The Bilco Co., West Haven, Ct., now offers roof hatches that have received Miami-Dade County’s Notice of Acceptance. The NOA certifies that Bilco’s standard Type S and NB steel and aluminum roof hatches, including the Enhanced Performance roof hatch for green building applications, conform to high-velocity hurricane zone standards in Miami-Dade County in Florida. When roof hatches were added to the Florida Building Code’s list of hurricane-resistant products in 2007, Bilco began working with the Miami-Dade County Building Code Compliance Office to help develop test protocols for hatches. These tests included high-pressure uplift and downdraft cycling, large missile impact and water intrusion. The company also evaluated laboratories capable of performing such tests.
“Many design professionals are interested in using approved hurricane-resistant roof hatches, which is why we initiated this certification,” said Carlos Utrera, product control examiner for the Miami-Dade County Building Code Compliance Office. “We worked with Bilco to develop a checklist for general requirements based on the company’s experience with the product and its knowledge of a wide variety of installations.” For more details about Bilco’s hurricane-resistant roof hatches and approval process, visit www.MiamiDade.gov/buildingcode. For more information on Bilco’s products, call (203) 934-6363, or visit the company’s Web site at www.bilco.com.