Church capacity

[Genduct]

The 18"/person pew rule was developed not only when people were smaller in girth, but also in an ear when church culture was that mom and dad and their 2 kids sat in the same pew, so kids took up less than 18". Families owned just one car and they all drove together. In protestant churches, the kids were dismissed partway through the church service to go to "Sunday School", freeing up more pew space.

Here are my general practices, with exceptions when the situation warrants it. I often will end up with different occupant counts for different code compliance purposes (not unlike how I can end up with different building areas depending on whether I am using the building code or zoning code methodologies of building area) and I state all methodologies on the plans.

Zoning / parking:
Most zoning codes in my rea assume one parking space per 4 occupants.
Depending on the demographics of the church, that is either really under-parked (if there's a big youth group in an affluent suburb) or way too much parking (if the congregation is aging or is in a more secular community).
As an architect, I negotiate aggressively with the local planning department to keep it 1:4 when adding facilities, then leave it to my client to decide if they want more parking than that. Anything less than 1:4 typically requires a parking study to justify. By "aggressive", I meant that I round down on a per-pew basis, solely for parking stall count, and I transparently sate this on the front page of the plans.
worth noting that our state just passed laws allowing churches to allow their underutilized land (typically parking lots) to be repurposed for affordable housing, regardless of local zoning restrictions.

Plumbing Fixture count: Again, for purposes of plan check I will size it to the minimum, just so we know what that is. But I typically recommend 1.5x to 2x the minimum for my clients, as a real-world convenience, if they can afford it.

Exiting / MOE : for purposes of sizing exits, I will not go below 18" per person in pews, and I DO assume simultaneous occupancy of accessory spaces (Sunday School classrooms, fellowship hall, etc.).
I agree that you don't calc the occupant load per pew. You first sum the total of all inches of all pews together, then divide that single summed number by 18, and round up that final number.

Yikes, I admire your attention to detail!

It probably didn't come through, but my remark was also a political comment from "Us Old People" on the lack of participation in things like CHURCH .
Seems like many don't understand or appreciate the part Churches play in being some of the Glue that holds Communities Together.
Before the State Welfare System was invented, it was Churches that tried to help their Neighbors.

OH WELL, maybe this stuff runs in cycles

Best, Mike

 

[bill1952]

Submit a code change proposal and then go to the annual meeting to speak in support of your proposal.

Until the code is revised, it says what it says. Our job -- as architects or as code officials, plan reviewers, or inspectors -- is to apply the code as written. If we start making ad hoc "allowances" be cause we disagree with what the code requires, the result is anarchy.

A good idea but there are several steps between proposal and annual meeting. I've only 2 this cycle and not yet at first of two committee hearings and probably a week of time in it.

I agree the 18" is not appropriate for some occupancies but for elementary school kids on bleachers, it's probably under estimates. So may need to divide assembly occupancies into different types. I've considered it for sports vs. performing arts, but a big task.