How to achieve a 2 hour fire rated party wall ?

Question

I have an 8" CMU party wall with each unit being 21' wide. I need to span a steel beam across each unit by attaching them to the CMU party wall which would either rest on a plate in a pocket within the wall or somehow span through the wall. Either way there has to than be a 2 hour fire rate.

Answer 1

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I am not an engineer or architect but a place to start is the building code for the local where you are building. There are big differences in what is allowed when it comes to steel beams and load bearing CMU walls.

One thing to keep in mind is that steel beams can conduct enough heat energy to start fires on the other side of an otherwise fireproof wall. I would look at making sure that the beam is not continuous from one side of the wall to the other.