Classification of buildings, structures

a. For the purposes of this act, buildings and structures are classified by their use into use groups as determined by the BOCA National Building Code. The following chart based on the BOCA National Building Code/1987, tenth edition, designates projects by use groups and sets forth those which may be designed, prepared, signed, and sealed by licensed architects and professional engineers, or both, as indicated. In the event that the BOCA National Building Code's provisions are altered in subsequent editions nothing herein contained shall be deemed to be altered. BUILDING DESIGN CATEGORIES BOCA Use Group Architects Engineers Classification May Design May Design -Assembly All A-5 Outdoor Assembly use or as an incidental use. B-Business All None other than Note 1 or as an incidental use. -Educational All None except for an incidental use. -Factory and Industrial All All H-High Hazard All All -Institutional All None except for an incidental use. M-Mercantile All None except for an incidental use. R-Residential All None except for an incidental use. S-Storage All All U-Utility All All Except an Engineering Work Note 1. Professional engineers may design the following projects within the B Use group: (a) Car wash facilities; (b) Materials testing laboratories; and, (c) Telephone exchanges and data processing relay or equipment facilities. b. An engineering work such as a sewage or water treatment plant, power plant, or transportation system, shall be prepared, designed, signed, and sealed by a professional engineer only. c. Professional engineers may prepare, design, sign and seal buildings or portions of buildings in a non-permitted use group classification only as an incidental use. A portion of a building shall be deemed to be an incidental use where the portion is an ancillary part of an engineering project and the building or portion is of a building design category prohibited to engineers. The area of the incidental use shall not constitute more than 10% of the building's total floor area or 2000 square feet whichever is greater. In the design of traditional engineering works projects such as sewage or water treatment plants, power plants or transportation systems, the area of the incidental use shall not constitute more than 10% of the total square footage of all structures in the project, or 2000 square feet, whichever is greater. Where public access is a primary consideration in buildings such as transportation terminals, railroad stations, or administration buildings, those buildings shall be designed by architects only.