Is it a requirement to have a 42-inch handrail on the edge of the building, due to the standpipe hose connections and this needing to be accessible for the fire department use?

​If it's required, it seems that handrails could apply under IBC 2018 Section 1015.6.

Thanks in advance.

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We have a multistory hotel building with the rooms opening to an exterior corridor. There is Exterior Insulation Finish System (EIFS) along the walls of the exterior corridor.

NFPA 13 (2022), Section 9.2.3.3 allows omission of sprinklers from exterior exit corridors where the exterior wall of the corridor is at least 50% open and where the corridor is entirely of noncombustible construction.

It seems from research that EIFS is considered combustible and would require sprinkler protection along the exterior corridor.

Has anyone done more research on this or has this come up before for other projects with EIFS in the exterior corridors and ultimately required sprinkler protection?

​Thanks in advance.

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If a stair structure is supporting the fire barriers that enclose the exit enclosure, does the stair structure have to be fire rated as well?

Looking specifically at IBC 2018 Section 707.5.1 and NFPA 101 (2018) Section 7.1.3.2.

If there is a fire inside a stair, the means of egress is no longer usable and at that point are you protecting the interior of the building from the fire inside the exit enclosure?

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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.

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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?

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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.

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​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.

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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?

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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:

1. The locking means shall be capable of being engaged without opening the door.
2. The unlocking and unlatching operation from the egress side of the door shall be accomplished without the use of a key, tool, or special knowledge or effort.
3. Egress shall require not more than one releasing operation.

​Question on Item (3) above: Is a knob on a (exit) door considered a 'one releasing operation' or two releasing operations (i.e., turning the knob to unlatch and push it to open the door)?

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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?

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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!

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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?

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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?

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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?

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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.

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