Fire Wall

Red,

I have a question for you.

1. I have a 36,800 SF building divided into two halves.

2. The west half is an M occupancy of Type V-B construction.

3. The east half is an A-2 occupancy of Type III-B construction.

4. The building is fire sprinkled throughout.


Are my conclusions correct as following?:

1. Under the 2003 IBC, a fire wall is to be used to separate a building of different construction types. (I can't find the reference for this but remember it being the case.)

2. Based on IBC Table 705.4, the fire wall required to separate the M and A-2 occupancies would have to be 3 hour since the callout for the M is greater than is called out for A occupanices, and that Footnote A to Table 705.4 cannot be applied to the conditions of my project.

Can you think of any way that this fire wall could be one- or two-hour construction under these conditions?

Thank you in advance for your help.