Hurricane safety equipments with its advantages and disadvantages
Dade County Hurricane Shutter Code
Miami Dade County is a part of southern Florida. It is one of the most populous counties in Florida and is highly urbanized with a large number of hi rises. It is also known as Hurricane County because of the large number of hurricanes and cyclones which hit its coast. Therefore it is of prime importance to have hurricane shutters to provide protection from hurricane season. Shutters are available in wide variety of sizes and shapes and whole sale and retail level shutters are also available. Recognizing the importance of hurricane shutters a code known as the Dale County shutter code was introduced. It is necessary to implement this code for ensuring maximum safety.
The code contains generalized shutter code with prime importance on hurricane shutter code.
Maximum allowable deflection under impact:
There is no specified limit as far as this is concerned, but the approval is given when the object to be protected is at a required distance.
Maximum allowable deflection due to static air loading:
The shutter should not be installed at a distance less 1 inch (not including the distance required for deflection) from the object which it is protecting. Maximum allowable deflection is when 1 inch from glass when the shutter is subject to a pressure.
The number of models to be tested per number of models manufactured:
At least three specimens which have at least 3 panels must be tested for it to meet the required standards.
Is there any need for rolling and accordion shutters to be operating under testing conditions? There is no rule specifying this but they should be mounted as they would be during working conditions.
Minimum height that is required by a roll up type of shutter:
The minimum allowable height is 7 feet.
Requirement of width for testing accordion shutters:
The minimum width that is required for approval is 3 feet laterally when the sides are not anchored. Getting approval for larger intervals indicates the need for using larger spans.
Roll-up shutter, need for testing rolling action:
It is necessary for these types of shutters to be tested for the rolling actions, both inward and outward.
Testing of storm shutters with the aid of lateral supports:
In case of testing being done with lateral supports they will be limited to a particular width whereas for a shutter tested without the aid of lateral supports there is no limit when it comes to the width.
Insertion of blocking pins to stop the closing of accordion shutters:
During testing it is possible to use a blocking pin to stop the accordion shutter from closing on its own.
Usage of anchors with no Dade County approval:
If the anchor is used along with the shutter and along with this shutter only that particular anchor can be utilized, it is possible to use it without the approval.
Marking of storm panels:
This is largely dependent on the type of panel manufactured.
Building and installing of hurricane shutters is a job which is best left to installation experts as safety is important in south Florida.
About the Author
andor kovacs is the author of this article on roll down hurricane shutters. Find out more information about this article at hurricane shutters here.
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by: andor kovacs80
Date: Apr 20th 2008 | Words: 497 | Viewed: 8 times | Rating: Not yet rated
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