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    B occupancy vs S-1 or S-2

    Makes sense really. I just have it in my head that storage is more hazardous than business... I'm sure the Fire Dept. would be happy if we only stored iron in pails of water : ) There is a long list of low-hazard items listed in 311.3 other than that but I get your point. Thanks for the reply.
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    B occupancy vs S-1 or S-2

    Consider a single story building with 20,000 SF of B occupancy and 10,000 of an S occupancy (this is all hypothetical). If the S occupancy were classified as an S-1 and stored rolls of paper, no fire separation would be required between the B and S. If the S occupancy were classified as an S-2...
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    Factory Exemptions to California Energy Code?

    That's pretty much where I landed. Thanks for the input.
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    Factory Exemptions to California Energy Code?

    Excellent question. I suspect it's going to be mostly unconditioned space with few enclosed offices. Thanks everyone for the great feedback.
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    Factory Exemptions to California Energy Code?

    Nope, was F and will remain F
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    Factory Exemptions to California Energy Code?

    I'm looking at the alteration of a former factory space. We'll be putting new factory/manufacturing type equipment and processes into about 200,000 SF of space and eventually expanding that into 400,000 SF. This is all high-bay steel framed construction with corrugated metal siding. Very similar...
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    When bedrooms don't require windows

    It does seem like no matter what kind or quality of multi-family housing you build, it fills up.
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    When bedrooms don't require windows

    I have a developer trying to reuse an office building with a very deep footprint as an apartment building. Probably happening a lot right now. The depth of the building, the window layout, and their unwillingness to open up the core of the building, results in very narrow and deep unit layouts...
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    Distance between "container" food service and I-B building?

    Steveray - yes, when I said -I can do this at a curtain wall with sprnkler in the local jurisdiction- that's what I meant. The AHJ has even put out a bulletin about it so I don't need an AMMR or anything. Seems like the easiest way to solve this little puzzle.
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    Distance between "container" food service and I-B building?

    Rough indeed. Seems like I need to make the container type I-B construction. I might be able to put the imaginary property line 10' from the main building and rate the exterior wall of the main building 1 hr (I can do this at a curtain wall with sprnkler in the local jurisdiction). Then the...
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    Distance between "container" food service and I-B building?

    I've got two 5-story buildings (type I-B) sitting on a podium with a courtyard between the two buildings. The courtyard is about 13' above the adjacent ground to the south which is also outdoor-courtyard type space. The owner wants to plop down a pre-fab food service container in that lower...
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    EXIT ACCESS STAIRS 2

    Actually that not really accurate. I should have said there are no substantive amendments. CA adds some other Residential classifications to Exception 2 and includes an exception for transit stations.
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    EXIT ACCESS STAIRS 2

    In both the CBC and IBC it's limited to 4 floors for uses other than B or M and no limit is given for B or M. There are no CA amendments to the exceptions of 1019.3
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    EXIT ACCESS STAIRS 2

    Agreed this isn't really about stairs. It's about openings in the floors. CBC 711 addresses the continuity of floor assemblies and refers to CBC 712 for both fire rated and non-fire rated floor openings. CBC 712.1.12 tells me that vertical openings are allowed in accordance with section 1019...
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    EXIT ACCESS STAIRS 2

    I posted a recent thread about this but it died out before I got a satisfying answer and I'm not ready to let it go :) I'll try to be more succinct this time around. Attached is a proposed Exit Access Stairway (EAS). Do you see any code issues with this proposed stair? Assume the building is...
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    EXIT ACCESS STAIRS

    bill1952 - thank you for engaging on this. Some comments in blue above. Attached are two scenarios that show why an EAS can't really serve as required egress (over two stories). Plan A works, Plan B not so much.
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    EXIT ACCESS STAIRS

    Commish - appreciate your point but this is a hypothetical exercise. As I stated in the original post I'm trying to reach a conclusion on what's possible. When it comes to legal language I think in depth analysis is unavoidable. I'm not looking for the most conservative answer that wouldn't...
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    Vertical opening not in shaft- does chapter 7 or chapter 10 prevail?

    MrkDLGA - what was the resolution of this with your pan checker?
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    EXIT ACCESS STAIRS

    Agreed. I don't see how anyone could argue that a stair (any stair) that a human can use is not an exit access component. And the question about whether or not it's a required part of the MOE seems to boil down to CBC 1006.3.2 (the section about travel through more than one adjacent story)...
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    EXIT ACCESS STAIRS

    I think what's confusing is the question - Is a stair that's not required in order to meet egress requirements still an exit access component in a means of egress system? Seems to me the answer is obviously yes, basically everywhere you can walk in a building is an exit access component. But...
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    EXIT ACCESS STAIRS

    Yikes - I'm glad you weighed in, this is exactly the response I've gotten that I can't square with the code. I've done an AMMR and surrounded the opening with Won-Door and everyone seemed satisfied. But help me find the code provision that says I can't atmospherically connect all 5 stories in...
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    EXIT ACCESS STAIRS

    Sifu - I'm interpreting the code the same way you are. If the EAS is part of the required MOE you can't travel through more than 1 story before reaching and exit (the phrase "travel through more than 1 story" isn't crystal clear either). But if it's not a required MOE and a B occupancy and meets...
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