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Load Bearing Wall Wall that is used for structural support

Nonload-Bearing Wall Wall, usually interior, that supports only its own weight.

Partition Wall Interior non-load bearing wall that separates a space into rooms.

Assembly Two or more interconnected structural components combined to meet a specific function or design requirement. Typical assemblies are roof trusses, wall frames, and doors including their frames.

Attic An open space between the roof and ceiling of a building; most commonly found in single and multli family residential occupancies. Attics provide open spaces in which fires can burn undetected or spread throughout a structure.

Balloon Frame A type of wood frame construction in which the studs in exterior walls extend from the basement or foundation to the roof. This type of construction allows fires to spread- often undetected- from the basement to the attic through hollow walls.

Bar Joist A joist constructed of steel with bars in the vertical web space. A common structural component in office buildings and other commercial structures. Very high strength to weight ratio except when exposed to the heat of a fire - then early failure is likely.

Beam A horizontal structural component subjected to vertical loads. Typical beams are steel or wooden I-beams or large-dimension wooden members.

Bowstring Truss A roof assembly with a curved (arched) top chord and a horizontal bottom chord. These assemblies are very strong except when exposed to direct flame contact when catastrophic failure without warning may occur.

Butterfly Roof A V-shaped roof in which the two sides slope toward a valley in the middle. An unusual type of roof that is rarely seen in cold climates where snow load is a factor.

Cantilever A beam that is unsupported at one or both ends. Typically used to support balconies on apartments and some office buildings.

Chipboard a.k.a. Oriented Strand Board (OSB) A wooden structural panel formed by gluing and compressing wood strands together under pressure. This material has replaced plywood and planking in the majority of construction applications. Roofs, decks, walls, and sub floors are all commonly made of OSB.

Chord The main structural members of a truss as distinguished from diagonals. Chords span the open space between the upper and lower diagonal members in a truss assembly.

Cockloft An open space between the roof and ceiling of a commercial or industrial building. Usually found under flat or nearly flat roofs. In a fire, these spaces act in much the same way as attics.

Column A vertical supporting member. Columns may be wood or steel posts. Steel posts often support light weight roof assemblies, and if unprotected by surface insulation, steel posts may fail quickly in a fire.

Compression Force that tends to push the mass of a material together. Bearing walls in a building are under compression from the weight of the roof and other materials above.

Course Horizontal layer of masonry units. A row of bricks is an example of a course.

Curtain Wall Nonload-bearing exterior wall used as a weather barrier but not for structural support. On many high rise buildings the outside walls (often sheet glass in frames) are curtain walls.

Curtain Board Nonload-bearing interior wall extending down from a roof or ceiling to limit the horizontal spread of fire and heat. If curtain walls are penetrated by unprotected openings, fire can spread unchecked.

Decking Planks of panels of plywood or OSB that form the substrate of a roof assembly. In vertical ventilation through a roof, the decking must be removed from the ventilation opening to realize the full effect of the opening.

Drywall Gypsum wall board. A fire resistive wall covering also called sheet rock.

Eave The edge of a pitched roof that overhangs an outside wall. Attice vents in typical eaves provide an avenue or an exterior fire to enter the attic.

Engineered I-Beam A wooden I-beam consisting of continuous upper and lower chords separated by a web of OSB or similar sheet rock. Engineered I-beams are very strong and resist fire very well.

Fire Door A rated assembly consisting of a solid-core door, door frame, and hardware. Fire doors are used to confine a fire to one room or section of a building by closing a communicating opening when triggered by a fire. If the fire doors are to function as designed, they must not be prevented from closing by being blocked open.

Fire Load Total potential heat release if a building and its contents burned. Example: Fully stocked lumber yard has a greater fire load than an empty building of the same dimensions.

Fire Wall A rated assembly that extends from the foundation to and through the roof of a building to limit fire spread. Fire walls are intended to confine a fire to one room or section of a building. If they are penetrated by opening or not protected by fire doors, fire can spread unchecked.

Flat Roof A roof that is flat or nearly flat relative to the horizon. Many commercial buildings have flat roofs covered with tar and gravel or other weather proof material. Flat roofs lend themselves to being opened for vertical ventilation.

Gable Roof A pitched roof characterized by square cut ends and sides that slope down from the ridge line to the eaves. This is the most common roof style of homes and other small buildings.

Gable Wall A wall rising to meet a gable roof at the end of a building. These walls are found only at the end of gable roofs and they often include an attic vent near the top of the wall.

Girder A horizontal structural member used to support beams or joists. Girders are almost always of larger dimension than the members they support.

Glue-Lam Beam A wooden structural member composed of relatively short pieces of lumber glued and laminated together under pressure to form a long extremely strong beam. Because of the mass of most glue-lam beams, they resist fire extremely well compared to other materials.

Gusset Plate Wooden or metal plate used to connect structural members that are butted together; most often used in the construction of trusses. Many metal gusset plates are simply pressed into the wood and are subject to early failure if the plates warp from the heat of the fire. Gusset plates that are nailed or screwed to the members are much more reliable during a fire.

Gypsum Board a.k.a. Dry Wall a.k.a Sheet Rock Interior finish board consisting of calcinated gypsum, starch water and other additives sandwiched between two sheets of specially treated paper.

Header Course Course of bricks laid with the ends facing outward. Because the ends of the bricks are smaller than the sides, a header course is easy to identify. Header courses are only used in unreinforced masonry, making this type of construction easy to identify.

Hip Roof A pitched roof in which the ends are all beveled so that there are no gable walls. A common roof style on many newer residences. Unlike gable roofs, in hip roofs the attic vents are only under the eaves or on the roof.

HVAC Heating,Ventilation,Air Conditioning Unless properly protected with automatic fire dampers, the ductwork associated with these systems can allow smoke and fire to spread throughout a building.

Interstitial Space An accessible or inaccessible space between building materials; an attic or cockloft sometimes used to house HVAC or other machinery. Like attics and cocklofts, unless properly protected, these spaces can allow fire to burn or spread undetected

Joists Horizontal structural members used to support a ceiling or a floor. Drywall materials are nailed or screwed to the ceiling joists, and the subfloor is nailed or screwed to the floor joists.

Lamella Arch An arch constructed of short wooden members connected in a specific geometric pattern. Rare in modern construction but still found in many older buildings.

Mansard Roof A roof characterized by steeply sloped facets surrounding a flat or nearly flat center section. Many remolded buildings have false mansard roofs that consist of a fascia added to an existing flat roof. In some cases the fascia forms a concealed space in which fire can burn undetected.