Firewall In Condo Attic

The international residential code requires that in townhomes and duplexes each unit needs to be separated from the next by fire walls.

Firewall in condo attic.

Arriving at a condo development with many small buildings each building with two levels and housing 10 or 12 units i was met by the buyer who already lived in a different building and the seller. The firewall should extend into the attic separating your attic space from the attic above the neighboring units. Owner is very interested in having the work done but. I believe this is a breech in the firewall and should be repaired.

I dont inspect a lot of condos but this morning i did one. Apparently when the condo s where originally built the common wall was not extended to the roof sheathing. Because of this the condominium association wants a fire barrier put in if any work is done in the attic. For example if there is a middle located townhome with adjacent units on either side you will have 1 hour of fire separation at each side.

It didn t seem right though as it was just such a huge oversight. I did find a hole punched in the drywall that i believe goes through to the next unit. Material needed to fix a firewall at home. Also the units were converted to condos townhomes in 2007 and the builder made significant updates but again the attic was not changed.

In tha attic there were firewalls between the units. I guess im just looking for. Designed as an extra layer of protection between the house and the garage an intact firewall resists the intrusion of fire into the home. The first picture below illustrates a portion of a townhome unit s firewall in an attic that is totally sealed off to provide 1 hour of fire protection on both sides.

And that is true condos have fire protection between units for a reason. In addition each unit needs to be self supporting where the collapse of one unit will not damage the neighboring unit.