Checked out a warehouse reno in Austin, the fire blocking made me cringe

I walked through a buddy's warehouse conversion off of Riverside last Saturday and spotted something that bugged me all day. They had run romex through the open steel studs with zero fire blocking between the office loft and the main floor. Code wants that blocked so flames can't just shoot up the wall cavity, and they skipped it to save maybe $40 in lumber. I pointed it out and the GC shrugged, saying they'd pass the final anyway. Has anyone else seen this kind of shortcut pass inspection, or did I miss a code change?

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wesleybutler2d ago

Huh, I keep seeing people freak out over this one, but is it actually the hill to die on? Unless the loft is a sleeping space and the walls are fully enclosed with drywall on both sides, the draft stopping is more about slowing a fire that's already got a head start. I've been through hundreds of these warehouse conversions and inspectors rarely check inside the studs unless they're doing a full sheath inspection. Maybe your buddy's GC is a hack, but I'd be more worried about whether they actually fire-caulked the penetrations at the floor line, that's where you'll see real failures.