If over 100
Or for the I-4 portion "exception" each room did not have a door to the outside.
1. The exception would not apply
2. It would than be an I-4.
Above 2 1/2 it is alawys an "E"
Yes a day care can have a mixed occupancy.
From 09 commentary::::
5.2 Child care facility. A facility that provides supervision and personal care on less than a 24-hour basis for more than five children 21/2 years of age or less shall be classified as Group I-4.
Exception: A child day care facility that provides care for more than five but no more than 100 children 21/2 years or less of age, where the rooms in which the children are cared for are located on a level of exit discharge serving such rooms and each of these child care rooms has an exit door directly to the exterior, shall be classified as Group E.
As with Group I-2 child care facilities, the occupants of Group I-4 child care facilities are limited to 21/2 years of age or less. The distinguishing factor between the two occupancies is the amount of time the facility provides care for each individual; Group I-2 facilities provide care on a 24-hour basis while in Group I-4 facilities individual care must be less than 24 hours. It is also assumed that medical supervision is not present in Group I-4 facilities. Occupants 21/2 years of age or less are not typically capable of independently responding to an emergency and must be led or carried to safety. Under such circumstances, the occupants are considered nonambulatory.
A child care facility in which the number of occupants is greater than five but not more than 100 is permitted to be classified as Group E, provided the children are all located in rooms on the level of exit discharge that serve such rooms and all of the rooms have exit doors directly to the exterior. This exception is only applicable to rooms and spaces used for child care and is not intended to apply to accessory spaces such as restrooms, offices and kitchens. Many day care facilities primarily catering to those under primary school age tend to divide the children into three general categories based upon state laws and regulations. These include infant, toddler and preschool.
Some variations do occur in that larger day care facilities will have transition rooms for mobile infants or pre-K oriented rooms for those entering kindergarten. But basically there is a mixture of children 21/2 years or less and older children. The older children can automatically be in a facility classified as a Group E occupancy, but for the younger children the exception as discussed above would need to be applied to classify the entire occupancy as Group E. The total number of children can exceed 100 and the Group E classification is retained, provided that the number of children 21/2 years or less is limited to 100 or fewer. The infant and toddler rooms would need to have exits directly to the outside on the level of exit discharge. If the exception is not applied, the entire facility would need to be classified as Group I-4 or a mixed occupancy classification would be necessary.
By permitting the facility to be classified as Group E, the building would not be required to be sprinklered unless the fire area was greater than 12,000 square feet (115 m2). A Group I-4 facility would be required to be sprinklered regardless of the area. But as a Group E occupancy, panic hardware would be required in rooms and spaces exceeding 50 occupants.
