Building Construction

In building construction and in fire prevention there are organizations that have created a useful system on how to determine what type of building falls under which category. The ICC (International Code Council) and the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) create these building codes for the safety of firefighters. The two most commonly known standards for building classifications are the NFPA 5000 and also the International Building Code (IBC). The two are very similar, however, they different on sub-categorizing. The International Building Code uses Roman numerals behind the type of construction. In addition to subcategories with letters for each five classes and the amount of fire resistance provided for each building. NFPA uses Roman numerals behind the type of construction. Unlike the IBC, NFPA uses a 3-digit number system behind that to sub categorize the fire hourly rating for the load-bearing walls, for the beams and columns, and for the floor construction. The IBC and NFPA breaks down construction in to five classes, Type I, Type II, Type III, Type IV, and Type V.
Type V buildings are known as wood frame construction. To break Type V constructions to the basics, they are constructed of lightweight materials to save the contractor money. This type of construction is the most dangerous to firefighter due to the lightweight, cost effective materials used. Some of the wood frame buildings are Log cabins, Post and frame, Balloon Frame, platform frame, plank and beam, and truss frame.
Log cabins are structures that are built out of tree logs. The ends are notched in order for the logs to be stacked on top of each other. Just like the popular toy, Lincoln Logs, these buildings are built the same way. The interior walls are usually wooden boards with a lacquer finish or a gypsum board finish. Due the types of interior finishing, it can help a going or started fire indoors spread within seconds. The lacquer finishing proposes an extreme fire hazard for