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Assembly Means of Egress

M

Mech

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Oct 30, 2009
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Location
Eastern PA
2018 IBC

Section 1029.1 General. A room or space used for assembly purposes that contains seats, tables, displays, equipment or other material shall comply with this section.

Is this chapter applicable to a lounge / breakroom in a Mercantile occupancy? There will be tables and chairs along with a few loose chairs for relaxing and a counter bar with three stools.

Is this chapter applicable to a breakroom with tables and chairs in an office or an automotive repair garage?

Is this chapter applicable to a "library" in a repair garage where technical documents and books are stored and technicians may sit and read? This "library" is less than 100 sf and could be a small office.

Should I be applying this chapter to conference rooms in offices?

Thank you.
 
It depends...

How large is the break room? >750sf? >50 occupants?

Where the space is designated as a Group A use, then yes, Section 1029 (2018 or 1030 in 2021) applies.
 
I'd imagine however, that each of the proposed cases will be classified as either an accessory use (508.2) or meets the small assembly space condition of 303.1.2.

303.1.2 Small Assembly Spaces​

The following rooms and spaces shall not be classified as Assembly occupancies:
  1. A room or space used for assembly purposes with an occupant load of less than 50 persons and accessory to another occupancy shall be classified as a Group B occupancy or as part of that occupancy.
  2. A room or space used for assembly purposes that is less than 750 square feet (70 m2) in area and accessory to another occupancy shall be classified as a Group B occupancy or as part of that occupancy.
 
classicT said:
How large is the break room? >750sf? >50 occupants?
Click to expand...
The break room is 145 sf and 10 occupants and the lounge is 427 sf and 31 occupants, both meet the small assembly space condition of 303.1.2 to be considered either group B occupancy or part of the occupancy that it is accessory to.

classicT said:
Where the space is designated as a Group A use, then yes, Section 1029 (2018 or 1030 in 2021) applies.
Click to expand...
Thank you classicT!!! ^^^^ This is where I am getting hung up.

1029.1 commentary - first paragraph only shown below says to use the section regardless of the occupancy.
Any room that is used for assembly purposes, regardless of the occupancy of the rest of the building, must comply with this section. Spaces used for assembly seating may appear in buildings of other occupancy types; for example, a library in a school or a meeting room in an office building. This includes spaces with less than 50 occupants in other occupancies. For evaluation of the occupant load and the means of egress in these spaces, these spaces are regulated based on their function rather than their occupancy group.
 
Mech said:
2018 IBC

Section 1029.1 General. A room or space used for assembly purposes that contains seats, tables, displays, equipment or other material shall comply with this section.

Is this chapter applicable to a lounge / breakroom in a Mercantile occupancy? There will be tables and chairs along with a few loose chairs for relaxing and a counter bar with three stools.

Is this chapter applicable to a breakroom with tables and chairs in an office or an automotive repair garage?

Is this chapter applicable to a "library" in a repair garage where technical documents and books are stored and technicians may sit and read? This "library" is less than 100 sf and could be a small office.

Should I be applying this chapter to conference rooms in offices?

Thank you.
Click to expand...

Chapter 10 is "Mean of Egress." I think you are asking if you should apply SECTION 1029 to small places of assembly within other occupancies.

Answer: Yes.
 
Yankee beat me to the "Chapter" vs. "Section" part.

Technically, yes, Section 1029 applies to any assembly space, whether classified as a Group A occupancy or not, since Group A is not mentioned in the initial paragraph. However, you will find that much of Section 1029 would be irrelevant for a small assembly use.
 
Yankee Chronicler said:
Chapter 10 is "Mean of Egress." I think you are asking if you should apply SECTION 1029 to small places of assembly within other occupancies.
Click to expand...

Yes; I am asking if Section 1029 is applicable to small places of assembly within other occupancies. Good catch and thank you.


One of the reasons I would not want to apply this section is because of:
Section 1029.13.1.2 Seating at table aisle accessway length. The length of travel along the aisle accessway shall not exceed 30 feet from any seat to the point where a person has a choice of two or more paths of egress travel to separate exits.

For small assembly areas, must I design the layout with the chairs (at tables) on an aisle, not an aisle accessway? It seems I must because according to the text, at the end of the access aisleway there must be an option leading to 2 exits. In the two scenarios I am dealing with, getting out of the lounge / break room takes 24 feet to get from the table to the lounge / breakroom door, and then another 24 feet to travel down a dead-end corridor before occupants can make a decision which exit they wish to use. (The space has sprinklers, so I can have a 50 ft dead-end corridor.) Or am I over-thinking this and getting it wrong?
 
At 145 sq. ft., you don't have an access aisleway issue. From any point in the room to the one door available is probably less than 30 feet. Once out the door, you are no longer in an assembly use.

I think you're making a mountain out of a molehill.
 
Also exception for less than 50 occupants:

1029.8 Common path of egress travel.
The common path of egress travel shall not exceed 30 feet (9144 mm) from any seat to a point where an occupant has a choice of two paths of egress travel to two exits.

Exceptions:

1.For areas serving less than 50 occupants, the common path of egress travel shall not exceed 75 feet (22 860 mm).

2.For smoke-protected or open-air assembly seating, the common path of egress travel shall not exceed 50 feet (15 240 mm).
 
RLGA said:
Yankee beat me to the "Chapter" vs. "Section" part.

Technically, yes, Section 1029 applies to any assembly space, whether classified as a Group A occupancy or not, since Group A is not mentioned in the initial paragraph. However, you will find that much of Section 1029 would be irrelevant for a small assembly use.
Click to expand...
That is what I was thinking...technically applicable, but not likely to actually apply...
 
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