Test Fire Rating

Single-element fire-resistance rating lookup against IBC Table 601 (interior structural elements + non-load-bearing walls) and Table 602 (exterior walls by separation distance) as fetched live from codes.iccsafe.org or as pasted by the user. The command bundles no values and recalls no values from training; every required hour rating is a verbatim quote from the source with a SourceURL.

For full code-compliance audit (construction type + height + area + sprinkler trade) use the code-review skill. For plain-English interpretation of a single Table use /explain-code with code = IBC <edition>. For the assembly listing (UL design number / GA file number) — out of scope here; consult UL Fire Resistance Directory or GA Fire Resistance Design Manual separately.

Why this pattern (read first)

IBC Table 601 + 602 cells differ across IBC 2018 / 2021 / 2024 in several rows. Bundled transcriptions silently misquote when written from training-data recall (well-tracker incident, 2026-05-09). The workflow asks "should I fetch Table 601 from codes.iccsafe.org?" then WebFetches the operative row, quotes the source URL inline, and only then labels the rating.

The user MUST have a connection to the public internet during use, OR be willing to paste the relevant Table row + § text. There is no offline fallback to bundled values — by design.

Authoritative sources used

Standard	Public source
IBC 2024	https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IBC2024P1
IBC 2021	https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IBC2021P2
IBC 2018	https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IBC2018

If the user's jurisdiction adopted a different edition, ask for the edition first. Do not WebFetch from convenience aggregators (UpCodes, etc.) as authoritative — only codes.iccsafe.org or the jurisdiction portal.

Inputs the command needs

1. Construction type — IBC §602: I-A / I-B / II-A / II-B / III-A / III-B / IV-A / IV-B / IV-C / IV-HT (IBC 2021+) / V-A / V-B.
2. Element under test — pick from Table 601 columns and Table 602:
   • Primary structural frame
   • Bearing walls — exterior
   • Bearing walls — interior
   • Non-bearing walls and partitions — exterior (Table 602 — separation-distance dependent)
   • Non-bearing walls and partitions — interior
   • Floor construction and associated secondary members
   • Roof construction and associated secondary members
3. For exterior walls (Table 602) — fire separation distance (FSD) in ft, AND occupancy group (H, F-1/M/S-1, F-2/S-2/U, A/B/E/I/R/U/L).
4. Edition — IBC 2018 / 2021 / 2024.
5. Jurisdiction — for the report only (state amendments are out-of-scope).
6. Auto-fetch? — "fetch all without re-asking" or per-topic confirm.

Required citations

Topic	IBC § (subject area)
Construction-type rating matrix	Table 601
Exterior wall rating by fire separation distance	Table 602
Construction type definitions	§602
Heavy-timber type IV provisions	§602.4
Reduction for sprinkler / height / area trade	§403, §504, §506 (out-of-scope here — flag)

The verbatim § number + hour rating + table row comes from the source the workflow fetches or the user pastes.

Workflow

Step 1 — Confirm scope

"This command looks up IBC Table 601 + Table 602 Federal only. Sprinkler-trade adjustments (§403 high-rise, §504 height increase, §506 area increase, §510 horizontal building separation, §602.4 timber char), state amendments (NYC BC, CA CBC, etc.), and assembly listings (UL / GA / WHI) are NOT covered. To proceed I need:

1. Construction type (I-A / I-B / II-A / II-B / III-A / III-B / IV-A/B/C/HT / V-A / V-B).
2. Element under test (primary frame / bearing wall / non-bearing wall / floor / roof).
3. For exterior walls: fire separation distance (ft) + occupancy group.
4. IBC edition (2018 / 2021 / 2024).
5. Jurisdiction (for the report only).
6. Auto-fetch? — 'fetch all without re-asking' or per-topic confirm.

Continue?"

If the user describes Type IV mass-timber and wants char-rating math: stop and tell them §602.4 char calc is out-of-scope here — refer to AOR / SE / code-review skill.

Step 2 — Fetch each authoritative § / Table LIVE

For Table 601 (interior elements + non-bearing partitions) and/or Table 602 (exterior walls):

1. Tell the user the topic + the constructed source URL. Example:

   "Need IBC 2024 Table 601 (Type II-B primary structural frame rating) — should I WebFetch from https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IBC2024P1?"

