinforced concrete frame, floors and roof or the equivalent).
[CC 1974 §505.050; Ord. No. 845 §205, 1969]
Every room of any building exceeding one thousand (1,000) square feet in area or occupied by more than one hundred (100) persons shall have at least two (2) exits. Every story of any building shall have at least one (1) exit and every story that exceeds two thousand five hundred (2,500) square feet in area shall have at least two (2) separate and independent exits. All doors in required exits shall swing in the direction of exit travel. The term exit and the required number of exits, their location, unobstructed width, illumination and indicating signs shall be in accordance with a nationally recognized standard and satisfactory to the City Fire Chief.
[CC 1974 §505.060; Ord. No. 845 §206, 1969]
A. 
Those walls are required by this Article to be of masonry construction shall be continuous from foundation to the roof. The thickness of such walls shall be sufficient to carry safely all imposed loads and shall comply with minimum dimensions as specified in this Section.
1. 
Brick bearing walls not common to more than one (1) building, shall have a minimum thickness of twelve (12) inches for one (1) story buildings or for the upper two (2) stories of buildings more than one (1) story in height. This minimum thickness shall be increased four (4) inches for each two (2) stories or fraction thereof below the upper two (2) stories. (For example, minimum thickness required for a seven (7) story wall would be twenty-four (24), twenty (20), twenty (20), sixteen (16), sixteen (16), twelve (12) and twelve (12) inches). Brick bearing walls, not common to more than one (1) building, may be eight (8) inches in thickness under the following conditions:
a. 
Walls of dwellings not over two (2) stories in height, and
b. 
Walls not over fifteen (15) feet in height, provided such walls are reinforced at intervals not exceeding twenty (20) feet by cross walls, piers or buttresses.
2. 
Brick non-bearing walls not wholly supported by girders at each story and not common to more than one (1) building, shall conform to minimum thickness of subsection (1) above except that walls four (4) inches less in thickness may be permitted where sixteen (16) inches or greater thickness is specified in subsection (1). (For example, minimum thicknesses required for a seven (7) story wall would be twenty (20), sixteen (16), sixteen (16), twelve (12), twelve (12), twelve (12) and twelve (12) inches).
3. 
Brick non-bearing walls, wholly supported by girders at each story may be twelve (12) inches in thickness where common to more than one (1) building or eight (8) inches in thickness where not common to more than one (1) building.
4. 
Brick walls which are common to more than one (1) building when not covered by subsection (3) above shall conform to the minimum thicknesses of subsection (1) except that no such wall shall be less than sixteen (16) inches in thickness.
5. 
Natural stone walls shall be four (4) inches thicker than specified above for brick walls. Hewn or square stone walls shall conform to the thickness specified above for brick walls.
6. 
Hollow masonry walls shall conform to the thickness specified above for brick walls except that no hollow block or hollow tile walls shall be used where common to more than one (1) building unless faced on both sides with not less than four (4) inches of brick properly bonded. Where structure members project into hollow masonry units, the hollow space shall be filled with non-combustible material the full thickness of the wall and six (6) feet one (1) inch or more above, between and below such members.
7. 
Reinforced concrete walls of monolithic construction shall not be less than two-thirds (2/3) the thickness specified above for brick walls except that no such wall shall be less than six (6) inches in thickness. Concrete walls not properly reinforced shall conform to the thickness specified above for brick walls.
8. 
Other non-combustible walls where acceptable to the City Fire Chief other non-combustible materials of required structural stability may be used in walls, when conforming with the following minimum requirements:
Type Of Wall
Horizontal Separation
Fire Resistance Rating Not Less Than:
Total Area Of Window Openings Not Exceeding:
Fire wall, bearing or non-bearing
4 hours
None permitted
Bearing wall
Less than 3 feet
At least 3 feet
3 hours
2 hours
None permitted
None permitted
Non-bearing wall
Less than 3 feet
At least 3 feet
At least 20 feet
3 hours
2 hours
1 hour
40% of total wall area
40% of total wall area
60% of total wall area
[CC 1974 §505.070; Ord. No. 845 §207, 1969]
A. 
Parapets eight (8) inches or more in thickness shall be extended a minimum of eighteen (18) inches above the roof level on those walls which are required by this Article to be of masonry construction, except as specifically exempted below. All parapeted walls shall be suitably coped. Parapets shall not be required on:
1. 
