Understanding Commercial Property Insurance Rating
 Throughout history, protecting commercial structures from fire has
been important. Fire poses risk in terms of safety to occupants, building
integrity, business interruption and the economic health of a community.
Consequently, reduction in the risk of fire for commercial buildings has been a
significant goal for society, achieved through a better understanding of all the
factors that contribute to fire risk.
Designing and building structures
in compliance with building and fire code requirements, and insurance industry
guidelines, contributes to the reduction of fire losses.
Given the many
building design and fire protection factors that can affect the level of fire
safety in a commercial building, and that influence the insurance premium rate
applied to a given property, a summary of the general process used to determine
property insurance rates can be made. Six of the top-ten property insurance
companies in Canada use the same process to determine an insurance rate for
commercial properties. The following steps present an example of that
process.
1. Determine occupancy and assign industry code.
2. Determine
construction class.
3. Determine age and condition of building.
4.
Determine 몋echnical rate? which is based on use of building, and factor in the
construction class, and age and condition of building.
5. Determine 멳ase
rate?by factoring into the technical rate the municipal protection class of the
area where the risk is located; then, factor in the charges appropriate for the
type of perils and level of coverage desired.
6. Factor in credit, if any,
for building being sprinklered.
7. Determine extended coverage desired, and
as a result,
?factor in credits, if any, for premises protection and alarm
systems;
?factor in charges, as necessary, for flood, earthquake and sewer
back-up coverage;
?factor in charges, as necessary, for business interruption
coverage (extra expense, profits, etc.); and,
?factor in adjustments, as
necessary, for special coverage (accounts receivable, valuable papers,
etc.).
The process is the same for all buildings.
Beyond the
consideration of all of the 몍nderwriting factors? premium rates are very much
influenced by market factors. Some of these market factors include business
history between the owner and insurer, competition between insurance companies,
market capacity, volume of business (i.e. number of policies 몂n the books?, and
general economic effects, as well as the relationship between insurance brokers
and insurance companies. For these reasons, the fire insurance rate for a
particular construction class, like wood-frame, and occupancy type can vary
greatly even within the same region, so it often pays to look around for the
best rate.
Over time, an increased understanding of the many factors that
contribute to the risk of fire has led to positive developments in the fire
protection of commercial structures. Improvements in public fire-protection
systems and services, as well as increased use of private active or passive
systems through fire-protection and loss-control engineering, has meant an
overall decrease in the cost of fire.
To find out more on fire safety and
insurance, refer to Fire Safety and Insurance in Commercial
Buildings.
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Wood-Frame Fire Safety ?Part 2
 Stats
tell the tale on performance
We continue our article from the August Wood
In-Site debunking myths of the fire safety of wood construction vs. other
materials.
Myth: Sheet metal [steel] studs are fire resistant and
therefore will support loads better under fire conditions.
Fact:
Steel is a non-combustible material, but it quickly loses its strength when
exposed to the high temperatures of a fire. Steel must be protected from direct
exposure to fire, often by gypsum wallboard, to prolong the time before collapse
occurs in a fire.
When wood burns a layer of char forms that helps to
protect and maintain its strength. This is the reason why a heavy timber system
can be left exposed and still achieve a fire-resistance rating of up to 90
minutes. Wood frame walls, floors and roofs can be designed to provide fire
resistance ratings up to two hours.
Myth: Concrete construction is
fireproof, and so safer in a fire situation than other wall
types.
Fact: Concrete is a non-combustible material, but newer
residential insulated concrete form [ICF] systems use flammable foam on the
exterior of the concrete as the insulation and the form. This foam generates
toxic gases and intense heat in a fire. ICF systems also need gypsum wallboard
or some other form of protection to retard the spread of fire when used between
dwelling units in multi-family residential buildings.
The fire safety of
a building is far more complicated than whether the materials are combustible or
non-combustible. Fire safety is determined more by the contents that homeowners
bring into their residences and by their personal living habits than by the
structural composition of the residence itself.
Myth: Building
codes are structured so that non-wood construction is favoured for fire safety
requirements.
Fact: Building codes focus on ensuring that the
occupants can evacuate if there is a fire because research has shown that it is
the contents of the building that pose the greatest fire risk. Building codes do
not require any prescribed level of structural fire resistance for floors and
walls in houses because structural collapse does not play a major role in the
deaths and injuries that occur.
