Fire Code Concerns

 

    While the City of Mt. Juliet has adopted some of the most stringent residential building codes in the region, questions have been raised recently regarding conformance with fire safety standards in newer developments within the city limits.  Specifically, questions have been raised concerning the thickness of gypsum board installed in garage ceilings.  This requirement only affects houses that have a living space above the garage.  Houses that have this configuration should have 5/8-inch gypsum board in the garage ceiling.  Thus far, the houses that are not in conformance with the requirement, have been found to have 1/2-inch gypsum board in the garage ceiling.

 

Why does this matter to you?

    The purpose of the minimum fire sustainability ratings is to provide time for evacuation and emergency services response in the event of a fire.  The thickness of a properly treated gypsum board determines the amount of time it takes a fire to burn through to the room above.

  • 1/2-inch gypsum board on the ceiling provides about 20-30 minutes of time.
  • 5/8-inch gypsum board on the ceiling provides about 40 minutes of time.

 

What should you do?

    For those houses with 1/2-inch gypsum board on the garage ceiling AND have a living space above the garage, the 1/2-inch gypsum board ceiling can be treated with a fire retardant coating that will achieve the current minimum required fire sustainability rating.

    If you have a living space above the garage and are concerned about the thickness of your garage ceiling gypsum board, here are some recommendations:

1)     Call your builder, and ask that they confirm the thickness of the garage ceiling gypsum board.  Contact numbers and direct website links (in blue) for some of the most active builders in Mt. Juliet are below.

  2)     After contacting your builder, if you are still concerned about your garage ceiling gypsum board, please contact the Building Codes Inspectors' office at 773-6266 or email Gary Branham, Chief Building Inspector, at gbranham@cityofmtjuliet.org.