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A lot of office buildings and public transit depot buildings are being designed with "quiet" or "wellness" rooms for tired employees to take a break and "rest," leading a lot of AHJs to ask if these rooms are R occupancies.
The designed use is not a sleeping room and many clients "prohibit" sleeping but everyone agrees that it could be used as a sleeping room. Typically they're size for 1-5 people and have lounge chairs (no beds) so they fall under the accessory use category to the rest of the building. For example, assume a multi-story office building where each floor has one of these rooms, less than 500 square feet, no beds just chairs, room is entirely open inside. How would you treat these rooms and how would you address the requirements for corridors in the building assuming its a sprinklered building? Thanks in advance. Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe
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Is there an egress requirement for a garage structure that only houses the car stacker, with 10 bays and 3 levels?
What would a code path be for or against such a requirement? Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe I understand that Chapter 7 of NFPA 101 applies to stairs on the means of egress.
However, in the case of a feature stair, does the same dimensional requirements and handrails on both sides still apply? In theory, should a person be on the feature stair when the fire alarm activates, they would need to traverse the stair to escape and it therefore forms part of the means of egress? Thanks in advance. Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe In the corridors of an apartment building (wrap) there are fire doors that are double-egress pairs that are left-hand-reverse by left-hand reverse which follows the natural traffic pattern within the corridor.  However, there are also several right-hand-reverse by right-hand-reverse in the same corridor.
Is there a requirement one way or another on which direction these are supposed to be? I informed the project manager that the egress needs to follow the natural traffic pattern. I was curious about the different flow patterns of the doors so I researched the code but was unable to locate anything in the code regarding whether it was code or not, except for the AHJ. The county where I live also agreed with me but if someone out there knows if this is code please respond. Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe A business occupancy we're working on has 550 occupants, and requires three means of egress per Section 7.4.1.2 (NFPA 101, 2018 Edition).
Section 7.5.1.1.1 indicates that egress shall be arranged such that each occupant has access to not less than two means of egress. When the three means of egress are required per Section 7.4.1.2, does access to all three means of egress need to be provided to each occupant? Or will providing access for each occupant to a minimum of two means of egress satisfy the code requirement? Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe NFPA 101, Section 39.2.2.2.2* Door Locking to Prevent Unwanted Entry. Where approved, doors, other than those complying with 39.2.11.2, shall be permitted to be locked to prevent unwanted entry provided that all of the following conditions are met:
Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe A high-rise is considered a building with an occupied floor located more than 75-ft above the lowest level of fire department vehicle access.
Would a rooftop access stair with floor level located at 76' warrant the requirements of a high-rise building? IBC 2015 Section 1011.12.2 states that where a stairway is provided for roof access shall be provided through a penthouse complying with 1510.2. Section 1510.2 states penthouse complying with 1510.2.1-5 shall be considered part of the story below. The roof is not occupied and is only provided for egress for equipment access for equipment located on the roof. Technically a portion of the occupied story is located above 75-ft. Do I need to meet highrise requirements? Thanks in advance. Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe We have a new construction highrise that's more than 128-ft in height.
Under the IBC, 2018, Section 3007, it would require two firefighter elevators. Can we use one dedicated firefighter elevator, with a protected lobby, and the other one an emergency passenger elevator, without a lobby, where we would use the pressurization option in lieu of the elevator lobby requirement? Thanks in advance. Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe We have a building that was designed with exit width and stair width per occupant using the exception CBC 1005.3.1 for a sprinklered building with EVACS (emergency voice/alarm communication system), however, the fire alarm design drawings show horns/strobes.
Found out through the fire alarm deferred submittal corrections. Changing the width of stairs and exit doors is not an option as the shell is already built. The EVACS option will cause delays, cost impacts, and material procurement challenges and not advised by FD because building has inherent ambient noise associated with building operations. What options do we have? Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe The state of Vermont uses NFPA 101 as their code for renovation existing buildings. There is a building with two dwelling units above a mercantile drinking establishment of less than 50 persons.
