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Egress Path Thru Fire Barrier

M

mstehlin

Bronze Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2010
Messages
38
IBC 2009. A restaurant has two fire areas separated with a 2hr fire barrier, each with an occupant load under 100 to avoid fire suppression (IBC 903.2.1.1). The front fire area has an occupant load of 99. The rear room has an occupant load of 25. Between them is a masonry wall and a fire-rated door with panic hardware on a magnetic hold-open.

Can egress from the front fire area pass through the rear room?

The building is about 45' x 65' and is pretty much just a large room, with kitchen and toilet rooms in front, with a smaller eating room in back. It seems straightforward to me, but the plan examiner is saying I need to add an exit that does not pass through the rear room or build a rated corridor through the rear room. I don't see why.
 
Sounds good without seeing a floor plan

The area with 99, is the rated wall the second exit and complies with all codes ??

You are in another building once you go through the door horizontal exit
 
Ask said nice plan reviewer for all code sections said plan examiner is saying plans are in violation of.
 
mstehlin said:
View attachment 1731Here is the floor plan. Is a horizontal exit required between the two doors going to the rear (left)?
Click to expand...
Sorry, you already provided it by default

I would not throw horizontal exit at the plan reviewer unless last result.

First point at, without using finger to the face, that once you go through the rated wall you are in another building, and the rules start over
 
From 09

SECTION 1025 HORIZONTAL EXITS

1025.1 Horizontal exits. Horizontal exits serving as an exit in a means of egress system shall comply with the requirements of this section. A horizontal exit shall not serve as the only exit from a portion of a building, and where two or more exits are required, not more than one-half of the total number of exits or total exit width shall be horizontal exits.

Exceptions:

1. Horizontal exits are permitted to comprise two-thirds of the required exits from any building or floor area for occupancies in Group I-2.

2. Horizontal exits are permitted to comprise 100 percent of the exits required for occupancies in Group I-3. At least 6 square feet (0.6 m2) of accessible space per occupant shall be provided on each side of the horizontal exit for the total number of people in adjoining compartments.

1025.2 Separation. The separation between buildings or refuge areas connected by a horizontal exit shall be provided by a fire wall complying with Section 706; or it shall be provided by a fire barrier complying with Section 707 or a horizontal assembly complying with Section 712, or both. The minimum fire-resistance rating of the separation shall be 2 hours. Opening protectives in horizontal exits shall also comply with Section 715. Duct and air transfer openings in a fire wall or fire barrier that serves as a horizontal exit shall also comply with Section 716. The horizontal exit separation shall extend vertically through all levels of the building unless floor assemblies have a fire-resistance rating of not less than 2 hours with no unprotected openings.

Exception: A fire-resistance rating is not required at horizontal exits between a building area and an above-grade pedestrian walkway constructed in accordance with Section 3104, provided that the distance between connected buildings is more than 20 feet (6096 mm).

Horizontal exits constructed as fire barriers shall be continuous from exterior wall to exterior wall so as to divide completely the floor served by the horizontal exit.

1025.3 Opening protectives. Fire doors in horizontal exits shall be self-closing or automatic-closing when activated by a smoke detector in accordance with Section 715.4.8.3. Doors, where located in a cross-corridor condition, shall be automatic-closing by activation of a smoke detector installed in accordance with Section 715.4.8.3.
 
For occupant load, did you use square footage calculations for loose tables and chairs or count seats in this instance?

I am curious because we see this all the time and the numbers never add up.
 
I did it by both methods and they were similar, so I used the actual number of chairs shown.
 
mstehlin said:
I did it by both methods and they were similar, so I used the actual number of chairs shown.
Click to expand...
Unless the chairs are fixed, the occupant load needs to be determined by Table 1004.1.1, which in this case sounds like it would be 15 square feet per person. If they want more than what that calculates for an occupant load, they may increase it, but only to the maximum of 7 square feet per person per Section 1004.2.
 
Yes, the net area is less than 1,500 SF (1500/15 = 100 occupants). But the owner wants the space posted for 99 so we showed 89 chairs and assumed 10 staff.
 
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