Options for Brick Veneer on Mid-Rise Wood-Frame Buildings

With growing interest in taller wood-frame buildings—many with five stories of wood on podiums and with wood-frame mezzanines—there has also been interest in the use of brick veneer at greater heights. The 2015 International Building Code1 (IBC), Table 504.3, allows building heights up to 65 ft (19.8 m) for un-sprinklered Type III-A wood-frame buildings and up to 85 ft (25.9 m) if approved NFPA 13 sprinklers are used. For Type V-A wood-frame buildings, those heights can be 50 and 70 ft (15.2 and 21.3 m), respectively. For designers interested in brick veneer as an exterior finish, some publications and design guides reference using steel studs and non-combustible supports.

This paper reviews code-compliant methods for using brick veneer over the entire height of a mid-rise wood-frame structure.