Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-14
BUILDING RULES FIXED
Final Draft Is Submitted to
Commissioners.
ADOPTION RECOMMENDED
Joist Hangers Not Required in Two
Story Buildings.
REGULATIONS FOR THEATERS
noubl. Houses With Frame Party
Walls Must Be Detached-Ne
Rows Of Wooden atructureA
REGULATIONS FOR THEATERS

Recommending adoption. Engineer Com
missioner hudson sent to the board OF
Commissioners today the new building
regulations, as modified as a result Of the
n,rt,lic hearing and suggestions made ~
letter.
The date for putting them into effect has
not been fixed. After they have been
adopted by the Commissioners in the Anal
form in which Maj. Judson submitted
them today; they will be printed.
Opportunity will then be given for build
ers and contractors to become familiar
with the new provisions. Then date
for making them effective will be set by
the District heads
Joist Hangers Dispensed With.
In the building code now up for hnal
adoption there is a provision for nine
inch walls, without joist hangers. In new
two-story buildings. This is the principal
change made in the provisional dran
which was prepared by the committee
amounted by the Commissioners, and
which was submitted to the trade bodies
and prominent builders for suggestions
The provisional draft REQUIRED thirteen
inch walls in dwellings. That provision
was the chief point of attack in the new
code.
Engineer Commissioner Judson then an
nounced that he would agree on re-
quirement for nine-inch walls. providing
joist hangers were used. This did not
meet with favor among builders, and In
the final draft of the code toist hangers
are not required on new nine-inch walls
In two-story dwellings.
The regulations contain some additional
requirements for five-cent and ten-cent
theaters A recent application to the build
ing inspectors Office for permit for
ten-cent theater which will seat oO per-
sons emphasized the need for additional
safeguards in the cheap theaters.
For those which will seat not more
than 300 persons existing requirements
will be effective. But for the theaters
that will seat over 900 persons the new
theaters and passageways from these
side exits to the street six feet wide. as
against eight-foot passageways from side
exits Of larger theaters.
No Rows Of Frame Houses.
The regulations will prohibit building
frame houses in rows outside the fire
limits 1t is contended that there Is just
as much danger in the spread of fire
along row Of frame houses outside as
inside the fire limits, and therefore safe
guards against that mode of construction
have been thought advisable by the en-
gineer department.
It is provided in the regulations that
double houses can be built with frame
party walls. but each double house must
not extend closer than Ave feet of the
line of the adjoining lots. This will pro-
vide for a yard ten feet wide between
each of the double houses.
Regarded only from an esthetic stand
point, this provision is thought an excel
lent one for the National Capital. But 1t
was adopted on the grounds of safety
and protection against the spread of fire.
Although an appeal was made by build
ers at the public hearing on the new reg
ulations for an increase of the floor area
in apartment houses that must be inclosed
in fireproof walls, the final draft Of the
building code provides that around each
1000 square feet of area in an apart
structed.