Boom Town

[disturbanist]

What is the purpose of having 'high-rise' defined in the Mass. General Laws? What use is made of this definition?

Any building defined as a "high-rise" has certain building code requirements that low-rise buildings don't have. Egress requirements, fire-protection and occupancy, etc.

Historically, firemen's ladders could not reach higher than 75ft. Therefore, buildings higher than that were classified as high-rise so that additional code requirements could be set in place to make sure people could escape in event of a fire.

 

[Ron Newman]

Is this also the dividing point above which a building must have elevators?

 

[disturbanist]

^I think if you go above 4 stories for residential you need to have elevator access. It's probably the same for other building types.

The Mass. building code is a very esoteric subject and trying to understand it will make you go insane.

 

[whighlander]

I think the definition of high rise is emergency related

It relates to whether the top floor of the building can be reached from the ground with a ladder truck in case of a fire.

The highest you can reasonable expect to get with a ladder truck is about 7 stories (i.e 70 ft.) -- beyond that hight you need to provide for internal fire pumps, and internal hydrants and hoses not just sprinklers as well as fire-rated internal evacuation stairs (fire-rated walls, fire-rated doors) equipped with smoke supression ventilation systems with emergency power back-ups, etc. -- check the Fire Code for more details

Westy

 

[JimboJones]

In real estate, we call a low-rise up to six stories, a mid-rise from six to ten, and a high-rise over ten.

I'm sure this helps a lot!