• Welcome to the new and improved Building Code Forum. We appreciate you being here and hope that you are getting the information that you need concerning all codes of the building trades. This is a free forum to the public due to the generosity of the Sawhorses, Corporate Supporters and Supporters who have upgraded their accounts. If you would like to have improved access to the forum please upgrade to Sawhorse by first logging in then clicking here: Upgrades

egress

  1. sutefamily

    Playground Egresses in a School Courtyard

    I am interested in finding out about the egress code for a school playground that is in a courtyard, surrounded on three sides by the school and the 4th side by a 6 foot high fence. We recently had our policy changed so that all of the doors that exit from the playground back into the school...
  2. rjjh

    California - Hotel - glass shower door size, egress, swing requirements

    For a non ADA unit, will a glass shower compartment door need to meet the CBC Ch.10 egress requirements with a 32" minimum width? The CA plumbing code appears to permit 22" min. width, but in a commercial setting I'd assume the 32" min. width will prevail. Also are there any code sections...
  3. R

    Just for Fun

    OK, code gurus out there. Here's a good one just to make you think (any maybe laugh a little). Feel free to reply if you feel inclined, although I'm not really looking for any advice, more of a pondering question. How, exactly, should one apply Chapter 10 to a mausoleum? Yup, first time I've...
  4. N

    Arched doors and clear opening requirements

    I have a 36x80 arched doorway with the top of arch at 80". The door is the only point of egress out of a small office with Occ. load of 2. It proposed to be a pocket door. Is the "arch" of an arched opening allowed to encroach on the clear opening requirement? Does the line of the arch need to...
  5. A

    Accessory Occupancy Question

    I have an existing building with use group A-3 (community center). The client wants to make an area for day care within this building. The new day care area is less than 10% of the building first floor area (it also has a partial basement, and the building is only one level above grade)...
  6. rjjh

    Hotel Room Deck and Egress requirements (California Building Code)

    Hi All, I'm probably overthinking an easy issue, but thought/tips/reassurance much appreciated! I have a modular hotel unit R-1 occupancy in California with a single egress door (5'-6" wide clear) to an exterior deck (see current layout snippet below). This is a non-ADA/accessible unit (ADA...
  7. Harrison Staab

    Exit Discharge from Interior Exit Stair Remoteness or Separation Distance Requirement?

    For a 5 story (not a high rise) Type III Group R-2 Apartment building fully sprinklered per NFPA 13 in sunny California (CBC 2019): Project has two Interior Exit Stairways connected by a 1-hr corridor exceeding the separation requirement of 1007.1.1 (>1/3 building diagonal per exception 2). Due...
  8. F

    Egress Stair 36” wide - B Occupancy

    Hello everybody, I am new to the forum although I wanted to join for a while. I have a question regarding the stair width calculation I hope you may answer or help with. These are the project specs: Location: Omaha NE (IBC 2018 adopted code) Number of stories: ground level + second story...
  9. E

    Can an Occupant Evacuation Elevator be the only means of egress?

    I'm currently working on a 2019 IBC code analysis for a 100' observation tower. It's established that its a type B occupancy class and that it complies with 1006.2 for egress. What is tripping me up is whether 1006.3 will allow for a single exit or not. It is a singular, open air platform...
  10. rjjh

    Egress Courts and exterior wall ratings

    I have a hotel buuisiness/clubhouse with 2 enclosed exterior courtyards, the building is mixed use and non-separated. egress from the various structures in the complex run through the exterior courts to exits around the perimeter gates. but, there are a few pinch points (listed below) between...
  11. B

    Path of Egress - bathrooms

    I am creating an egress plan. I understand restrooms, for occupancy calculations, are not occupiable space per the definition. My building is Assembly (net). When creating a path of egress plan for a code review, do I need to show the restrooms in compliance with common path and egress path...
  12. R

    Must basement bedrooms have egress windows if there are two stair exits?

