Access to renovated garage office

[Kendra]

A client of ours wants to turn their attached garage into an office and rent out the rest of the single family house. There is currently no access from the house (you have to walk outside and go through the garage door to get in. She would make the existing garage door a set of windows and a front access door. One of the contractors is concerned that we may be required to have a door from the house into the garage. Can someone point me in the direction of that portion of the code? There would be egress from the garage to the exterior.

 

[TheCommish]

Are you going to have a zoning issue with the business use in a residential neighborhood?

 

[BN4537]

If there is compliant egress from the house that does not involve the garage/office, and if the garage/office has its own means of egress as you stated, you do not need a door between them.

However - I think separating a single family house into a business office attached to a rental unit moves you out of the IRC into the IBC - a completely separated business office attached to a dwelling does not seem to me to fall under the scope of the IRC. If we go into the IBC, you have an R-3 residential occupancy attached to a B occupancy, which would need fire separation between them per IBC 420 and Table 508.4. A wild guess as to why the contractor might be talking about a door is that maybe, possibly, the local AHJ would keep you in the IRC for this project and not require the separation if the office is still "part of the dwelling unit".

If I'm all wet about IRC scoping, we will know soon enough

As noted above, zoning comes into play too.

 

[Yankee Chronicler]

However - I think separating a single family house into a business office attached to a rental unit moves you out of the IRC into the IBC - a completely separated business office attached to a dwelling does not seem to me to fall under the scope of the IRC. If we go into the IBC, you have an R-3 residential occupancy attached to a B occupancy, which would need fire separation between them per IBC 420 and Table 508.4. A wild guess as to why the contractor might be talking about a door is that maybe, possibly, the local AHJ would keep you in the IRC for this project and not require the separation if the office is still "part of the dwelling unit".

I agree. The scenario described is not a "home office." It's not accessory to the residence if the office isn't used/occupied by the residents in the house.

 

[SCBO1]

One of the contractors is concerned that we may be required to have a door from the house into the garage.

Why, cuz they have to use the restroom inside the house?

Sounds like your bypassing the zoning dude!

Parking?

Type of business has to fall inside this lanes.