Egress Courts and exterior wall ratings

[rjjh]

I have a hotel buuisiness/clubhouse with 2 enclosed exterior courtyards, the building is mixed use and non-separated.
egress from the various structures in the complex run through the exterior courts to exits around the perimeter gates.
but, there are a few pinch points (listed below) between structures and fences that are less than 10' width at the proposed paths of egress, see plan link below for reference and questions.

1. would 1hr rated walls per 1028.4.2 required at the exterior walls of the offices and lobby, since the exterior path of egress runs to an exit here?
2. there is an egress path between the pool and co-working space that is 44" of ground surface, but the actual "court" over the pool is much wider than 10', would ratings and protected openings be required here? or is the enclosed exterior pool, with cabana/booth seating areas, even considered a egress court as well?
3. there is an open bar-top in the north courtyard with a gate less than 10' to the rear, however the only occupants we're showing egressing from this point are 8 occupants from the bar itself. would 1028.4.2 exception 1 apply and no ratings or protected openings required?

Thank you!
PLAN LINK

 

[RLGA]

From the IBC perspective, 1-hour protection is required if the egress court width is 10 feet or less. In other words, they are looking at the physical dimension between the two opposing "building walls or other enclosing devices." That bold part is the key.

The concept of an egress court is (or should be) very similar to that of an egress balcony. In both cases, the egress pathway is restricted by exterior construction. A typical egress balcony requires occupants to walk along a pathway immediately adjacent to the exterior wall of the building. That wall is required to be fire rated as required for corridors unless the exception applies. The exception states that fire-rated construction is not required if the egress balcony is served by two stairs. The exception to that exception is that dead ends are required to have fire-rated protection. The idea here is if an occupant is being forced in one direction and one direction only, then the occupant needs to be protected.

Egress courts are typically assumed to have a single pathway out; thus, it is treated like a dead end for an egress balcony (i.e., requires fire-rated construction). However, if there is more than one pathway (i.e., a wider court allowing a change in the path), the egress court does not need fire-rated protection, similar to that of an egress balcony. My guess is that they assume the exit discharge pathway will always be down the middle of the court or the larger width would allow egressing occupants to move from side A to side B should a fire break through a wall or opening on side A.

Therefore, I suggest you look at your three situations and ask these questions:

1. Does the pathway in the egress court restrict occupants to a single one-way pathway once leaving the exit?
2. Is the path's length within 10 feet of the building's exterior wall on one side?
3. Is the other side of the path's length restricted by another exterior wall, a fence, or other physical obstruction?
4. Is the other exterior wall, fence, or physical obstruction within 10 feet of the first exterior wall?

If you answered yes to each of these questions, then any exterior wall adjacent to the pathway would be required to have the 1-hour rating.

 

[rjjh]

From the IBC perspective, 1-hour protection is required if the egress court width is 10 feet or less. In other words, they are looking at the physical dimension between the two opposing "building walls or other enclosing devices." That bold part is the key.

The concept of an egress court is (or should be) very similar to that of an egress balcony. In both cases, the egress pathway is restricted by exterior construction. A typical egress balcony requires occupants to walk along a pathway immediately adjacent to the exterior wall of the building. That wall is required to be fire rated as required for corridors unless the exception applies. The exception states that fire-rated construction is not required if the egress balcony is served by two stairs. The exception to that exception is that dead ends are required to have fire-rated protection. The idea here is if an occupant is being forced in one direction and one direction only, then the occupant needs to be protected.

Egress courts are typically assumed to have a single pathway out; thus, it is treated like a dead end for an egress balcony (i.e., requires fire-rated construction). However, if there is more than one pathway (i.e., a wider court allowing a change in the path), the egress court does not need fire-rated protection, similar to that of an egress balcony. My guess is that they assume the exit discharge pathway will always be down the middle of the court or the larger width would allow egressing occupants to move from side A to side B should a fire break through a wall or opening on side A.

Therefore, I suggest you look at your three situations and ask these questions:

1. Does the pathway in the egress court restrict occupants to a single one-way pathway once leaving the exit?
2. Is the path's length within 10 feet of the building's exterior wall on one side?
3. Is the other side of the path's length restricted by another exterior wall, a fence, or other physical obstruction?
4. Is the other exterior wall, fence, or physical obstruction within 10 feet of the first exterior wall?

