# Are beam clamps obsolete?



## 89plumbum (May 14, 2011)

So our plumbing inspection passed with no problems. (basic circuit vent) Building inspector comes along and makes us and electrician remove all connections we made to steel beams for fire proofing. 

We just finished a project in the adjacent building where we installed probably a few thousand beam clamps with not one word from this guy.

After decking was installed we crawled under and anchored to decking for waste and all those area drains. (PVC). Problem is there is no access after they covered access hole and you know the decking is gonna droop after pouring. :furious: The whole thing is just stupid to me...


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## Bayside500 (May 16, 2009)

in the second picture, why is there a arma flex box around that CI deal,


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

Stan, the last commercial job that I worked on was down in Palm Beach county, FL. It was a hospital. I knocked off some of that blown-on insulation {looks like ground up newspaper} off of an I-beam to install a beam clamp to hang threaded rod. I was reprimanded by the foreman for it.

Apparently that insulation covering everything cannot be disturbed. I'm sorry but I just can't remember what we used instead of the beam clamp. I'm thinking that we had to drill into the cement deck and hang the threaded rod from that, even though they had beam clamps on the job.


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## 89plumbum (May 14, 2011)

Bayside500 said:


> in the second picture, why is there a arma flex box around that CI deal,


Just insulation to protect the traps from freezing. The job is a pool deck they are extending over an existing roof. We are adding a bar and outdoor kitchen. 
Here’s a birds eye view of the job.


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## 89plumbum (May 14, 2011)

Tommy plumber said:


> Stan, the last commercial job that I worked on was down in Palm Beach county, FL. It was a hospital. I knocked off some of that blown-on insulation {looks like ground up newspaper} off of an I-beam to install a beam clamp to hang threaded rod. I was reprimanded by the foreman for it.
> 
> Apparently that insulation covering everything cannot be disturbed. I'm sorry but I just can't remember what we used instead of the beam clamp. I'm thinking that we had to drill into the cement deck and hang the threaded rod from that, even though they had beam clamps on the job.


Thanks Tom, usually we stay clear of beams that have fire proofing but don’t usually have a problem if we attach before they spray. This time around was a different story.


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## Bayside500 (May 16, 2009)

89plumbum said:


> Just insulation to protect the traps from freezing. The job is a pool deck they are extending over an existing roof. We are adding a bar and outdoor kitchen.
> Here’s a birds eye view of the job.


nice looking work BTW


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## CT-18 (Jun 27, 2016)

We haven't been able to use beam clamps in a while for mechanical/plumbing. The sprinks at my shop just stopped about 2-3 years ago. If we hang strut we used "window clamps" and usually figure 14 for just a single hanger on a beam. They also make J hooks for on top of beams. I remember someone telling me that the beam clamps would work loose if the nuts weren't tighten up on the set screw.

As far as the fire protection spray we have to have the contractor remove if we need any taken off. In the old days we used to scrape it ourselves


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## 89plumbum (May 14, 2011)

CT-18 said:


> We haven't been able to use beam clamps in a while for mechanical/plumbing. The sprinks at my shop just stopped about 2-3 years ago. If we hang strut we used "window clamps" and usually figure 14 for just a single hanger on a beam. They also make J hooks for on top of beams. I remember someone telling me that the beam clamps would work loose if the nuts weren't tighten up on the set screw.
> 
> As far as the fire protection spray we have to have the contractor remove if we need any taken off. In the old days we used to scrape it ourselves


He keeps saying there must be 2” clearance around any steal. Nothing can attach to it? This would make some jobs impossible.


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## 89plumbum (May 14, 2011)

Waiting on Gans input...


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## Flyout95 (Apr 13, 2012)

That fireproof spray is crap. We knock it off all the time to get in hangers then they come patch it. Hazard of the job.


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## Florida Plumber (Aug 27, 2017)

Humm interesting to hear this. The company I am with now we still use beam clamps, and if there is fire proofing on the steel we take it off and it get patched at the end.


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## CT-18 (Jun 27, 2016)

I came into the office from the field in 2005 and beam clamps were out then. I am not sure if they were officially outlawed, but we were no longer using them.


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## GAN (Jul 10, 2012)

Form I can see this is a "protected steel" building or area, which would require anything within the protected are to be "protected" (the blown material you see in one of your pictures).

I see these in multi story buildings mainly in the entry/staircase & elevator areas. Would not really be required in the rest of the building area, less the penetrations into adjoining "fire areas" which could be protected with crush collars. This would be a

Fire wrap for PVC should also be an acceptable material (depending on the fire rating of the affected area).