Walls terminating at roofs of fire-resistive or semi-fire-resistive construction.
2. 
A wall of a building the roof of which is at least three (3) feet lower than the roof of or any opening in, an adjacent building wall.
3. 
Walls facing on a street having a width of thirty (30) feet or more.
4. 
Walls of a building which is thirty (30) feet or more distant in all directions from the nearest line to which other buildings are or may legally be built.
5. 
Walls of a detached dwelling or of a building not exceeding one thousand (1,000) square feet in area.
6. 
Walls of a building where the roof has an angle of more than twenty degrees (20°) with the horizontal.
[CC 1974 §505.080; Ord. No. 845 §208, 1969]
A. 
For the purpose of preventing the spread of fire from building to building communicating openings in fire walls and certain openings in exterior walls required by this Article to be of masonry or equivalent construction shall be protected by approved fire doors, approved fire windows or other approved means satisfactory to the City Fire Chief.
B. 
Protection shall be required for conditions as follows:
1. 
When communicating openings are located in fire walls separating buildings. In such cases, communicating openings shall be protected on each side of the wall by fire doors approved for the protection of openings in fire walls.
2. 
When openings are located above the first story in an exterior wall facing on a street less than thirty (30) feet measured from building line to building line.
3. 
When openings in an exterior wall are less than thirty (30) feet distant in a direct unobstructed line from an opening in another building. Protection shall not be required where openings in exterior walls face in the same direction.
4. 
When openings in an exterior wall are above and are less than thirty (30) feet distant from any part of a neighboring roof of a building of other than fire-resistive construction (reinforced concrete frame, floors and roof or their equivalent).
[CC 1974 §505.090; Ord. No. 845 §209, 1969]
Firestopping in all classes of buildings shall be arranged to cut off all concealed draft openings, such as at floors, ceilings, roofs and attic spaces and shall form effectual fire barriers horizontally and vertically. In buildings of non-fire-resistive construction, wood inches in thickness, nominal dimension, may be used; in other types of construction approved non-combustible material shall be used.
[CC 1974 §505.100; Ord. No. 845 §210, 1969]
Where it is desire to install a new ceiling below the level of an existing ceiling, all existing intervening ceilings below the floor or roof immediately above must first be removed. For the purpose of this Section, a ceiling is defined as the overhead inside lining of a room whereby a concealed space is formed below the floor or roof to which it is attached. Finish applied directly to the bottom of a floor or roof without forming a concealed space is not to be interpreted as a ceiling under this Section.
[CC 1974 §505.110; Ord. No. 845 §211, 1969]
All workmanship and building materials shall be of good quality and shall conform to specifications which the City Fire Chief prescribes. The more generally standard specifications for quality of materials are those of the American Society of Testing Materials. All parts of every building shall be designed to safely carry loads to be imposed thereon and shall in all other respects conform to good engineering practices.
[CC 1974 §505.120; Ord. No. 964 A §§1 — 3, 7-1975]
A. 
That the City Fire Chief shall review all building permit applications for new construction or substantial improvements to determine whether proposed building sites will be reasonably safe from flooding. If a proposed building site is in a location that has a flood hazard, any proposed new construction or substantial improvement (including prefabricated and mobile homes) must:
1. 
Be designed (or modified) and anchored to prevent flotation, collapse or lateral movement of the structure,
2. 
Use construction materials and utility equipment that are resistant to flood damage, and
3. 
Use construction methods and practices that will minimize flood damage.
B. 
That the City Fire Chief shall review subdivision proposals and other proposed new developments to assure that:
1. 
All such proposals are consistent with the need to minimize flood damage,
2. 
All public utilities and facilities, such as sewer, gas, electrical and water systems are located and constructed to minimize or eliminate flood damage, and
3. 
Adequate drainage is provided so as to reduce exposure to flood hazards.
C. 
That the City Fire Chief shall require new or replacement water supply systems and/or sanitary sewage systems to be designed to minimize or eliminate infiltration of flood waters into the systems and discharges from the systems into flood waters and require on site waste disposal systems to be located so as to avoid impairment of them or contamination from them during flooding.