I am being told that the building occupancy is existing apartment building, but there are only two dwelling units, not three as required by definition of apartment building. Anyone have any suggestion for building occupancy and use from NFPA 101? Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe I have an S-1 occupancy. It is a privately owned storage unit (no public access) used for the storage of exotic cars, maybe 3 vehicles in total. The space is about 1,400 square feet, and is fire sprinkler protected. There is a wood-framed mezzanine at the back of the unit as is about 300 square feet.
The question that has come up is if the underside of the open wood stairs to the mezzanine needs to be protected with fire-retardant gypsum board? There is no sprinkler coverage under the stairs. The mezzanine may be built out by the owner to have a few chairs, a couch, a television, etc. Digging into the code talks a lot about accessibility but not so much about the fire resistance requirements for the stairs. I have the found following in the 2015 IBC (code we are under): 1104.4 Multistory buildings and facilities. At least one accessible route shall connect each accessible story and mezzanine in multilevel buildings and facilities. Exceptions 1. An accessible route is NOT required to stories and mezzanines that have an aggregate area of not more than 3,000 square feet (278.7 m2) and are located above and below accessible levels. This exception shall not apply to: ...and... 4. Where a two-story building or facility has one story or mezzanine with an occupant load of five or fewer persons that does not contain public use space, that story or mezzanine shall not be required to be connected by an accessible route to the story above or below. So...the accessibility issue is covered but nothing about the rating of the stairs that I can find. Any help would be appreciated. Maybe I am not looking in the correct code section. Thank you! Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe I have an exterior stair that connects two different surface parking lots. There is about 12-ft of elevation difference between the two surface lots.
The stair is not a means of egress for either of the adjacent buildings, and is not part of the accessible route/entrance to either site. Would any of the stair requirements in IBC or A117.1 apply? Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe We have a project with a comment from the AHJ stating that the dryer vent cannot terminate to the exterior condominium wall, which is the egress wall for the condominium exit exterior breezeway on that floor.
We're under NFPA 101 (regarding Section 30-3.6.3 for Unprotected Openings). Is a duct penetration considered an unprotected opening? Dry vents cannot have fire/smoke dampers, so can it just be a metal duct? Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe We have a building that used to be a business occupancy but the new occupant wants to now use the occupancy as a church (assembly).
The building is not sprinklered and has no fire alarm system. The new occupant load is 279 people. The problem is the main entrance is on ground level but the second rear exit is below ground level to exit the building. Is the second rear exit below ground level acceptable? Sent in anonymously for discussion. Discuss This | Submit Your Question | Subscribe Who has dealt with the question of egress from the vault of a linear accelerator (used to treat patients)?
The vault can only be opened from the inside by a button which can be disabled from the outside! The only manual opener is a crank on the outside! I realize the patient could be incapacitated but what about maintenance and cleaning crews? Any recommendations, especially from those with experience, would be appreciated. Posted anonymously for discussion. Discuss This | Submit Your Question | Subscribe I have a double fire wall (two masonry walls next to each other with small air gap in-between). I need to have a door in each wall.
The doors would have to swing opposite directions, I think, which means a double Firewall could not be used in an egress condition where doors both have to open in the direction of travel to the exit. It sounds like I need a tied or cantilevered Firewall instead of a double Firewall. Is this correct, or are there any other approaches to a door within a double Firewall? Posted anonymously for discussion. Discuss This | Submit Your Question | Subscribe At our site I'm dealing with personnel wanting to park small vehicles (Gem carts and forklifts) inside the building.
I know this is clearly not allowed in an egress corridor (where it was) but I'm having trouble finding parts of the code addressing storage in mechanical rooms or similar space. I know NFPA 101 has rules for high hazard contents but not sure if I can make that argument for the vehicles. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks in advance. Submitted anonymously and posted for discussion. Discuss This | Submit Your Question | Subscribe I'm an AHJ and I know many plan reviewers and inspectors in my area are new to the trade.
Does anyone have recommendation(s) for good plan review checklists or tools for plan review that would be helpful to rookie and intermediate-level plan reviewers? Thanks in advance. Submitted anonymously and posted for discussion. Discuss This | Submit Your Question | Subscribe Anybody in this group has experience to design or approval of parking stackers inside the building?
