Occupancy for 2 Sleep Rooms in Office Building?

10/9/2024

What occupancy would you classify two sleeping rooms in an office building (otherwise B Occupancy)?

The area of the two rooms is 400 sf, and the area of the offices is 6,870 sf.

Will the rooms be R-2? Does the building need sprinklers as a result?

Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe

12 Comments

Donovan

10/9/2024 08:35:51 am

The room will need 177cd for ceiling or 110cd wall mount. Low frequency is not required because it is not an R2

Glenn Berger

10/9/2024 08:47:25 am

1) Need to identify all applicable codes based upon project location.

2) Are other functions required for full sleeping space being provided?

3) Is this a single story building? Or multi-storied?

Depending on the answers to these questions a more defined answer can be provided.

Ricardo Gonzales Jr

10/9/2024 08:49:56 am

Treat it as mentioned by Donovan suggested. If the room is small you can use a 15cd strobe if the light equivalence is that used for an R1 in each space
We did this in several locations at Denver International Airport for areas the flight crews used as quiet rooms. The Audio was the same as the surrounding area and the space had it's own dampers for smoke control situations.

Todd E Wyatt

10/9/2024 09:08:51 am

Per the scoping Code (e.g. IBC-2021 310.1 Residential Group R Residential), a “Group R includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, for SLEEPING PURPOSES when not classified as an Institutional Group I or when not regulated by the International Residential Code.” To determine which Group R sub-group it is, the “transient” nature of the (sleeping) occupants needs to be determined :

TRANSIENT. Occupancy of a dwelling unit or SLEEPING UNIT for not more than 30 days.

SLEEPING UNIT. A single unit that provides rooms or spaces for one or more persons, includes PERMANENT PROVISIONS FOR SLEEPING and can include provisions for living, eating and either sanitation or kitchen facilities but not both. Such rooms and spaces that are also part of a dwelling unit are not sleeping units.this Occupancy Classification

R-1 : Residential Group R-1 occupancies containing SLEEPING UNITS where the occupants are PRIMARILY TRANSIENT IN NATURE, including:
1. Boarding houses (transient) with more than 10 occupants
2. Congregate living facilities (transient) with more than 10 occupants
3. Hotels (transient)
4. Motels (transient)

R-2 : Residential Group R-2 occupancies containing SLEEPING UNITS or more than two dwelling units where the occupants are PRIMARILY PERMANENT IN NATURE, including:
1. Apartment houses
2. Congregate living facilities (nontransient) with more than 16 occupants
3. Boarding houses (nontransient)
4. Convents
5. Dormitories
6. Fraternities and sororities
7. Monasteries
8. Hotels (nontransient)
9. Live/work units
10. Motels (nontransient)
11. Vacation timeshare properties

R-3 : Residential Group R-3 occupancies where the occupants are PRIMARILY PERMANENT IN NATURE and not classified as Group R-1, R-2, R-4 or I, including:
1. Buildings that do not contain more than two dwelling units
2. Care facilities that provide accommodations for five or fewer persons receiving care
3. Congregate living facilities (nontransient) with 16 or fewer occupants
4. Boarding houses (nontransient)
5. Convents
6. Dormitories
7. Fraternities and sororities
8. Monasteries
9. Congregate living facilities (transient) with 10 or fewer occupants
10. Boarding houses (transient)
11. Lodging houses (transient) with five or fewer guest rooms and 10 or fewer occupants

R-4 : Residential Group R-4 occupancy shall include buildings, structures or portions thereof for more than five but not more than 16 persons, excluding staff, who reside on a 24-hour basis in a SUPERVISED RESIDENTIAL ENVIRONMENT AND RECEIVE CUSTODIAL CARE.
1. Alcohol and drug centers
2. Assisted living facilities
3. Congregate care facilities
4. Group homes
5. Halfway houses
6. Residential board and care facilities
7. Social rehabilitation facilities

Based on the information provided, this SLEEPING ROOM would probably most likely meet the intent of R-2 although depending on their TRANSIENT NATURE, it could be R-1 or R-3.

Hospitals will sometimes provide “on-call sleeping units” for staff to sleep in. These rooms, while in a hospital, are not Group I-2 Institutional, and are required to be separated from the rest of the Occupancy Classifications (OC) w/a 2-Hour Fire Barrier.

Once the Building Official has agreed to the OC of this SLEEPING ROOM, the automatic sprinkler system requirements can be determined per the following scoping Code:

IBC-2021
Chapter 9 Fire Protection and Life Safety Systems
Section 903 Automatic Sprinkler Systems
903.2 Where Required
903.2.8 Group R
An automatic sprinkler system installed in accordance with Section 903.3 shall be provided throughout all buildings with a Group R fire area.

