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accessory uses

N

Nicole Brooks

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Sep 21, 2018
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Baltimore
This is one tenant in a 1-story multi tenant sprinklered building. The main occupancies of this building are: B, S-1, S-2, F-1 and F-2. There are one hour rated walls between each tenant. This particular tenant is B and S-1, but has a large training room that exceeds the 750 sf to be considered a business use. My question is whether or not this A3 can be considered an accessory use, or do I need to provide a 1hr rated wall around it? If I look at it as an accessory to the entire building, I am well below the 10%, If I look at it as an accessory to the tenant space, I am also under the 10%, but If I look at it as an accessory use to the business use, then I am not under the 10%. The code references "story" when it qualifies the 10% of area to be considered an accessory use. It doesn't discuss when it is a multi-tenant building. I'm not sure how to consider this particular instance. Any help would be much appreciated.



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It is labeled as a "training room" so it is a "B" occupancy.

Training and skill development not in a school or academic program (this shall include, but not be limited to, tutoring centers, martial arts studios, gymnastics and similar uses regardless of the ages served, and where not classified as a Group A occupancy).
 
mtlogcabin said:
It is labeled as a "training room" so it is a "B" occupancy.

Training and skill development not in a school or academic program (this shall include, but not be limited to, tutoring centers, martial arts studios, gymnastics and similar uses regardless of the ages served, and where not classified as a Group A occupancy
Click to expand...

But this refers to spaces that are less than 750 sf, mine is 850sf.
 

508.2.3 Allowable Building Area​


The allowable area of the building shall be based on the applicable provisions of Section 506 for the main occupancy of the building. Aggregate accessory occupancies shall not occupy more than 10 percent of the floor area of the story in which they are located and shall not exceed the tabular values for nonsprinklered buildings in Table 506.2 for each such accessory occupancy.

I am sure you can find a way to make it work....Classroom at 1:20?
 
303.1.1 Small Buildings and Tenant Spaces
A building or tenant space used for assembly purposes with an occupant load of less than 50 persons shall be classified as a Group B occupancy.
 
Training purposes and assembly use are two different things.

You can have training rooms bigger than 750 sq ft and not be classified as an "A" occupancy. Vocational Training comes to mind where the room is setup with equipment to use for training. Ask the tenant for specifics as to what the training consist of and what equipment is used? If it is tables and chairs, then it is a multi-purpose room and I agree an "A" would be the most restrictive use and be applicable.


SECTION 304
BUSINESS GROUP B

304.1 Business Group B.
Business Group B occupancy includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, for office, professional or service-type transactions, including storage of records and accounts. Business occupancies shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

Training and skill development not in a school or academic program (this shall include, but not be limited to, tutoring centers, martial arts studios, gymnastics and similar uses regardless of the ages served, and where not classified as a Group A occupancy).
 
Look to see if you qualify for non separated occupancies based upon the allowable building area for the A occupancy based upon your construction type.
 
I have always treated conference rooms as A3 if they exceed the small assembly space criteria of 303.1.2. Then, the path forward is separated, non-separated or accessory. Non-separated is 1st choice, if that doesn't work then they can choose to either separate it, or use the accessory provisions. I figure the entire floor for that 10% threshold. That can become sketchy since now they are telling me what sizes ALL of the accessory spaces are in ALL parts of the floor. Then what? I can't recall but one time the applicant took that route, most dropped the area to get it classified as a B. I would do the same for a training room, which is still an assembly use in IMHO (not educational). I don't think code directly addresses conference rooms (A) vs. training rooms (A) vs. training and skill development (B) so I have accepted a different OL for training rooms when justifiable, but it doesn't change the classification.
 
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