Drains shall be provided around concrete or masonry foundations that retain earth and enclose habitable or usable spaces located below grade. Drainage tiles, gravel or crushed stone drains, perforated pipe or other approved systems or materials shall be installed at or below the area to be protected and shall discharge by gravity or mechanical means into an approved drainage system. Gravel or crushed stone drains shall extend not less than 1 foot (305 mm) beyond the outside edge of the footing and 6 inches (152 mm) above the top of the footing and be covered with an approved filter membrane material. The top of open joints of drain tiles shall be protected with strips of building paper. Except where otherwise recommended by the drain manufacturer, perforated drains shall be surrounded with an approved filter membrane or the filter membrane shall cover the washed gravel or crushed rock covering the drain. Drainage tiles or perforated pipe shall be placed on a minimum of 2 inches (51 mm) of washed gravel or crushed rock not less than one sieve size larger than the tile joint opening or perforation and covered with not less than 6 inches (152 mm) of the same material.
Exception: A drainage system is not required where the foundation is installed on well-drained ground or sand-gravel mixture soils according to the Unified Soil Classification System, Group I soils, as detailed in Table R405.1.
TABLE R405.1 PROPERTIES OF SOILS CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THE UNIFIED SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
Exception: A drainage system is not required where the foundation is installed on well-drained ground or sand-gravel mixture soils according to the Unified Soil Classification System, Group I soils, as detailed in Table R405.1.
TABLE R405.1 PROPERTIES OF SOILS CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THE UNIFIED SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
| SOIL GROUP | UNIFIED SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM SYMBOL | SOIL DESCRIPTION | DRAINAGE CHARACTERISTICSa | FROST HEAVE POTENTIAL | VOLUME CHANGE POTENTIAL EXPANSIONb |
| Group I | GW | Well-graded gravels, gravel sand mixtures, little or no fines | Good | Low | Low |
| GP | Poorly graded gravels or gravel sand mixtures, little or no fines | Good | Low | Low | |
| SW | Well-graded sands, gravelly sands, little or no fines | Good | Low | Low | |
| SP | Poorly graded sands or gravelly sands, little or no fines | Good | Low | Low | |
| GM | Silty gravels, gravel-sand-silt mixtures | Good | Medium | Low | |
| SM | Silty sand, sand-silt mixtures | Good | Medium | Low | |
| Group II | GC | Clayey gravels, gravel-sand-clay mixtures | Medium | Medium | Low |
| SC | Clayey sands, sand-clay mixture | Medium | Medium | Low | |
| ML | Inorganic silts and very fine sands, rock flour, silty or clayey fine sands or clayey silts with slight plasticity | Medium | High | Low | |
| CL | Inorganic clays of low to medium plasticity, gravelly clays, sandy clays, silty clays, lean clays | Medium | Medium | Medium to Low | |
| Group III | CH | Inorganic clays of high plasticity, fat clays | Poor | Medium | High |
| MH | Inorganic silts, micaceous or diatomaceous fine sandy or silty soils, elastic silts | Poor | High | High | |
| Group IV | OL | Organic silts and organic silty clays of low plasticity | Poor | Medium | Medium |
| OH | Organic clays of medium to high plasticity, organic silts | Unsatisfactory | Medium | High | |
| Pt | Peat and other highly organic soils | Unsatisfactory | Medium | High |
| For SI: 1 inch = 25.4 mm. |
| a. The percolation rate for good drainage is over 4 inches per hour, medium drainage is 2 inches to 4 inches per hour, and poor is less than 2 inches per hour. |
| b. Soils with a low potential expansion typically have a plasticity index (PI) of 0 to 15, soils with a medium potential expansion have a PI of 10 to 35 and soils with a high potential expansion have a PI greater than 20. |
Precast concrete walls that retain earth and enclose habitable or useable space located below-grade that rest on crushed stone footings shall have a perforated drainage pipe installed below the base of the wall on either the interior or exterior side of the wall, not less than 1 foot (305 mm) beyond the edge of the wall. If the exterior drainage pipe is used, an approved filter membrane material shall cover the pipe. The drainage system shall discharge into an approved sewer system or to daylight.
A porous layer of gravel, crushed stone or coarse sand shall be placed to a minimum thickness of 4 inches (102 mm) under the basement floor. Provision shall be made for automatic draining of this layer and the gravel or crushed stone wall footings.
A 6-mil-thick (0.15 mm) polyethylene vapor retarder shall be applied over the porous layer with the basement floor constructed over the polyethylene.
In other than Group I soils, a sump shall be provided to drain the porous layer and footings. The sump shall be not less than 24 inches (610 mm) in diameter or 20 inches square (0.0129 m2), shall extend not less than 24 inches (610 mm) below the bottom of the basement floor and shall be capable of positive gravity or mechanical drainage to remove any accumulated water. The drainage system shall discharge into an approved sewer system or to daylight.