Pallet racking in Mt. Juliet, TN.

Inside city limits the City of Mt. Juliet's codes department reviews the building permit and the city fire marshal reviews high-piled combustible storage. Mt. Juliet enforces its own codes, so the review is local. Parcels in unincorporated Wilson County go through the county building codes office. Under IFC Chapter 32 the model-code operational permit trigger is more than 500 square feet of high-piled storage area, and we confirm the local amendment for each project.

The March 2020 tornado showed how much damage a storm can do to buildings along its path. After an event like that, a rack inspection checks every frame for plumb, beams and connectors for deformation and disengaged locks, uprights for debris impact, and base plates and anchors for movement, along with any roof or wall damage that has let water onto the slab. Damaged components are tagged and unloaded before anything is reloaded, and repairs follow ANSI/RMI MH16.1 and the manufacturer's guidance.

In the newer buildings on the Beckwith Road and Providence corridor, clear heights typically run 32-to-40 feet, but the usable top of storage is set by the required clearance below the sprinkler deflectors, not by the deck. Frame design then follows the loads, the fleet, and the seismic values for the site: Middle Tennessee is typically Seismic Design Category B or C depending on site class, so base plates, anchors and bracing are checked under ANSI/RMI MH16.1.