Exterior Stair at Garden Style Apartments

[blueocean]

I’m working on an R2, building type VB, 3 story, NFPA 13 sprinklered apartment building under the 2018 IBC w/ WA State amendments. It’s a garden style apartment with exterior stairs inset between the units. The breezeways/stairways are only present on one side of the building.

I included 1 hour fire ratings for the unit entry doors, since I believe the separation between the breezeways and the units is a 1 hour fire barrier per section 1027.6 exterior exit stairway and ramp protection (which references 1023.2). However my GC is trying to convince me that the breezeways should be rated as fire partitions and the condition is that of an open ended corridor.

Should I be thinking about this differently? The language that discusses breezeways in the 2018 IBC code commentary is throwing me off… I’m not finding any diagrams which show this situation clearly, although it has to be one of if not the most common designs for an apartment building. Note the staircases are fully inset within the one sided breezeways.

Follow up question. Does the path of travel distance or perhaps the common path of travel distance need to extend to the bottom of the stairs? I was assuming/hoping if it’s classified as an exterior stair the travel distance would be from the unit entry door to the most remote location inside the unit.

Thanks!

 

[Yikes]

The breezeways/stairways are only present on one side of the building.

I included 1 hour fire ratings for the unit entry doors, since I believe the separation between the breezeways and the units is a 1 hour fire barrier per section 1027.6 exterior exit stairway and ramp protection (which references 1023.2). However my GC is trying to convince me that the breezeways should be rated as fire partitions and the condition is that of an open ended corridor.

Should I be thinking about this differently? The language that discusses breezeways in the 2018 IBC code commentary is throwing me off… I’m not finding any diagrams which show this situation clearly, although it has to be one of if not the most common designs for an apartment building. Note the staircases are fully inset within the one sided breezeways.

Follow up question. Does the path of travel distance or perhaps the common path of travel distance need to extend to the bottom of the stairs? I was assuming/hoping if it’s classified as an exterior stair the travel distance

If it’s only open on one end, how does this get called a “breezeway”?
Seems more like an unconditioned dead-end interior corridor with an opening at one end. CPET would seem to apply.

Can you paste the breezeway discussion from the code commentary?

 

[blueocean]

Hello Yikes. You’re absolutely correct, it’s not technically a breezeway since it’s only open on one side. I don’t have the commentary in front of me but the breezeway discussion is in regards to section 1027.6, exception 3 which explains how an open ended corridor (aka breezeway) can be open to an exterior stairway without a rated door inbetween.

From your message I am assuming you believe the partition between the exterior stair and apartment unit is allowed to be a fire partition (not fire barrier, thus allowing the units to have 20 minute doors). I’m curious if you (or anyone else) has a code reference or other information/interpretation that might suggest this? I’m having a hard time getting past section 1027.6 (exterior stairs) which references section 1023.2 (interior stairs) which says separation must be a fire barrier. To me this seems pretty cut and dry, but I’m curious if anyone can prove me wrong.

Thanks for your help!