This simple guidance gives the plan examiner the opportunity to
make sure that appropriate systems are specified. Also, it provides
the installer with specific assemblies that satisfy code requirements;
and directs the installer and inspector to list the information that
can ensure that the system is appropriate and is being properly
installed. A firestop schedule also serves as a reminder, similar to a
door schedule, that no one system will work throughout the project
and each opening may have a different requirement.
While there is nothing within IBC Section 107.2.1 that specifically
states what level of information is required to “show in detail that …
[the work] will conform to the provisions of this code,” IBC Section
104.1 gives the building official the authority to “adopt policies and
procedures in order to clarify the application of its provisions.”
Therefore, it would be permissible for the jurisdiction to decide when
and what information must be submitted to show that the proper
firestop systems are being selected and how they are to be installed.
Providing this information early in the process may help to ensure
that the manufacturer’s installation instructions are available on the
job site for the contractor to use during the installation and for the
inspector to use to verify if the system is appropriate and properly
installed.
While it is easy to say that information on firestops must be provided
and addressed early on, in most situations this level of detail may
not be possible and may really be nothing more than conceptual
information on what is intended. Because most plans don’t address
exactly where and how penetrations are made or whether multiple
items may be grouped in a single hole. The details for the firestop
systems may only be provided as deferred submittals (see Section
107.3.4.1) and only be available when the manufacturer’s installation
instructions are provided to the inspector.