    I am designing a finished basement with two bedrooms. Each bedroom has a small existing window. There are two existing staircases leading up to a door to the backyard and another door out front. The two bedroom windows are in the setback, which means I can't enlarge them to create egress...
  13. frankjr

    California MagLocked Showroom Door

    My building is an Auto Dealership in Anaheim, California. The showroom has 5 glass door exits that are all potential means of egress from the building. The showroom doors are always open/unlocked except after hours when the business is closed down at night and secured. Currently, we secure...
  14. M

    Spiral vs Curved vs Winder; "within individual dwelling unit"

    Hello all, long time listener first time caller. Posting this in commercial rather than residential because it's multifamily and I wanted answers from a more rigorous perspective. I'm working on a fairly compact proposal for a condominium development subject to California Building Code and I'm...
  15. P

    Dwelling units NOT covered under 11A. ANY accessibility requirements?

    Hi there, thank you in advance for your help. The codes are so incredibly circular and unclear about when accessibility applies, and when it doesn't. Let's consider a small 3-story multifamily building with no elevator. Say 4 units per floor. All units are single story. A completely...
  16. A

    Egress from basement- Sidewalk door?

    I need to provide a second exit from an overlarge basement storage area in a building addition. My only viable location would be installing a sidewalk door. I designed a project years ago where it was explicitly stated in the code that one basement exit could be via such a door., but I can't...
  17. D

    Egress through Intervening Spaces

    I was recently told by an architect to revise an evac drawing I've been working on. See attached, it's the secondary (cyan) path. It was mentioned that the path cannot cross through intervening spaces. The large room is the Multipurpose/Gym. I've been making evac signs as such for a while and...
  18. E

    Definition of habitable room, window facing directly to the outdoors

    Our town has an ordinance stating that every bedroom shall have “a window facing directly to the outdoors”. What does that mean? Does that mean that the window must open to the outdoors? Could this requirement be met with an interior bedroom with no window to the outdoors that has a transom...
  19. Arch_teach

    Occupancy calc of a university classroom?

    Hypothetical question for an academic project, seems to be a gray zone to clarify. I instruct an integrated design studio for professional architecture degree. Normally I'm clear on the code, but a question has come up I'm unclear on. Project is a classroom building on a college campus. The...
  20. LGreene

    Fire Hoses

    Hello and Happy New Year! I have a rule against making New Year's resolutions, but I am going to make an effort to proactively share more info here rather than just responding to questions as they come in on this forum that I've been sponsoring for the last few years. I really value all of...
  21. JimmyTreeX

    1 egress/2nd floor unit/2-4 Family Bldg

    Just double checking when it’s acceptable to only have one egress out of a 2nd floor unit (no sprinkler system)? Thank you.
  22. eyan50495

    Exit Discharge on Public Way

    A question came up today at my office about discharging a stair. This is NYS IBC and is a multifamily building. We are trying to determine if your stair can exit onto a public way. We are trying to determine what the code says not necessarily what is good practice. There is a road on our...
  23. eyan50495

    Egress: 2 Separate Rooms into 1

    Hi, we currently have 2 small workout recreation rooms that require 1 means of egress. Both rooms which are adjacent to one another have doors into a rated corridor. The client wants to add a door between these adjacent rooms for access between them. However, if we count both floor areas...
  24. K

    Panic Hardware

    I am working on a vestibule for a commercial space, Grou B occupancy. The second floor exits into this vestibule and has an occupancy load of 25. The first floor has an occupancy load of 42, but has 4 other exits besides the vestibule (5 total). Should I assume that the door into the vestibule...
  25. R

    Changing 2 exit corridor into 1 exit

    Hello Everyone, I have a client that is requesting to block off one of the exits with a pathology lab shown in the red border with the 1024 SF in the middle of it. I've checked the occupancy count and I believe i can get it to be under 49 occupants. (note there were previous modifications to...
Top