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Card readers and dead end corridors

rktect 1

rktect 1

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Location
Illinois
I have an F1/S1 tenant build out. About 30,000 sq. ft. with about 12,000 sq ft of it being front offices. Not submitted as a mixed use. All sprinklered type 2b. Between the office section and F1/S1 at any door leading to/from is a card reader. On the exiting plan it shows two places where the means of egress continues from the f1/s1 areas to the offic areas (edit: I reworded this sentence). Basically you enter, from street, the office corridor and can go two separate directions. Standing in the entry you can go either left corridor or right corridor that are about 70 feet and 60 feet in length and end with a card reader to the F1/S1. So my question is, does that constitute dead ends due to the card readers? These card readers are going to be at locations with a manual fire alarm station.
 
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rktect1,

In the event of a power failure or an alarm, we have the magnetic locks designed to disengage, and

remain disengaged until regular power is restored or the alarm has been resolved.

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rktect 1

My personal opinion for what is not worth

is " are two exits required form the corridor????"

If not no dead end corridor issue
 
The short answer is yes. There is a demonstration room with about 60 people emptying at two points, one into each corridor with other occupants from offices which brings both corridors back into two exits required.
 
Both 36" wide doors have glass sidelights and take up pretty much the entire 5'-0" wide wall. At the very end of the first corridor is this door which is left hand swinging into the corridor in which you would be standing. If standing there with your left hand on the door knob/lever, directly to the left side corridor wall is another door to a room. Opposite of this is the card reader about 42 inches away from the hinge for the door.

At the very end of the second corridor is a door which is left hand swinging into the corridor in which you would be standing. If standing there with your left hand on the door knob/lever, directly to the left side corridor wall is the card reader about 12 inches away from the sidelight for the door.

Hope that makes sense.
 
without seeing a layout a little hard to make a call

I guess a few questions

1. is the corridor rated

2. can you legaly dump a b into a f/s
 
1. no. Why would it be required to be? The corridors actually separates office areas on both sides of the corridors. A rated wall has been supplied between the F1/S1 use area and the office area.

2. It isn't a B. It is an office area inside an F1/S1

The building is designed as an F1, single story, sprinklered type 2b building located in our industrial section of town. There are three separate tenants for the building. All of which have office areas inside the F1/S1 tenant spaces.
 
"""I have an F1/S1 tenant build out. About 30,000 sq. ft. with about 12,000 sq ft of it being front offices""""

the offices are not "B"

Like I say with out seeing a layout hard to make a call

since building is sprinkled corridors more then likely do not have to be rated, do not have the book in front of me.
 
does the office area have enough exiting by itself, and the f/s have enough exiting by itself???

if so can you get away with not calling the card access doors exits????
 
that is what I mean,,,,, if it is a required exit,,,,, you cannot have a person have to do a card reader to exit

also, I keep wondering are you exiting into a more hazardous area??? sorry do not have the code book to look at to make sure the answers are right or quote a section
 
"""""but actually only one corridor does"""""

so this one corridor that dumps to the f/s have an occupant load to require two ways out???????
 
I don't have my IBC with me either. But i thought an f1/s1 and B are same hazard, right? Which is why no rating is required for the separation. It isn't mixed use. It is F1/S1.
 
cda said:
"""""but actually only one corridor does"""""so this one corridor that dumps to the f/s have an occupant load to require two ways out???????
Click to expand...
The f1/s1 area probably has its own occupant load of about 80 plus 50% of the other 70 or so (from memeory now). There are about 6 exits from the f1/s1 area.

I'm starting to feel like I am having an aneurism.
 
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thought you could not exit through a storage area???

""so this one corridor that dumps to the f/s have an occupant load to require two ways out??????? I was wondering prior to the card reader waht is the occupant load for this corridor, if it low enough to not require two exits, there is no dead corridor issue.

sounds like you have a few different questions/ things going on here.

that is what I mean,,,,, if it is a required exit,,,,, you cannot have a person have to do a card reader to exit???????????????????????????
 
Sorry about this confusion here. I've gotten myself all turned around trying to figure out the card readers and now talking about egress directionn.

OK. So from egress point of view. People are exiting from the F1/S1 into the corridor (where offices are at) or other 6 exits to exterior. Not from corridor with offices to f1/s1 area. The card reader on this door works from both sides. There is an exit sign only above the door on the f/s side. Down this corridor you have to travel about 65 feet to the main entrance. (dead end from entrance to the corridors end at the door leading to f/s. Going past the entrance about 65 feet will lead you to another door with an exit sign over it on both sides and card reader. This door leads into a demonstraation room and then to another door with exit sign above it on both sides to an unspecified room with door to exterior.
 
sounds like you need to revevaluate exit sign palcement

Sounds like you have enough exiting to possibly do away with one or both of these exiting schemes

then the card reader issue goes away, and the doors are for convience
 
If I am understanding correctly, I don't think the sign in the corridor over the door to the demonstration room is necessary.

In the situation of somebody entering the building through the main entrance there would not be enough occupant load to require an exit other than the main entrance.

In the situation of people exiting through the corridor from the offices, why would they travel past the main entrance to an exit farther away.

It sounds like there are other exits from the office areas, so I assume there is no common path of egress travel issue?

Furthermore, I don't think you can place an exit sign over an access controlled door (shall open without special effort or knowledge), except as was pointed out with delayed egress.
 
If more than one exit is required, wouldn't a locked door (regardless of whether it has a card reader) create a dead end corridor issue?

1018.4 Dead ends. Where more than one exit or exit access doorway is required, the exit access shall be arranged such that there are no dead ends in corridors more than 20 feet (6096 mm) in length.

Exceptions:

1. In occupancies in Group I-3 of Occupancy Condition 2, 3 or 4 (see Section 308.4), the dead end in a corridor shall not exceed 50 feet (15 240 mm).

2. In occupancies in Groups B, E, F, I-1, M, R-1, R-2, R-4, S and U, where the building is equipped throughout with an automatic sprinkler system in accordance with Section 903.3.1.1, the length of the dead-end corridors shall not exceed 50 feet (15 240 mm).

3. A dead-end corridor shall not be limited in length where the length of the dead-end corridor is less than 2.5 times the least width of the dead-end corridor.
 
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