For as long as I am permitted to hang around in the gypsum industry, I doubt I will see anything like the enormous salad bowl that a contractor created using metal studs and gypsum board.
Dwellings are subject to both lateral and vertical loads. Lateral loads include wind and seismic forces. Examples of vertical loads include the weight of the structure itself, the furnishings, and snow on the roof.
The
Gypsum Association is, assuming that document processing has proceeded on
schedule since this column was written, on the cusp of releasing the latest
edition of the Fire Resistance Design Manual, GA-600. We anticipate a late
spring publication of the 2012 document.
If you want or need data, call Uncle Sam. No entity tracks and quantifies everything we produce, consume, import, export and use in everyday life better than the U.S. Government.
For many decades, consensus wallboard application standards have mandated that the surface for the attachment of wallboard be at least “1½ inches wide for wood members.”
When constructing a fire-rated partition, the prescribed gypsum panels must be applied to comply with the information provided in the corresponding fire test. To do otherwise is to risk compromising the integrity of the fire-rated system.
Since 2000, when three regional building code organizations (BOCA International; SBCCI; ICBO) combined to form the International Code Council, the ICC has exercised near-total control over the United States building code creation process.
