Quick explanation of how your building code affects your tower permit from
a city government point of view.
Building codes generally specify the requirements for construction of
structures to withstand risks at whatever location something needs to be
built. Generally, amateurs are sensitive to wind load requirements as a
limiting factor as to what can be built where. We should also be realistic
and conservative as to what wind load we attach to towers. Every set of
engineered plans for a tower that I've seen have a set of calculations for
the wind load presented by the tower itself and a design wind load.
The IBC and most other building codes specify structural requirements for
certain types of buildings. The IBC classifies Towers as "Miscellaneous and
Utility Group U" structures. You'll find this in Chapter 3 of the 2012 IBC,
p 312.1. Specific structural/wind load requirements are in Chapter 16.
A licensed professional engineer would need to examine the tower
construction, come up with a structural analysis and perhaps certify that
your tower meets the code that your municipality requires.
If you have a certification of an older code for the same tower, this will
be a good place to start and might save you money in hiring an engineer to
certify compliance to the new code, particularly if you have the detailed
structural analysis.
Generally, building officials that work in a municipality are not
officially qualified to determine if an old code is the same as a new code.
Some of them are indeed, PE's, but the service that a building department
offers is to examine plans for sufficiency - compliance to code, not to
discern differences in current vs. older versions of building codes for new
construction.
You can go in and argue that the "new code is the same as the old code" all
day long, show them texts from the code, etc., but until they have a
licensed professional agree with you by stamping your plans and certifying
it as such, you're not likely to get a permit.
My advice - find the PE who originally certified the plans and pay him/her
to certify to the standards you're seeking. $500 is cheap.
I'm not a PE, but I am the CIO of a city government and have been through
this myself several times as a ham - yes, I pull permits, and yes I pay for
the stamp. It isn't that the building department doesn't want to help you,
it is that they are constrained by their legal requirements to issue a
structural permit and open the government to potential liability if they
divert from the code.
Resistance is futile. Get a wet seal PE stamp and build your tower.
73,
Mickey N4MB
Mickey Baker, N4MB
Palm Beach Gardens
*“Tell me, and I will listen. Show me, and I will understand. Involve me,
and I will learn.” *Teton Lakota, American Indian Saying.
On Sun, Oct 8, 2017 at 1:00 PM, bear <bear@bearlabs.com> wrote:
> I'm ignorant of this IBC thing.
> So aside from the idea that it OUGHT to be called the /Intra/national
> Building Code, and Wikipedia
> says they picked "International" because it was applied to some
> juristictions outside of the USA...
> (which makes little sense to me) I downloaded the 2012 copy from
> Archive.org.
>
> Nothing in there makes a reference to antennas or towers.
>
> Is there another version that does?
>
> _-_-
>
> On 10/7/2017 12:00 PM, towertalk-request@contesting.com wrote:
>
>> Date: Fri, 6 Oct 2017 12:02:30 -0700
>> From: Raymond Benny<rayn6vr@gmail.com>
>> To: Tower Talk<TowerTalk@contesting.com>,
>> "CADXA_SHARE1@yahoogroups.com" <CADXA_SHARE1@yahoogroups.com>
>> Subject: [TowerTalk] Wet samp for TX455 USTower
>> Message-ID:
>> <CAHv=PBFCtwJfSRK+643AgNZ+C90-L_MTBkKKcr8NnAkXisvT5g@mail.gm
>> ail.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>>
>> All,
>>
>> I'm looking for a wet stamped UST TX455 set of plans for IBC 2012, any
>> state.
>>
>> The UST website has a wet stamped plan for IBC 2006, my County has asked
>> me
>> for an IBC 2012 set. I am hoping they might accept another State copy. At
>> least I can give it a try. UST did sent me their IBC 2012, but it is not
>> stamped.
>>
>> I told my local Building & Safety Dept that it would cost $500 or more for
>> an Arizona copy. They have been flexible in the past, so I'm hoping they
>> will be lenient again.
>>
>> 73 & thanks for any help,
>>
>> Ray,
>> N6VR
>> Chino Valley, AZ
>>
>
> --
> -- bearlabs.com --
> _______________________________________________
>
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