Overview

Frederick S. Merritt ^[*]

Consulting Engineer,
West Palm Beach, Florida

This section discusses design and construction of systems generally used for enclosing buildings and the spaces within them. (Some such systems, such as roofs and foundations, however, are treated in other sections, because of their special functions in addition to enclosure of spaces.) The systems covered in this section, as described in Art. 1.7, include exterior walls; interior walls, or partitions; floors; and ceilings.

Each of these systems usually consists of one or more facing subsystems and a structural subsystem that supports them. The facing subsystems may be the surfaces of the structural subsystem or separate entities that enclose that subsystem. They serve esthetic purposes, provide privacy, and bar, or at least restrict, passage of people or other moving objects, water, air, sound, heat and also often light.

Wood structural subsystems are discussed in Sec. 10, and concrete is discussed in Sec. 9. Basic principles of waterproofing building exteriors are presented in Art. 3.4.2. This section describes techniques applicable to unit masonry and curtain walls.

Floors provide not only a horizontal separation of interior building spaces but also a surface on which human activities can take place and on which materials and equipment can be stored. The structural subsystem usually consists of a slab or deck and also often of beams that support it. These are described in Secs. 7 through 10. This section discusses constructions used for the upper facing, or floor coverings, which serve esthetic purposes and...