Manny Oyola, Jr., Technical Manager Eastern Region FL, Eagle Roofing Products
Just as some of us were getting ready to count down the last minutes of 2023 (while others were already asleep), the 8th Edition (2023) Florida Building Code (FBC) took effect. When it did, the FRSA-TRI 7th Edition Florida High Wind Concrete and Clay Tile Installation Manual (the tile manual) also went into effect. The tile manual is referenced by the FBC for tile roof installations throughout 65 of 67 counties in Florida; it may not be used in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties.
On each day of the Convention in June, I, along with Paul Oleksak from Westlake Royal Roofing Solutions, will be presenting a one-hour seminar for advanced (ADV) CILB CE credit: for scheduled times, take a look at the Convention brochure in the center of the magazine. The seminar will contrast changes between the previous 6th Edition and the current 7th Edition of the tile manual as well as provide an overview of how to use the manual for a tile roof installation. Here’s a sneak peek at what we will be looking at in June.
There were many updates to the tile manual. We will look at each of these in more detail. The following items represent several of the major changes:
The “Underlayment & Flashings Matrix,” which is shown in part on the previous page, is the starting point when using the tile manual. (I have shown only part of it because it is important to use the actual manual and not figures in this article or those seen in a presentation.) As an FRSA member, you are entitled to one free copy of the tile manual and can purchase additional copies at a discount.
As indicated with the red line, you start on the left side of the matrix and select the applicable characteristics for your installation. In this example it is for a roof with:
When you are working on an installation with characteristics different than this example, you simply use the matrix to match the characteristics of the roof you are installing. The “See note below” listed under the “Roof Tile Fastener Penetrations” instructs you to “Refer to the underlayment manufacturer’s written installation instructions or Product Approval.” This will determine if sealant is required for fasteners that penetrate the underlayment or if the underlayment demonstrates fastener sealability. During the seminar, we will discuss the matrix in more detail.
In order to update the tile manual, members of the FRSA-TRI Tile Manual Committee for Florida met over the period of many months to review the existing manual and develop changes that will not only improve the manual but to keep it compliant with the FBC. As committee members looked at the 6th Edition, Table 1A stood out as an item that needed to be removed. Table 1A provided prescriptive fastening values for two-ply hot mop underlayment. Members of the committee agreed, however, that this underlayment system should be required to meet wind uplift values through testing like all the other underlayment systems. As a result, the table was removed from the 7th Edition. Instead, when a two-ply hot mop system is installed, we use the same tables found in the tile manual that are used by the other systems to determine fastening requirements and use the manufacturer's product approval to determine the underlayment uplift resistance.
If you have been installing tile roof systems in Florida for more than a few years, you will remember that when the Florida Building Commission adopted ASCE 7-16 – over the objections of FRSA and other industry voices – it significantly complicated the layout of roof zones used to calculate fastener requirements to provide required wind uplift. Under ASCE 7-10 (used in the 5th Edition tile manual) there were three separate roof zones: the corner, the edge and the field. The corners experience the greatest wind uplift and so require the highest amount of fastening resistance, then the edges and the field, which require the fewest number of fasteners relative to the other zones. As you can see by comparing the two diagrams for gable roof zones, under 7-16 there are six zones (1, 2r, 2n, 2e, 3r and 3e) while under 7-22 (as well as 7-10) there are only three zones (1, 2 and 3). The same differences hold true for hip roof zones. The reduction in the number of zones simplifies the fastener calculation process for contractors who want to decrease the number of fasteners used (helping to keep the price of the installation down) by calculating for each of the zones rather than calculating the attachments needed for the corners and then using the same number for the entire roof. The larger the roof size, the greater potential savings there can be from making the effort to calculate for each zone. However, for many contractors, the simplicity of using the highest pressure for the entire roof will be their standard approach.
One of the main goals of the tile manual is to reduce the math involved in calculating the necessary mechanical or adhesive fastening requirements for a given roof tile system. That math can be quite involved as the note in Example 1 of the tile manual (page 20) indicates:
The ultimate design wind speeds, Vult, have been converted to nominal design wind speeds, Vasd, since roof tile attachments systems are based on test results.
Ke = Ground Elevation Factor = (ASCE 7-22 Chapter 26.9)
Ke = 1.0 up to 1,000 ft.
Kzt = Topographic Factor: Kzt = 1.0 (ASCE 7-22 Chapter 26.8.2)
Kh = Velocity Pressure Coefficient (ASCE-7-22 Table 26.10-2)
V = basic wind speed (mph) (ASCE 7-22
Fig. 26.5-1D) (170 mph)
Which provides us with the following equation:
qh=.00256*kh*Kzt*Ke*V2 = .00256 (1.04) (1.0) (1.0) (132 mph2) = 46.38 psf.
Instead of having to understand and find the values for each of the constants in the above equation, the tile manual allows installers to look up values in the appropriate table (based on the roof type and exposure category) and plug those numbers into the relatively simple roof project design flow chart to arrive at code-compliant fastening techniques for a given installation.
In addition to the quick overview of some of the items in the 7th Edition tile manual that we have covered here, the seminar will walk through using the Design Flow Chart in tandem with the Design Pressure Tables, review a ASCE 7-22 Wind Map for Florida and present the drawings and diagrams (like the tile loading guide diagram below) that make up the second half of the manual. Each attendee at the Advanced FRSA-TRI 7th Ed Tile Manual seminar will receive a copy of the 7th Edition tile manual that can be used in the field when installing tile roof systems in 65 counties throughout Florida. Perhaps most importantly, by attending this and other seminars at the FRSA Convention, you’ll have an opportunity to ask questions about related challenges you face during field installations. I look forward to seeing you there.
Manuel “ Manny” Oyola, Jr., Eagle Roofing Products, holds a roofing contractor’s license and is an active member of the Tile Roofing Industry Alliance (TRI) and the Palm Beach County Roofing and Sheet Metal Contractors Association, the local FRSA Affiliate. He is also an active member of FRSA’s Codes Committee and Chairs the Codes Subcommittee, serves as President-Elect on FRSA’s Executive Committee and participates on the FRSA-TRI Manual Review Committee. Manny teaches roof tile courses for TRI and FRSA.
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