If you answered yes to each of these questions, then any exterior wall adjacent to the pathway would be required to have the 1-hour rating.

Thank you for this, super helpful!

However, regarding my previous question #3, would an egress court less than 10’ with unprotected openings, and less than 10 occupants, require a rating if using 1028.4.2 exception 1?

In this case, im not sure i would want to apply the requirements of egress balconies if it technically isn’t a balcony, but maybe im not clear?

 

[RLGA]

However, regarding my previous question #3, would an egress court less than 10’ with unprotected openings, and less than 10 occupants, require a rating if using 1028.4.2 exception 1?

Do other people egress through the court from a building exit, or is the court only accessed by the gate? If the latter, it is not an egress court by definition--it would just be an enclosed court with a means of egress. Without an illustration of the situation, it is difficult to give a more definitive response.

In this case, im not sure i would want to apply the requirements of egress balconies if it technically isn’t a balcony, but maybe im not clear?

I am not suggesting that you apply the requirements for egress balconies, I was using egress balconies as a means of explaining how the two are consistent in the way they protect egressing occupants:

1. Both do not require fire-rated construction and openings if two paths are provided.
2. Both require fire-rated construction and openings when restricted to a single path within close proximity of an exterior wall.

 

[rjjh]

thank you for your help RLGA!

 

[Sifu]

Coincidentally, I looked at a balcony situation a couple of days ago. My assessment is shown in the attached snip.

 

[Sifu]

Simialr condition, new question. Given the rear of a building with an exit discharge to a 6' wide "sidewalk" bounded by a fence along the entire length until you come back around the side to the front of the building. I call this an egress court. The egress court has a discharge from an exterior area through a gate. My take is that the egress court must be sized for the cumulative occupant load from both the building exit discharge and from the exterior area gate, which doesn't look like a problem. Do any of the other MOE codes apply to this egress court, such as number of exits, travel distance and door/gate size, etc. By code, the exterior wall of the building adjacent to the egress court will be required to be 1-hr rated. The distance from the exterior area gate where it enters the egress court is 205', and the occupant load could be well over 100, so I am concerned about the limited path and length, the gate size and the age & ability of the occupants to get away from the building. The attached drawing is a preliminary proposal and the building exits are not shown, but they are asking about rear exits.

 

[steveray]

We did one of those last year....PM me if you need to

Simialr condition, new question. Given the rear of a building with an exit discharge to a 6' wide "sidewalk" bounded by a fence along the entire length until you come back around the side to the front of the building. I call this an egress court. The egress court has a discharge from an exterior area through a gate. My take is that the egress court must be sized for the cumulative occupant load from both the building exit discharge and from the exterior area gate, which doesn't look like a problem. Do any of the other MOE codes apply to this egress court, such as number of exits, travel distance and door/gate size, etc. By code, the exterior wall of the building adjacent to the egress court will be required to be 1-hr rated. The distance from the exterior area gate where it enters the egress court is 205', and the occupant load could be well over 100, so I am concerned about the limited path and length, the gate size and the age & ability of the occupants to get away from the building. The attached drawing is a preliminary proposal and the building exits are not shown, but they are asking about rear exits.
View attachment 10451

 

[steveray]

Interested to see where this goes as a yard is also considered an egress court by definition....And whether or not we are going to fire rate all exterior walls now that don't have 10' wide sidewalks or egress perpendicular to the building....

[BE] EGRESS COURT. A court or yard which provides access to a public way for one or more exits.

1029.3 Construction and openings. Where an egress court
serving a building or portion thereof is less than 10 feet
(3048 mm) in width, the egress court walls shall have not
less than 1-hour fire-resistance-rated construction for a
distance of 10 feet (3048 mm) above the floor of the egress
court. Openings within such walls shall be protected by
opening protectives having a fire protection rating of not
less than 3/4 hour.
Exceptions:
1. Egress courts serving an occupant load of less
than 10.
2. Egress courts serving Group R-3.

 

[Sifu]

I let the applicant know my concerns. They said they know the exiting needs some work.....
On one hand I think some of the concerns are mitigated by the open air and the rated exterior wall. On the other hand, its kids! I am hoping they pop an additional exit path out of the playground so those occupants don't go down the egress court, and the gate can swing the other way. I think that would solve a lot.