DESPITE MASSIVE BLAZES, WOOD-FRAME RULES STICK
There’s no immediate move to change state building code regulations governing wood-framed structures in the wake of two multi-alarm blazes that ravaged under-construction apartment complexes in Waltham and Dorchester in as many months, even as a concrete trade group criticized the regulations.
The structures are permissible under the International Building Code that’s mirrored by Massachusetts’ building rules and includes fire safeguards during construction, said Chris Goetcheus, spokesman for the state Office of Public Safety and Inspections.
“I know of no intentions to review this at this time,” Goetcheus said. “This is permissible building structure in all states. The type of this building — sometimes referred to as stick construction or plywood or lumber construction — is not uncommon across the country.”
A 10-alarm inferno on Sunday largely demolished the five-building, 264-unit Edison on the Charles apartment complex that was under construction in Waltham. Another multialarm fire destroyed the six-story Treadmark building in Dorchester in June. Both were built using less costly wood-frame construction. The cause of each quick-moving fire remains under investigation.
But a spokesman for Build With Strength, a coalition backed by the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association trade group, said the International Building Code sets minimum standards, and construction with noncombustible materials such as concrete can be done at competitive prices, too.
“The (IBC regulations are) basically the least you can do to protect the inhabitants of a building,” Build With Strength spokesman Kevin Lawlor said. “We have seen other communities react and make changes to ordinances and laws that restrict combustible construction, and we hope that Boston and surrounding areas look at this.”
New York and Chicago have banned combustible construction with products such as wood, Lawlor said, while Sandy Springs, Ga., has restricted the amount of wood construction in certain areas.
“We’re not telling people that you should go out and ban wood,” he said. “But certain things should be put into place to make it safer. During construction, that could be a having a fulltime watchman, it could be operational sprinklers.”
State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey said the fires present a good opportunity to raise awareness of building code fire regulations, encourage improved fire safety, and increase communication between contractors and fire and building officials.
Additional safeguards could include making fire-suppression capabilities — such as partial systems during construction — available at the earliest possible times, providing security, and making sure a job site’s fire safety plan is a “living document” that’s being assessed and evaluated throughout the construction process, according to Ostroskey.