Firewall Question

Derek13

1st is this the right spot to post this question? (If it is not plz move to the correct spot mods) My question is this I am a subcontractor who has done all the drywall, framing, and acoustical ceiling work in remodel/addition to a large body shop in georgia apox 36,000 sq.ft. In the center of the main room acting as a divider is a mezzanine. It's lower portion consits of employ break room, Bathroom, and Parts counter. The upper area is parts storage. The whole area is 1 Hour fire rated. The question is this the people I subcontraced for had there own superindent on the job to watch over my guys. I rarely made it out to the actual job site but talked to the super all the time said everthing was all right. Long story short this guy was fired by his employer for doing a bad job. It is now the end of job and my costs and there are well over what they should be because the people were not properly managed. The contractor is arguing that I need to replace/repair some insulation damage done to the roofing in the mezanine area. I am saying it should not be our responsability because the plans don't show any insulation for the ceiling in the mezanine. He says I should now that because they are firerated walls that there would be insulation in the ceiling. So thats my question should it be assumed that because of the 1 hour firerating I should have to deal with the insulation or not. I have been reading in depth the NFPA 5000 and can see nothing requireing insulation but it's alot too read. Sorry for the long post just very frustrated and want to know if I am being to stubborn.

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Derek Murray
General Professional Service Contractors
Office: (678) 442 7638 Fax: (678) 802 4840 Cell: (770) 733 8229
Derek@GPSContractors.com

Chris Johnson

Well, it's your job, you should know the specs and requirements of what you are bidding on, I think if something was missing, you, the owner or his rep, the architect, the engineer, the plan check, etc should have caught it. We all know **** runs down hill and the contractor is at the bottom, so now it's up to you.

Is the insulation in the code? I have no idea, but when an inspector tells me to do something because it's 'CODE', I always say 'SHOW ME' and hand him the code book, if he finds it or interprets something to be code just do it, when he can't find it, but says he has a preference to see it his way, I have him acknowledge it's not code and look at what it takes to do it the way he wants, simple task...just do it, more complex get a change order and see who's paying.

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Chris

Bob Kovacs

Well, you've already admitted that you were letting your guys be managed by someone other that yourself, which was stupid, so your cost overruns are your own fault-but that's besides the point. With regard to the insulation, if you're talking about Thermofiber in the deck flutes at the roof, then yes, it is required as part of the 1-hour assembly.

TreyMUtah

Did your guys damage the insulation?

How did the insulation get damaged?

Insulation is not part of a typical 1 hour rated assembly, not even part of a 2 hour rated assembly.

If they fired the super, how do they know your guys damaged it?

If your guys damaged it at the direction of the Super, then it is on the GC.

Just be careful becuase typically when a GC fires a super near the end of the job, they make him the scapegoat for their own mis-management.