2 story office building and operable windows question...

[joshj]

Need a little help! I am located in Alabama and we are working on a small 2 story office building. Here is the breakdown of the building:

1st Floor: 3,115 SF (load 31)
2nd Floor: 1,625 SF (load 16)
Occupancy: B

There is one central egress stair in the building (only 1 egress required per 1006.3.2, less than 30 occupants on 2nd level). So, the question is, do the windows on the second level need to be operable? Pretty simple question, but having a little discussion about it with a couple of different people.

 

[RLGA]

The short answer is no.

The long answer is that emergency escape and rescue openings are only required in certain residential occupancies.

 

[cda]

Welcome,

They do know it gets hot in Alabama??

My non code search answer would be no, openable windows not required.

The easy question to them,, is please give me a code section so I can highlight it!!!

 

[ADAguy]

Agree with both prior

 

[fatboy]

Ditto.....

 

[Paul Sweet]

The code doesn't require operable windows. However, they are nice to have when the A/C dies on a summer day.