1950's code (fire door)

[Marc M]

Looking for anyone with legacy code from the 1950-54 regarding fire doors / sep door from garage to interior etc...
Specifically looking to see what it says regarding door through the bedroom (if at all)

[Scott Patterson]

You might try contacting Dale Feb with F.I.R.E. out in California.

[Jim Luttrall]

You also need to be specific about which code. There were many different codes prior to the ICC. Even now you need to know what specific code cycle and occupancy for the property in question.

[Marc M]

I guess I can. He's scheduled to do a couple chimneys on an inspection of mine on Friday.

JL, i was just shooting in the dark. At this point I don't really have anything to go off. I suppose i can buy some of the old code offered on the ICC website to start.


You might try contacting Dale Feb with F.I.R.E. out in California.

[Jerry Peck]

I hesitated pulling out my Historical Codes CD as the program they are in is sooo cumbersome, but ... here they are.

For the 1952 Uniform Building Code:
- Occupancy I is Dwelling Units
- Occupancy J is Private Garages (among other things)
- Table 5-B gives the required fire separation and is referred to on the second page of the requirements for Occupancy I.

Start with Chapter 14 - Requirements for Group I Occupancies, Page 63 (dwellings)
Then to Section 1409, Page 64 (separation from carports, etc.)
Then Chapter 15 - Requirements for Group J Occupancies, Page 65 (private garages, etc)
Then Table No. 5-B - Required Separation in Buildings of Mixed Occupancy (separation between dwelling and garage)

1 hour with an "*", the "*" says "Provided that materials are approved for one-hour fire-resistive construction on the garage side and a self-closing, tight-fitting solid wood door one and three-eights inches (1 3/8") in thickness, shall be permitted.

That means that if the door is 1 3/8" solid wood and self-closing, then that will be acceptable for the door - however, back to Page 64 and if it is a carport ... (blah, blah, blah)

[Marc M]

Thanks Jerry. I appreciate you dusting those off for me. Pretty cool stuff. I think Im going to buy a few of the older legacy codes, maybe start a collection. Seems like ICC has it pretty dialed in.


I hesitated pulling out my Historical Codes CD as the program they are in is sooo cumbersome, but ... here they are.

For the 1952 Uniform Building Code:
- Occupancy I is Dwelling Units
- Occupancy J is Private Garages (among other things)
- Table 5-B gives the required fire separation and is referred to on the second page of the requirements for Occupancy I.

Start with Chapter 14 - Requirements for Group I Occupancies, Page 63 (dwellings)
Then to Section 1409, Page 64 (separation from carports, etc.)
Then Chapter 15 - Requirements for Group J Occupancies, Page 65 (private garages, etc)
Then Table No. 5-B - Required Separation in Buildings of Mixed Occupancy (separation between dwelling and garage)

1 hour with an "*", the "*" says "Provided that materials are approved for one-hour fire-resistive construction on the garage side and a self-closing, tight-fitting solid wood door one and three-eights inches (1 3/8") in thickness, shall be permitted.

That means that if the door is 1 3/8" solid wood and self-closing, then that will be acceptable for the door - however, back to Page 64 and if it is a carport ... (blah, blah, blah)

[Jerry Peck]

Pretty cool stuff. I think Im going to buy a few of the older legacy codes, maybe start a collection. Seems like ICC has it pretty dialed in.

I think ICC has the Historical Codes CDs for the Uniform Codes - there are two CDs, one for the "early years" and one for more recent years.

But they are not user friendly and don't want to print what you want to print, so I use my graphics program to capture the image on the screen, scroll down the page and capture another image, etc., then paste the images together to get the entire page with a resolution good enough to read.

They could have made it a lot simpler by just scanning every page in as a pdf, with each code being one pdf ... to simple, I guess - of course, though, I've had these CDs probably 10-15 years and pdf files were not as common back then as they are now.