This is outside the code will be reviewed as Amended Means & Methods. They occur on two different projects (1) The Car's engine shall be off when enter the parking garage and electronic left will park the cars in stack, and (2) The car will be driven inside the garage to platform to be parked. In both cases the fire sprinkler design density, exhaust system and means of egress requirements are in question. Submitted anonymously and posted for discussion. Discuss This | Submit Your Question | Subscribe We have an exit enclosure that is rated as Class I Division I. My understanding of an accessible route and means of egress, is that it is a "safe" means of egress.
Can an accessible route have a Class I Division I (explosion hazardous classification), or does it need to be purged and pressurized according to Type X requirements? Submitted anonymously and posted for discussion. Discuss This | Submit Your Question | Subscribe I am working on a project with male and female restrooms in separate structures located near a park. The structures are roughly 500 sqft. The structures must comply with NFPA 101 for means of egress. I am trying to figure out travel distance requirements.
What occupancy would you classify the restrooms as? And in turn what would be the maximum travel distance if there is only a single door? Posted anonymously for discussion. Discuss This | Submit Your Question | Subscribe This building is an H-1 occupancy. There is an area of refuge on the 4th floor. The shelter-in-place Class 3 area of refuge is protected from interior and exterior hazards. There are vertical openings through all 4 floors. The UFC is governing.
Based on this, do the stairwells need to be intertied directly to the shelter-in-place area of refuge for an exit enclosure that is a direct accessible means of egress (we are providing accessibility provisions)? Does the shelter-in-place area need to be a smoke enclosure as well as the interconnected stairwell system? Based on this will both the stairwell and the shelter-in-place need to be pressurized to meet design intent? Both exterior and interior air is hazardous and a scrubber would be needed to inject air for stairwell pressurization. Posted anonymously for discussion. Discuss This | Submit Your Question | Subscribe I am dealing with a Military building. It is an H-1 occupancy. The building is currently 4 stories high.
This is not allowed per IBC based on means of egress. Has anyone made an argument based on UFC referring to NFPA 101 for means of egress related items to make an H-1 occupancy allowed to be more than 1 story? Posted anonymously for discussion. Discuss This | Submit Your Question | Subscribe We have a dormitory project where, on the first floor, and entry lobby at the front entrance connects directly into a main corridor that runs the length of the dormitory. On either end of the corridor are exterior exits. There are also exit enclosures from the two upper levels that discharge to the exterior on both ends of the building. This project is under NFPA 101-2018 and is fully-sprinklered.
NFPA 101-2018 7.1.3.1 and 28.3.6 state the following: 7.1.3 Separation of Means of Egress. 7.1.3.1 Exit Access Corridors. Corridors used as exit access and serving an area having an occupant load exceeding 30 shall be separated from other parts of the building by walls having not less than a 1-hour fire resistance rating in accordance with Section 8.3, unless otherwise permitted by one of the following: (1) This requirement shall not apply to existing buildings, provided that the occupancy classification does not change. (2) This requirement shall not apply where otherwise provided in Chapters 11 through 43. Because this is a new dormitory, Chapter 28 also applies: 28.3.6 Corridors. 28.3.6.1 Walls. 28.3.6.1.1 Exit access corridor walls shall comply with 28.3.6.1.2 or 28.3.6.1.3. 28.3.6.1.2 In buildings not complying with 28.3.6.1.3, exit access corridor walls shall consist of fire barriers in accordance with Section 8.3 that have not less than a 1-hour fire resistance rating. 28.3.6.1.3 In buildings protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 28.3.5, corridor walls shall have a minimum 1∕2-hour fire resistance rating. Our question is - is the lobby, by code, considered part of the corridor (and therefore need to be rated)? Two ways of looking at this - one is that the code is strictly only discussing requirements for the corridor and not a lobby. The other way of looking at it is that the lobby is acting as the corridor when it serves as part of the exit access for the building. Normally a 1/2-hour rating wouldn't make all that much of a difference, but there's storefront in the lobby space between an adjacent office and the lobby which would have a cost impact to the project. Posted anonymously for discussion. Discuss This | Submit Your Question | Subscribe Are exits in industrial occupancies required to have panic hardware if the overall number of employees is 50 or more?
This is under NFPA 101 Life Safety Code, 2018 edition. Thanks. Posted anonymously for discussion. Discuss This | Submit Your Question | Subscribe |
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