Egress door width in residential allowed to consider both leaves of a pair?

[Jay Smith]

Under 2021 IRC, would a pair of 2’-6” doors with no mullion comply with the clear width requirement for the egress door? 2021 IBC 1010.1.1 addresses this point, but 2021 IRC 311.2 does not.

 

[TheCommish]

That seems to be on opening with 2 doors, also there is a minimum with of doors in a home with exception for closets and mabe bathrooms.

Egress door requed to be 32 inch clear measured between the door and the stop R311.2
Lastly uncomfortable door opening would be about 28 inches

 

[Yikes]

Assuming it is the only door that exits out of the unit (let's call it the "front door"), the answer IMO is "no", at least one leaf would need to be about 34" in order to get the 32" clear width.
I would consider the other leaf to be the "stop" of the egress door leaf.
Caveat: I don't deal with the IRC on a regular basis, so I'm just going off of what I read in R311.2 below.

R311.2 Egress Door​

Not less than one egress door shall be provided for each dwelling unit. The egress door shall be side-hinged, and shall provide a clear width of not less than 32 inches (813 mm) where measured between the face of the door and the stop, with the door open 90 degrees (1.57 rad). The clear height of the door opening shall be not less than 78 inches (1981 mm) in height measured from the top of the threshold to the bottom of the stop. Other doors shall not be required to comply with these minimum dimensions. Egress doors shall be readily openable from inside the dwelling without the use of a key or special knowledge or effort.

 

[wwhitney]

Assuming it is the only door that exits out of the unit (let's call it the "front door"), the answer IMO is "no", at least one leaf would need to be about 34" in order to get the 32" clear width.

Maybe I'm being too literal, but R311.2 says to measure between the face of the door and the stop. The stop would be ~58" away, on the far jamb across the other leaf.

Or to put it another way, R311.2 doesn't specify the position of the second leaf when the measurement is made. So just make the measurement with the second leaf open.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[steveray]

Maybe I'm being too literal, but R311.2 says to measure between the face of the door and the stop. The stop would be ~58" away, on the far jamb across the other leaf.

Or to put it another way, R311.2 doesn't specify the position of the second leaf when the measurement is made. So just make the measurement with the second leaf open.

Cheers, Wayne

Might be the difference between door and doorway……

 

[TheCommish]

Regardless of the word gymnastics, given that this is an egress door, that has to to operate as people are familiar with there normal configurations, that the codes intern is to provide reasonable life safety, I would not allow 2) 2-6 doors as the main exit of the home.

 

[Jay Smith]

I’ve been wondering about the intent of the width requirement in residential, as compared to commercial buildings. Is it truly for egress, or perhaps based on rescue? I’d rather see a minimum clearance for not less than one door to every room rather than only the house. Just musing on the topic. City of Los Angeles code has something like that.

 

[Yikes]

Maybe I'm being too literal, but R311.2 says to measure between the face of the door and the stop. The stop would be ~58" away, on the far jamb across the other leaf.

Or to put it another way, R311.2 doesn't specify the position of the second leaf when the measurement is made. So just make the measurement with the second leaf open.

Cheers, Wayne

Most of the time when I’ve seen double entry doors at a home entry, one leaf is operable and the other leaf is rendered inoperable/ “fixed” via cane bolts 99% of the time so that the operable leaf can latch, deadbolt, etc. against it.
In that instance, the edge of the 2nd/inoperable leaf is functionally acting as the stop for the latch on the operable leaf.

 

[wwhitney]

Most of the time when I’ve seen double entry doors at a home entry, one leaf is operable and the other leaf is rendered inoperable/ “fixed” via cane bolts 99% of the time

Inoperable would be screwed shut or the like. I agree if one leaf is inoperable, then the edge of the leaf is the door stop.

But if you can withdraw the one or two cane bolts, and then swing the door open, it is operable. [Unless there's a definition or requirement in the IRC I'm not aware of that specifies how it is to be operable.] The modern double doors I've seen are much simpler to operate, the passive leaf has a handle that will engage or withdraw a top and bottom bolt on that leaf. So the passive leaf will operate just like the active leaf, you just need to operate them in the correct order.

Regardless, the IRC has no language about making the measurement with only one leaf open, while the IBC does. The obvious conclusion is that the IRC permits the "clear opening width" to be measured with both leaves open. If IRC wanted to require only one leaf to be open when making the measurement, it would include the language found in IBC 1010.1.1: "Where this section requires a minimum clear opening width of 32 inches (813 mm) and a door opening includes two door leaves without a mullion, one leaf shall provide a minimum clear opening width of 32 inches (813 mm)" But R311.2 has no such language.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[ICE]

R311.2 Egress door. Not less than one egress door shall be provided for each dwelling unit. The egress door shall beside-hinged, and shall provide a clear width of not less than 32 inches (813 mm) where measured between the face of the door and the stop, with the door open 90 degrees (1.57 rad). The clear height of the door opening shall be not less than 78inches (1981 mm) in height measured from the top of the threshold to the bottom of the stop. Other doors shall not be required to comply with these minimum dimensions. Egress doors shall be readily openable from inside the dwelling without the use of a key or special knowledge or effort.

Two things come to mind. The code says, "Not less than one egress door" as in a single door. Then the code states that special knowledge shall not be required to open the door....so no cane bolts permitted to achieve a minimum net free opening of 32".