Building codes allow multi-family
residential buildings up to three storeys in height using any construction
material. As the buildings get larger, sprinkler systems and higher fire
resistance ratings on the load-bearing structure are needed, regardless of
whether built of wood, steel or concrete.
What is 밼ire safe??
No
building can be completely "fire safe" or 밼ire-proof?because it is the contents
and the occupants that create the greatest risk.
It is wrong to claim
that steel stud construction provides better fire safety than wood-frame
construction, or that concrete walls protect better than frame ones. Building
codes require that all buildings perform to the same level of safety, regardless
of material used. Wood-frame construction meets, and in many cases exceeds,
building code requirements.
A longer version of this Article first
appeared in the Summer 2001 issue, Number 16 of Wood Design & Building. For
more information visit visit www.woodmags.com. | |
Shearwalls Settings
WoodWorks Shearwalls provides original settings, however
the user should verify the suitability of these default settings and change them
as required. Shearwalls includes a comprehensive Settings dialog box that is
accessed by pressing the Design button in the data bar. It allows the
user to control graphical interface options such as the units format, font
sizes, view area and snap increments; to specify design settings; and to filter
what will be shown in the Plan, Elevation and Results Views. For each tab of the
dialog box there is a button to 멢eset Original Settings? and a check-box to 멣ave
As Default for New Files?any settings changed by the user.
The Settings
menu options are organized into eight tabs:
?Design ?Controls the
engineering design options upon choosing a design code. The U.S. Shearwalls
program has many design options and settings to provide design flexibility to
the user. This flexibility allows the user to make design decisions in order to
meet building code requirements and to select the design methodology of choice.
The Design tab of the Settings menu has pre-defined settings based on the model
building code selected, however these values can be modified and should be
verified for their applicability in the jurisdiction you are designing for. In
Canada, the resistance of shearwalls to lateral shear loads and suction loads is
based on the provisions of the Canadian wood design standard, CSA O86-01
Engineering Design in Wood (Limit States Design).
?Default
Values ?Controls the default values for new files. Default values can be
specified for member dimensions, self-weights for seismic building mass
determination, roof geometry, site information for load generation, and the
standard wall type to be used.
?View ?Controls the viewing area
limits, the snap increment (it can only be decreased, and once decreased it can
not be increased), and the intervals that gridlines are displayed, if at
all.
?Format ?Controls the unit format and the font size for the
screen and printer output.
?Options ?Control the text to be shown
in the Plan and Elevation Views, and the tables included in Results
View.
?Loads and Forces ?Controls the loads and forces to be shown
in the Plan, Elevation and Results Views.
?Company Information
?Controls the input of company information to appear on text and diagram in the
Design Results output for all projects.
?Project Description
?Controls the input of the individual project description to appear in the
Design Results output. The same settings can be set with the data bar show
button. This tab should be used to overhaul the configuration of loads and
forces you wish to view.
The group of settings on each tab can be saved
as the default settings used by new files. The settings that came with the
program can also be
restored.
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Did you know? Wood buildings can last as long as needed. In
fact, wood can endure for centuries if it is in a protected environment like a
well-designed structure. There are no reason a good wood building couldn't last
indefinitely. In North America, we have countless houses still occupied that are
well over 100 years old. There are many more surviving wood buildings world-wide
far older than that, including temples in Japan built 1300 years ago. Please
visit www.durable-wood.com for more examples on our wood heritage.
Did you know? Wood-frame construction is a proven building method that
has provided safety to people in devastating earthquakes. In the Alaska
earthquake of 1964, the low death toll is attributed to the fact that most
people were at home ?in wood-frame buildings ?when the earthquake struck. The
same observation was made following the Northridge Earthquake thirty years
later. Wood framing also offers the prospect of safety for those people living
in areas of the world that are at high risk to the devastating effects of
earthquakes. For more information on earthquakes and wood-frame construction,
refer to Wood-Frame Construction: Meeting the Challenges of
Earthquakes.
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Finger-joined Lumber ?Engineered lumber that gets more from the
resource
 Finger-joined lumber is becoming a very popular and desirable
product in the construction industry repertoire of engineered wood products.
