• Welcome to the new and improved Building Code Forum. We appreciate you being here and hope that you are getting the information that you need concerning all codes of the building trades. This is a free forum to the public due to the generosity of the Sawhorses, Corporate Supporters and Supporters who have upgraded their accounts. If you would like to have improved access to the forum please upgrade to Sawhorse by first logging in then clicking here: Upgrades

Exterior Deck

LGreene

Registered User
Joined
Oct 20, 2009
Messages
1,153
Location
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
I was contacted about an antique barn that has been repurposed as an event space. The calculated occupant load of the barn is 140 people based on the unconcentrated assembly occupant load factor and I will verify that they have at least 2 egress doors with panic hardware.

Here's the question for you. There is a 3,000-SF deck attached to the barn, which has its own exits to grade (it's 1 story up). The local fire department is saying that the deck does not increase the allowable occupant load of the total event space, because people on the deck might enter the barn during inclement weather, thereby increasing the number of people in the barn above 140.

I have never heard of this. I would have expected the barn and the deck to have two separate occupant loads, since each has its own means of egress. I also thought that the calculated occupant load was used for determining the required amount of egress width, the number of plumbing fixtures, etc. I didn't think the purpose was to establish the maximum number of occupants that the barn could hold. And if the fire department is trying to come up with that number, why not use the concentrated use factor and then check to make sure the barn has the means to support that number of people?

Can you help educate me?
 
This may help;


1004.2.1 Intervening spaces or accessory areas. Where

occupants egress from one or more rooms, areas or spaces

through others, the design occupant load shall be the combined

occupant load of interconnected accessory or intervening

spaces. Design of egress path capacity shall be

based on the cumulative portion of occupant loads of all

rooms, areas or spaces to that point along the path of

egress travel.
 
As long as the deck has two code complying exits,,, it should stand alone.

Now if say one exit is back into the building, that is where exiting needs to be looked at.
 
If the barn exits are at grade vs the deck being above grade then you may have an argument for them being separate occupancies but then the deck may not be accessible and "that" is another issue.
 
As long as both spaces have compliant exiting you should be fine.
I would be more concerned about increased live load requirements on the floors for this new assembly occupancy.
 
The local fire department is saying that the deck does not increase the allowable occupant load of the total event space, because people on the deck might enter the barn during inclement weather, thereby increasing the number of people in the barn above 140.

Confused:confused:

Does toilet counts and ADA access to the deck come into play?
 
Confused:confused:

Do toilet counts and ADA access to the deck come into play?

That's a great question! I'm guessing that the accessible entrance/exit is through the building and the bathrooms are inside. Would that mean that the allowable occupant load for the barn + deck is equal to the occupant load of the barn, with no additional occupants for the deck?
 
Top