Common Path/Exit access created between workstations and a wall

[VAC]

Hi all!
I have looked for the answer here and in the IBC but I'm coming up empty.

I am laying out workstations in a large open room. One end of these cubes will form a 'path' to the exit access doorway. I have always assumed that it needs to be 44" and done it this way (although in this particular case, 36" will do -but I don't use it because it's too tight regardless of what the code says about min. OL)

Long story short, I was just told by a colleague that if the end panels are less than 69" H, the path does not need to be 44"
It won't affect what I'm doing, but I'm curious.

Is this in the code anywhere?

Say, 60" H panels on one side and a wall on the other side do not create an exit aisle?
Never heard that before.

Any thoughts/light you can shed on this?
Or is this person crazy

Thank you!

 

[blugosi]

Doesn't accessible require 44" regardless of partition height?
Like a wheelchair will navigate easier if the partition is one foot shorter?

 

[Yankee Chronicler]

Doesn't accessible require 44" regardless of partition height?
Like a wheelchair will navigate easier if the partition is one foot shorter?

No.


44 inches isn't related to wheelchairs -- it's related to capacity, and there are exceptions.

The 44 inches is, I believe, a carry-over from the way exit access and exit capacity used to be measured. When I entered the field in the early 1970s, at least under BOCA, exit width wasn't measured [directly] in inches. It was measured in "units of egress width." A unit of egress width was 22 inches, which was arrived at by the code writers in the basis of 22 inches being the shoulder width of an "average" adult male. The general rules was two units of egress width was the minimum, allowing (in theory) two adult males to move in parallel. Exceptions allowed 1-1/2 units of egress width (33 inches).

 

[VAC]

Doesn't accessible require 44" regardless of partition height?
Like a wheelchair will navigate easier if the partition is one foot shorter?

Accessible is 36".
Min. corridor/aisles width is 44"
There are some exceptions if the aisle doesn't have to be accessible.
As it turns out, that comment came from someone that must have been familiar with an old code.. I wasn't aware of heights having anything to do with the min. width (as I stated on my question)
All cleared up now. That requirement apparently existed, but no longer valid.

 

[VAC]

No.

View attachment 14289

I just replied... minus the image. Thank you!

 

[steveray]

It's not a corridor if it is not enclosed, so corridor rules would not apply.....

 

[Yankee Chronicler]

It's not a corridor if it is not enclosed, so corridor rules would not apply.....

Correct. It's an

[BE] AISLE. An unenclosed exit access component that
defines and provides a path of egress travel.

 

[steveray]

Which then sends you back to corridors for B and M (sorta).....See...simple

 

[bill1952]

Correct. It's an

Could also be an aisle access way:

[BE]AISLE ACCESSWAY. That portion of an exit access that leads to an aisle.

 

[VAC]

It's not a corridor if it is not enclosed, so corridor rules would not apply.....

That's why I said "path"... didn't want to call it a corridor, but it is an exit access aisle.

Section 1005.2
The minimum width, in inches (mm), of any means of egress components shall be not less than that specified for such component, elsewhere in this code.

 

[Yikes]

A partial history on the code evolution regarding furniture partition height:

1985 UBC 3305(a) and 1994 UBC 1005.1 Corridor excerpt: Partitions, rails, counters and similar space dividers not over 5 feet 9 inches [69 inches] in height above the floor shall not be construed to form corridors.

1997 and 2001 IBC 1004.3.3.3 Hallway Construction excerpt: Hallways may have walls of any height. Partitions, rails, counters and similar space dividers not over 6 feet (1829 mm) in height above the floor shall not be construed to form a hallway.

By the time we get to the 2012 IBC, the code concept of "hallway" has disappeared. you are left with the 2012 IBC 202 definitions of:

• AISLE: An unenclosed exit access component that defines and provides a path of egress travel.
• CORRIDOR: An enclosed exit access component that defines and provides a path of egress travel.

Notice there is no longer a definition that is determined by height. It solely has to do with "enclosure" by furnishings, etc., and I believe that partial height partitions are a type of furnishing:

2012 IBC 1017.1 and 2021 IBC 1018.1: Aisles or aisle accessways shall be provided from all occupied portions of the exit access which contain seats, tables, furnishings, displays and similar fixtures or equipment.​

2012 IBC 1017.3 and 2021 IBC 1018.3: In Group B and M occupancies, the minimum clear aisle width shall be determined by section 1005.1 for the occupant load served, but shall not be less than:​

• 2012 IBC: 36 inches
• 2021 IBC: not less than that required for corridors by section 1020.3. Nonpublic aisles serving less than 50 people and not required to be accessible... need not exceed 28 inches in width.