Along with this growth comes the need to educate architects, designers,
engineers, building inspection officials, and end users about the advantages and
acceptability of this product.
Finger-joined products are manufactured by
taking shorter pieces of quality kiln-dried lumber, machining a 밼inger?profile
in each end of the short-length pieces, adding an appropriate structural
adhesive, and squeezing the pieces together to make a longer piece of
lumber.
The two major advantages of this product are its straightness and
dimensional stability. The straightness factor is the result of stable
short-length pieces of lumber being combined in the manufacturing process.
Another advantage is the greater value derived from the forest resource since
short-length pieces can be cut out of lower grade lumber.
The structural
properties are confirmed through a comprehensive quality assurance program with
independent third-party verification. Daily structural tests verify that the
product meets the requirements as set out by the North American lumber grading
system.
There are two categories of finger-joined lumber depending on
the intended end use. The first category, sometimes referred to as a structural
fingerjoint, uses a phenol-resorcinol formaldehyde adhesive, such as used in
panel products, or in glued-laminated timber. This allows the product to be used
in either vertical or horizontal load applications. The second category,
VERTICAL STUD USE ONLY, typically uses a polyvinyl acetate adhesive and, as
indicated by its name, is for vertical use only [i.e. studs]. Both products may
be used interchangeably with solid sawn lumber in terms of strength and end
use.
The most common use of finger-joined lumber is in exterior
shearwalls and load bearing walls as studs. The most important factor for studs
is straightness. Finger-joined studs will stay straighter than solid sawn studs
when subjected to heat and humidity. This feature results in significant
benefits to the builder and homeowner including a superior building, the
elimination of nail pops in drywall and other related wall problems, This also
makes finger-joined lumber with a 밪tud?grademark an ideal candidate for interior
non-load bearing partitions.
Finger-joined lumber is typically produced
from lumber that has no more than 19% moisture content for ease of manufacturing
the joint to meet the strict quality control standards. For this reason,
finger-joined lumber is almost always sold as S-Dry.
Although
finger-joined lumber will resist short term exposure to moisture generally
expected during construction, like any wood product intended for dry use, it
should be allowed to dry after wetting before or during installation.
For
more information on this innovative engineered wood product visit www.cwc.ca
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French Introduction to Wood Design Coming Soon
 The
Canadian Wood Council Introduction to Wood Design has been translated
into French and will be available by the end of this month. The Introduction
au calcul des charpentes en bois is available from the CWC at a price of
$40.00 CDN. Please visit our website, www.cwc.ca, or
call 1-800-463-5091 ext.223 to order your copy
now.
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Wood Design & Building Web Site Revised
Wood Design &
Building has reorganized and revised its web site with a new look. Visitors to
www.woodmags.com home page
now have the option of going to Wood Design & Building, The Wood Design
Awards, or to Wood Le Bois, the sister magazine of Wood Design & Building.
Visitors can find information on advertisers and fill-in reader reply cards for
faster response from advertisers. In coming months, a section of new wood
product launches will be introduced.
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Designing Structures for Fire Conference
Radisson Plaza Lord
Baltimore
September 30 - October 1, 2003
Baltimore, MD
For more
information visit www.sfpe.org
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Baltimore Wood Solutions Fair
 Baltimore Convention Center
October 7, 2003
Baltimore,
MD
For more information visit www.woodsolutionsfair.com
|
Building Component Manufacturers Conference (BCMC)
October
8-10, 2003
Phoenix, Arizona
For more information visit www.bcmcshow.com
|
2003 Ontario Wood WORKS Awards Gala
Deerhurst Resort
October
16, 2003
Huntsville, Ontario
For more information visit www.woodworksawards.com
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Montreal Wood Solutions Fair
 Palais des Congr? de Montr?l
October 21, 2003
Montr?l, QC,
Canada
For more information visit www.woodsolutionsfair.com
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Houston Wood Solutions Fair
Humble Civic Center
December 9, 2003
Houston, TX
For more
information visit www.woodsolutionsfair.com
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Wood (IN)Site is a monthly electronic newsletter produced
by the Canadian Wood Council. Look for the next issue of Wood (IN)Site on
October 31, 2003.
If you would like to unsubscribe to this newsletter
simply use the 'Unsubscribe' button at the bottom.
To view past issues
view our archives
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