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## 89plumbum (May 14, 2011)

Had to reroute some pipes to new wall location. 15 floors above. 
A few days for coring and getting our pipes in place. Change over day came and everything was going well until someone from engineering turned the hot water on before we were done!

Thank goodness we had a few 50 gallon trash cans ready just in case. The worst part was trying to pop a 3/4 sharkbite cap on with 165 degree water hitting you right in the face!:furious:


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## 5onthefloor (Sep 13, 2017)

89plumbum said:


> Had to reroute some pipes to new wall location. 15 floors above.
> A few days for coring and getting our pipes in place. Change over day came and everything was going well until someone from engineering turned the hot water on before we were done!
> 
> Thank goodness we had a few 50 gallon trash cans ready just in case. The worst part was trying to pop a 3/4 sharkbite cap on with 165 degree water hitting you right in the face!:furious:


Sounds like someone from engineering needs to take a long walk off a short pier!

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## Plumbus (Aug 4, 2008)

89plumbum said:


> The worst part was trying to pop a 3/4 sharkbite cap on with 165 degree water hitting you right in the face!:furious:


I'd put in for hazard pay for a job like that. 
Should have had the d-bag from engineering do it.


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## 5onthefloor (Sep 13, 2017)

Plumbus said:


> I'd put in for hazard pay for a job like that.
> Should have had the d-bag from engineering do it.


No doubt he was in another part of the building. I would have made his was clean up the mess 

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## Gargalaxy (Aug 14, 2013)

A ball valve SB would be faster and easy to install instead of a SB cap in that scenario. Don't ask me how I know :whistling:


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## 5onthefloor (Sep 13, 2017)

Gargalaxy said:


> A ball valve SB would be faster and easy to install instead of a SB cap in that scenario. Don't ask me how I know :whistling:


Slip it on with valve open allowing water to pass through then shut valve off once seated on pipe 

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## wyrickmech (Mar 16, 2013)

We attach to beams either before or after fireproofing is applied. Fireproof then is patched to cover the clamps. Never put your work at risk just because somebody is cheap and dosent want to pay for patchwork.


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## 89plumbum (May 14, 2011)

wyrickmech said:


> We attach to beams either before or after fireproofing is applied. Fireproof then is patched to cover the clamps. Never put your work at risk just because somebody is cheap and dosent want to pay for patchwork.


Rick, the original problem was the building inspector would not letting anyone attach to beams period because of a 2" clearance code. We got it handled though.


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## Alan (Jun 18, 2008)

Reminds me of an industrial project I did with my previous employer. Big steel building for shrimp processing with a mezzanine over the top probably a good 16' ceiling if not more. They eliminated the steel posts from the plan and have these steel beams spanning probably 70 feet. Ceiling was covered with hat track and waterproof interlocking plastic panels of some sort. 

The mezzanine sat open for probably 6 months, and then one day they suddenly called us and wanted us to just stick some drain pipe under the floor because the rebar was tied and they wanted to pour tomorrow. "You guys can just crawl in there later, right?"

That was the only thing I ever refused to do. I'm not crawling on plastic panels 16' in the air to install drain lines because they can't sit down and figure out a schedule. It was two bathrooms that would have taken us a day to rough in. Why can't we have one friggin day?

Worst project I have ever been on. They may as well have not even had a floor plan. I think my boss just saw the dollar signs in his eyes and jumped in water that was a lot too deep. Then he went on vacation for a week without mentioning it to anyone on the project we were on. When they asked me "Is he coming in today?" I felt like a deer in the headlights.

After they poured it they installed their own drain lines (illegally). We went back to do some other stuff with water lines and the ceiling had dropped 3.5" in the middle from the weight of the concrete and squished the plastic wall panels that were on the partition walls.. They said they were having problems with their drains and wanted us to just go cut them out and fix them after the fact. :vs_laugh:


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## Logtec (Jun 3, 2018)

Magnoliya said:


> Yeas, they are. I mean, it depends on their dimensions.


thanks for you input


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## OpenSights (Mar 23, 2015)

Magnoliya said:


> Yeas, they are. I mean, it depends on their dimensions.











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## stevencalleman (Oct 17, 2021)

Any time we had to deal with it they let us hang our beam clamps and rods first and then they sprayed all of it, if in doubt we hung a few extra and removed the rod if not needed.

I'm leakfree it wouldn't let me sign in for some reason ?


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