Riku Ylipelkonen, Owner, Standard Building Advisors and FRSA Technical Advisor
For anyone that has been involved in a roofing project, product approvals are an integral part of the process and are often overlooked considering the effort and expense that go into them. In the most basic terms, the building code defines the minimum threshold of performance for a roof. In Florida, the 900-pound gorilla is wind uplift requirements. The whole process
of construction is regulated by the building code to ensure that the life safety of the occupants of the building is preserved during a wind event. Design pressures, live loads, deadloads and more are all meant to cover the needs of performance for any portion of the building. Wind speed maps and project site conditions help to focus the requirements for the roof system to be used on the project. To this end, there is a lot of math involved to determine the requirements of how the roof can be constructed. In Florida, integral components of the roofing system (see the dropdown list on page 18) need to substantiate a product’s ability to perform to the requirements of the specific project. Furthermore, the compatibility with other products in the assembly must be substantiated as well because all the components must become a working roof system.
Low-slope roofing systems are, for the most part, easier to design because the testing of each system of components is performed and defined in the Florida Building Code approvals and Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance (NOA) approvals. As one of my previous managers told me about low-slope roofs, think of it as building a cake. Each layer must work with the one below it and the one above it, from deck to sky. Once you meet design, waterproofing, uplift and warranty requirements, you need to find the approval for the cake assembled as needed. If you have had to find one of these approvals in the past, you know the variety and sheer number of approvals is enough to make your head spin. Hearing that a specified component is backordered or not available will bring a twitch to your forehead because you know you must dive in and find a suitable substitution with a corresponding approval.
Steep-slope roofing systems are a little different. Components are most often tested by individual manufacturers and published with their respective approvals. Then, the roofer must assemble the components in a way to ensure that the system will work
when properly assembled and installed. This important and potentially liability-laden process most often falls on the roofing contractor. As an example, you may not be able to use the same underlayment systems under shingles and metal. They are different applications and may require different considerations. Roof tile is even more unique. Because tile roof systems are not tested as a system, you cannot assume the mechanically attached tile will keep the underlayment in place during a wind event. To comply with code, the underlayment system must be installed in a way to ensure it can perform to the requirements of the project without the aid of the tile assembly on top of it.
The new code coming into effect at the end of the year is making a change to tile underlayment testing. Code will now require design pressure testing and performance reporting on approval evaluation reports. This will help roofers comply with the required design pressures for the project they are working on. Some of the prescriptive ways of showing compliance are going to be eliminated, but any system that is tested and has the performance reported in its approval, will be allowed to be used. This will be a pain point for the product manufacturers who must spend money and time to anticipate what the market will need. The assemblies you need may not be readily available as we transition to these new requirements but this will also be a great opportunity for innovation and new products to come into the market. Do you want to use cap nails instead of nails and tin-tags to back-nail underlayment courses? How about a 30/90 hot-mopped system? Ask your product sales representatives
to get the testing done and updated into the approval. This is a great opportunity for communication with the manufacturers so that they can better understand the realities of roofing and what they can do to improve their products or approval options to
gain more market share. There is also a benefit on the contractor’s side of the bargain. Having tested assemblies for how you want to roof gets the manufacturer’s skin in the game as well. If the tested assembly fails for some reason, the manufacturer has an interest in making sure the tested assembly works as designed and the assembly makes sense to keep available on
the market. This is where innovation and creativity will change the way we roof tomorrow.
(33) Subcategory of product or construction system means a specific functionality: (d) For roofing products: built up roofing, modified bitumen roof system, single ply roof systems, spray applied polyurethane roof system, roofing fasteners, roofing insulation, asphalt shingles, wood shingles and shakes, roofing slate, roof tile adhesives, cements-adhesives-coatings, liquid
applied roof systems, underlayments, metal roofing, roofing tiles, waterproofing, roofing accessories that are an integral part of the roofing system and products introduced as a result of new technology;
Riku Ylipelkonen, Owner, Standard Building Advisors has been in the roofing industry for 15 years working for Polyfoam Products. When Polyfoam Products was acquired by 3M, the name was changed to ICP Building Solutions Group. Riku worked at ICP as Technical Services Manager until March of 2023, when he left to start his own company. Riku is an engineer and is working as a consultant with FRSA. He is a member on FRSA’s Codes Committee, Codes Subcommittee, Tile Committee and on the FRSA-TRI Manual Rewrite Committee. Riku is also a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the Single Ply Roofing Industry (SPRI).
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