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2015 NFPA 101: A college classroom building is a Business occupancy. For occupant load relative to the classrooms, do you use the Educational amount of 20 SF net or do you use the Business square-footage amount? In the past, we’ve used the Education load because it seemed logical; but is this correct?
Posted anonymously by a member for discussion. Discuss this here.
12 Comments
Roy
10/18/2018 09:18:03 am
In my opinion the 20 SF is correct for Classroom areas.
Edw H
10/18/2018 09:34:20 am
K-12 are Educational
Roy
10/18/2018 09:52:03 am
EDW what is the sqft per person in NFPA 101 for a classroom?
Jon Nisja
10/18/2018 09:55:16 am
Occupancy classifications and means of egress occupant load factors are two different things. While the terminology is similar, they are not interchangeable concepts. For egress purposes, a classroom use is classroom use - it doesn't matter if it is in an elementary school, high school, college classroom, or adult education.
MAX
10/18/2018 10:11:41 am
College and Universities are considered a business occupancy. But, occupant load is calculated on use of space and not the occupancy classification. I agree with 20 sq ft.
Pari
10/18/2018 10:22:28 am
I agree with Jon Nisja , The set up of the room is classroom therefor means of egress shall follow the same rule of educational facility but laboratory and vocational shop is 50.
Ginger
10/18/2018 11:59:47 am
As an FPE consultant I calculate the occupant load and exit capacity of buildings on a daily basis. We work on a lot of college campus building and we get this question frequently, since the architects want to use 100 sf/p instead of 20 sf/p for classrooms because it results in more desirable occupant loads. Ultimately, it comes down to the use/function of the space. Per Table 7.3.1.2 of NFPA 101 the occupant load factors are based on uses and not occupancy group classifications. Therefore, you can have a Group B, higher education/college building that has classrooms that have occupant loads calculated at 20 sf/p. Faculty or Grad Student offices would be calculated based on the office function of 100 sf/p. Conference rooms, lounges, cafes, etc. with assembly functions would be calculated at 15 net sf/p for non-concentrated assembly functions.
RON PIERCE
11/5/2019 02:26:16 pm
Thanks for the clarification! Never would have thought that Occupancy Classification would be different than Occupancy Load, but I can see it now after rereading NFPA 101. Would be nice if they could better at delineating the subjects. So I was asked again today, "How many can we fit in this classroom?", and I can rely on 20 sf/p as a general standard...correct (given not assembly or other unique usage)? Thank you all for your input.
HPeterson
2/11/2019 01:43:09 am
So you calculate the occupant load for classrooms, etc. OLF for classrooms is net. How do we calculate for additional students occupying corridors outside classrooms while classes are in session?
MODERATOR
2/22/2019 07:02:10 am
HPETERSON, Good question - this is being discussed currently as a Daily Discussion topic.
Ron Pierce
3/7/2019 03:54:50 pm
We're having this sort of conundrum at our university-- defining "room capacity". While maximum occupancy is a life safety calculation, OPTIMAL capacity to maximum learning is a whole different topic altogether. Some classrooms look like cattle cars heading to slaughter with so many desks and little aisle space. Is there a simple way I can walk into a room, measure it, and come up with a maximum room capacity? Is this something I can use the load factor table to accomplish? It still seems there's disagreement between using the Education LF (20SF) versus the Office LF (100SF) for college classrooms. OLF would make our classrooms look barren!
John smith
7/22/2019 01:08:08 pm
The 2012 commentary states the following Leave a Reply. |
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