Steven W Dube link

10/9/2024 11:08:31 am

A much better answer

Jack G

10/9/2024 10:41:09 am

Yes there must be a separation assembly of 2 hours for the sleeping rooms.
Whether the building requires sprinkler protection depends on the IBC classification and size .

Ricardo Gonzales Jr

10/9/2024 02:28:53 pm

Keep in mind no to make a mountain out of a mole hill. The customer has a budget and being creative for a 25 square foot room doesn't justify massive expense.

Todd E Wyatt

10/10/2024 08:55:22 am

Utilizing an Occupancy Classification (OC) for other (non-approved) uses can cause fatalities :

Death toll stands at 36 in Oakland warehouse fire
(https://apnews.com/general-news-c228a9595f084fbd9a085adbf4bc5821)

The required fire-resistive rating (FRR) between Group B and Group R-2 per IBC-2021 TABLE 508.4 REQUIRED SEPARATION OF OCCUPANCIES (HOURS) is 1-Hr if the building is protected by an automatic sprinkler system and 2-hrs if it is not.

Ricardo Gonzales Jr

10/10/2024 09:28:40 am

The best is to get a rapport with the AHJ and possibly rename the space. i.e. Quiet room instead of sleeping room. Unless the owner wants to build a hotel within their space. Todd goes to the extreme, but the lack of building code and inspection officials to check out rumors on the warehouse (S-1) with no sprinkler being used as an R-2 and the creative flammables the tenants used to build and utilize their space. It was and is a recipe for disaster. Affordable housing was never considered in the article.

Todd E Wyatt

10/10/2024 02:53:04 pm

IBC-2021
Section 302 Occupancy Classification and Use Designation

302.1 Occupancy Classification
Occupancy classification is the formal designation of the primary purpose of the building, structure or portion thereof. Structures shall be classified into one or more of the occupancy groups specified in this section based on the nature of the hazards and risks to building occupants generally associated with the intended purpose of the building or structure. An area, room or space that is intended to be occupied at different times for different purposes shall comply with all applicable requirements associated with such potential multipurpose. Structures containing multiple occupancy groups shall comply with Section 508. Where a structure is proposed for a purpose that is not specified in this section, such structure shall be classified in the occupancy it most nearly resembles based on the fire safety and relative hazard. Occupied roofs shall be classified in the group that the occupancy most nearly resembles, according to the fire safety and relative hazard, and shall comply with Section 503.1.4 .

10/23/2024 08:53:39 am

Similar to what Todd said, in my experience for these types of rooms the first discussion to have is if people are expected/permitted to sleep in these rooms or not. "Quiet Rooms" are becoming more popular and although their intent is to relax people often do sleep, whether is permitted or not by the owner. The rooms that I've worked with are only used by people that are familiar or intimate with the building, no transient occupants.

For the rooms that I've dealt with like this, Todd's approach is what I've followed if sleeping is expected or permitted in the space; figure out what type of R occupancy it is typically R2 or R3.

However, if sleeping is "not permitted" or "not intended" then we typically provide the high intensity strobes and low frequency sounders as a precaution and other "non-required" protections based on other factors in the building design. If the room is not intended for sleeping, not permitted for sleeping, etc, then the argument becomes "whats the difference if someone falls asleep in this room vs a private office?" The intended function of the space is what dictates the required protections, if an occupant misuses a space after design/construction its on the owner to rectify that; like if someone props open a normally closed fire rated door.

Ricardo Gonzales Jr

10/23/2024 10:55:25 am

I guess my working in environments where politics are a constant Hot Potatoe, creativity in obtaining the result but still meet the intent of the Codes became 2nd nature. We, as a group, need to keep in mind safety is always #1 and how we get there can be a challenge and creative. We need to keep in mind that the AHJ could care less about what the budget (a million here or there is of no concern) is and will always ask for the Platinum goblet when a simple plastic mug will do. Yes, we get to be creative as long as we can back up our stance. That's why AHJs approve Code Variances (Administrative Modifications) for unique situations that don't fit the square peg into the round hole. All the above answers are good, but document every step and why the space will vary from the code. Give the AHJ a strong case to hang their hat on and they can quickly become your best partner in getting unique situations allowed. I constantly work with building and fire code officials with a lot of give and take to meet the intent of the code and safety of all occupants.

Occupancy for 2 Sleep Rooms in Office Building?

Leave a Reply.

ALL-ACCESS

SUBSCRIBE

COMMUNITY

YOUR POST

PE EXAM

FILTERS

ARCHIVES

PE PREP SERIES