2. WebFetch on confirmation. On paywall / empty body, fall back: WebSearch IBC <edition> Table 601 site:.gov OR site:iccsafe.org → WebFetch first official-looking result. If still nothing, ask user to paste the Table row.
3. Extract the verbatim row + the source URL + a fetch timestamp. Quote the row back so the user can confirm construction type + element.
4. For Table 602: fetch the row that matches the user's occupancy group + fire separation distance bin (e.g. < 5 ft, 5 to < 10 ft, 10 to < 30 ft, ≥ 30 ft — verify the bin labels from the fetched edition).
5. Hold the citation in memory for the lookup step. Re-use within the same session — do not re-fetch.

Step 3 — Lookup and present the result

For each element in scope, look up the cell from the fetched Table. Present as a markdown table:

Element	Required (hours)	Construction type	FSD bin (if Table 602)	CitedTable	SourceURL	FetchedAt	Confidence	Remarks

Where:

• Required — verbatim hourly rating from the cell (e.g. 1, 2, 3, 0, 0a).
• Construction type — user input.
• FSD bin — fire separation distance bin from Table 602, only if exterior wall.
• CitedTable — e.g. IBC 2024 Table 601 or IBC 2024 Table 602.
• SourceURL — the URL returned by WebFetch.
• FetchedAt — ISO timestamp.
• Confidence — high (cell verbatim, type + element clear), medium (FSD bin near boundary), low (occupancy group ambiguous).
• Remarks — table footnotes (e.g. 0a superscript exception), sprinkler-trade reminder, mass-timber char reminder.

Step 4 — Optional persistence

After the inline table, ask:

"Save this as a file? (a) markdown, (b) CSV, (c) both, (d) inline only. Path?"

Default suggested path docs/code/<project-id>-fire-rating.{csv|md} if save chosen.

Step 5 — Report

After the table:

• Per-element required hours from the cited Table.
• Footnote reminders preserved verbatim from the source.
• Out-of-scope reminders:
  • Sprinkler-trade adjustments (§403, §504, §506, §510) — separate workflow.
  • Mass-timber char calc (§602.4) — refer to AOR / SE.
  • Assembly listings (UL / GA / WHI) — Architect/SE picks compliant assemblies separately.
  • State amendment overlay (NYC BC, CA CBC, etc.) — user verifies.
  • Shaft / corridor / occupancy-separation rating (Tables 509, 707, 711, 1020) — separate.
• Reminder: this is a model-code Table lookup. AOR's stamped opinion governs; AHJ confirms compliance with adopted overlays + sprinkler-trade calcs (NOT checked here).

NA AEC conventions (enforce)

• English only.
• Construction type as IBC publishes (II-B, IV-A, V-B) — not Type 2B, Type IV-A.
• IBC § format: IBC 2024 §602.4 / IBC 2024 Table 601. Never "table 601" generically.
• AHJs named specifically: NYC DOB, FDNY, LADBS, DSA, Toronto Building, GSA, USACE.
• Roles: Architect of Record (AOR), Structural Engineer of Record (SEOR), Code Consultant.
• Imperial-first: ft, in, hr (rating in hours).

Constraints

• Never recall IBC Table 601 / 602 cells from training. Verbatim row from WebFetch or user paste only.
• Never paraphrase the cell. A cell of 0a (zero hours, footnote a) must appear as 0a not "0 hr exception".
• Preserve table footnotes. They're load-bearing.
• Source URL is mandatory in every output row.
• Sprinkler-trade adjustments are out-of-scope. Do not attempt to apply §403 / §504 / §506 reduction — flag in report.
• No docs/ artifact unless user opts in.
• Caveat block always present.
• Fetch only after explicit user authorization.

Anti-patterns

• Stating an hour rating inline ("Type II-B exterior bearing wall is 0 hours") — never. Quote the cell verbatim.
• Auto-applying sprinkler reduction or mass-timber char rating — out-of-scope; flag.
• Re-introducing a references/ibc-table-601.md of transcribed cells — deliberately none.
• Quoting Table 601 from a different edition than the user's adopted edition.
• Missing footnote letters (0a, 1b) — they encode exceptions; preserve verbatim.
• Conflating Table 601 (interior) with Table 602 (exterior FSD-dependent) — different cells.
• Treating Type IV-A / IV-B / IV-C as the same as Type IV-HT — IBC 2021+ split them; verify edition.
• Computing assembly listings (UL design number, GA file) — refer to AOR / code-review.
• "1-hour fire-rated should be fine" — never. Quote the cell, label the actual rating.

Resources

None. This command is intentionally body-only — see "Why this pattern" above.