Roof Deck Miami-Dade

[CBlaker114]

Hello,

Not sure how many on this forum are located in S. Florida, but I was contacted by a contractor today and told that they could not find an Notice of Acceptance (NOA) for the 3" Type N roof deck that we call out in our drawings. The county is saying that the maximum roof span allowed per the NOA is 6'-0". This project has already been approved for permit by the way. After looking at these NOA's these are mostly referring to roofing finish materials and their attachment to Type B decking. I get that type B decking shouldn't span farther than 6ft. on a roof in Florida but as N deck is specifically made for larger spans, I'm not sure of this issue. They're responding as if the county hasn't approved a material that by design can take the required loads. Has anyone else ran into this issue? Any further information or methods of resolution would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Ron]

Ahh yes.....enter the confusion of the Florida Building Code and the Florida Board of Building Codes and Standards. Throw in Miami-Dade and your head explodes!

You can have an NOA and it will suffice. If you don't have an NOA then you can have a Florida Product Approval. Either is valid, anywhere in the state, even HVHZ, as long as the approval meets HVHZ requirements. Obviously, everything with a Miami-Dade NOA must meet that; however, for Florida Product Approval, it might or might not meet HVHZ requirements.

Interestingly enough, there is no real requirement that any product have Florida Product Approval; however, most building officials do require some evidence of an approval (NOA or FPA). Further, the standard of care would dictate using a product with stated approval.

You can get a local product approval based on a rational engineering analysis. Check with Miami-Dade for their requirements. I have done local product approvals in North Florida and it all depends on the local building official as to the requirements.

Welcome to Florida!

 

[masterthenight]

Check with the manufacturer you would like to specify. They want their product approved in FL so they should be abreast of the situation already.