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Fire rated doors in exit enclosures...or not

Markl_AHC

Markl_AHC

Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2009
Messages
26
Location
Allentown, PA
Exceptions can be very elusive at times, so I'm looking for a little help to figure out if I'm missing something.I went on a 'tour' of a new building a customer constructed. Everything is done and they are doing some punch list work prior to their final CO inspection. The thing that really made me do a double-take was the lack of fire rated openings on each of the four interior exit stairway enclosures. The building is fully sprinkled, including stairways. It is a 3-story (2 above grade, 1 partially below) university classroom building constructed under IBC 2009. Drawings do not indicate fire ratings at any of these openings, although there are some rated openings through the rest of the building interior.The two things that got my attention at these interior openings were the sidelight frames (non-rated glazing) and exit hardware with dogging. Interestingly they did include smoke gasket at each door.I've read through Sections 1022, 715, 707 many times to see if there's something I'm totally missing that might explain why these could be non-fire rated openings. Maybe I need to look somewhere else...which is why I posted here. Included is a section of the drawing. This is typical of each.Thanks!

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SECTION 1019 VERTICAL EXIT ENCLOSURES

1019.1 Enclosures required.

Interior exit stairways and interior exit ramps shall be enclosed with fire barriers. Exit enclosures shall have a fire-resistance rating of not less than 2 hours where connecting four stories or more and not less than 1 hour where connecting less than four stories. The number of stories connected by the shaft enclosure shall include any basements but not any mezzanines. An exit enclosure shall not be used for any purpose other than means of egress. Enclosures shall be constructed as fire barriers in accordance with Section 706.

Exceptions:

1. In other than Group H and I occupancies, a stairway serving an occupant load of less than 10 not more than one story above the level of exit discharge is not required to be enclosed.

2. Exits in buildings of Group A-5 where all portions of the means of egress are essentially open to the outside need not be enclosed.

3. Stairways serving and contained within a single residential dwelling unit or sleeping unit in occupancies in Group R-2 or R-3 and sleeping units in occupancies in Group R-1 are not required to be enclosed.

4. Stairways that are not a required means of egress element are not required to be enclosed where such stairways comply with Section 707.2.

5. Stairways in open parking structures which serve only the parking structure are not required to be enclosed.

6. Stairways in occupancies in Group I-3 as provided for in Section 408.3.6 are not required to be enclosed.

7. Means of egress stairways as required by Section 410.5.4 are not required to be enclosed.

8. In other than occupancy Groups H and I, a maximum of 50 percent of egress stairways serving one adjacent floor are not required to be enclosed, provided at least two means of egress are provided from both floors served by the unenclosed stairways. Any two such interconnected floors shall not be open to other floors.

9. In other than occupancy Groups H and I, interior egress stairways serving only the first and second stories of a building equipped throughout with an automatic sprinkler system in accordance with Section 903.3.1.1 are not required to be enclosed, provided at least two means of egress are provided from both floors served by the unenclosed stairways. Such interconnected stories shall not be open to other stories.

1019.1.1 Openings and penetrations.

Exit enclosure opening protectives shall be in accordance with the requirements of Section 715.

Except as permitted in Section 402.4.6, openings in exit enclosures other than unexposed exterior openings shall be limited to those necessary for exit access to the enclosure from normally occupied spaces and for egress from the enclosure.

Where interior exit enclosures are extended to the exterior of a building by an exit passageway, the door assembly from the exit enclosure to the exit passageway shall be protected by a fire door conforming to the requirements in Section 715.3. Fire door assemblies in exit enclosures shall comply with Section 715.3.4.
 
""""university classroom building"""

maybe that is why?? around here they are their own kingdom, and are considered state property

is the building sprinkled??? are the corridors rated???
 
No kingdom in this case. They are a small, private university and have to comply with the PA uniform construction code. Since their township does not perform the inspections required by their permits, a 3rd party performs all inspections. Same goes for plan review. It is sprinkled and there are some other rated doors on the corridor, but that does not directly answer your question regarding the corridors. I'll have to go back and look at their drawings.

Having sprinklers in the stairways allows the exception for temperature rise doors, but not sure what other circumstances would allow for that unless there was some other design exception presented during plan review.
 
steveray said:
SECTION 1019 VERTICAL EXIT ENCLOSURES
Click to expand...
Thanks. Forgot to list that one too, and reading it again furthers my curiosity over why it was done this way. It will be interesting to find out what happens during their CO inspection.
 
707.6 Exterior walls. Where exterior walls serve as a part of a

required shaft enclosure, such walls shall comply with the

requirements of Section 704 for exterior walls and the

fire-resistance-rated enclosure requirements shall not apply.

Exception: Exterior walls required to be fire-resistance

rated in accordance with Section 1014.5.1 for exterior

egress balconies, Section 1020.1.4 for exit enclosures and

Section 1023.6 for exterior exit ramps and stairways.

1020.1.4 Exit enclosure exterior walls. Exterior walls of an

exit enclosure shall comply with the requirements of Section

704 for exterior walls. Where nonrated walls or unprotected

openings enclose the exterior of the stairway and the walls

or openings are exposed by other parts of the building at an

angle of less than 180 degrees (3.14 rad), the building exterior

walls within 10 feet (3048 mm) horizontally of a

nonratedwall or unprotected opening shall have a fire-resistance

rating of not less than 1 hour. Openings within such

exterior walls shall be protected by opening protective having

a fire protection rating of not less than 3/4 hour. This construction

shall extend vertically from the ground to a point 10

feet (3048 mm) above the topmost landing of the stairway or

to the roof line, whichever is lower.

This exception may only allow non-rated doors at the exterior where they are not exposed to exposures at an angle less than 180 degrees......

This is the only exception that is really hidden in the code - then it leads to other problems with egress hardware and listed use for doors..
 
The exterior stair doors usually aren't rated but I think Mark was talking about the interior doors from the floors of the building into the stairwell. I have never seen non-labeled doors there except on extremely old and neglected buildings. I have seen non-latching doors to stairs...usually on older schools. I'm not sure when that changed.
 
BB - That reference certainly does dance around this specific situation. Have to read that another 10 times to make sure I understand the circumstances defined to see if it would apply here. The link between the exception you reference and another reference that would allow for non-rated doors into the stairway exit enclosure from the corridor is what seems to be missing.

Lori - Exactly. I've only seen this situation on older buildings no newer than maybe early '70's. Ironic that they chose to put exit hardware with dogging and passage trims on each one. They could have saved the $$ and just had them push/pull.
 
Mark,

Did not completely understand your question - AS far as unrated doors in the corridor (or a case opening) leading onto the stairway (as far as prescriptive codes go)

I do not know of any exceptions for a three story building.

As far as the exterior wall of the stair shaft and a non-rated door leading to the exterior - it may be allowed.....but it has to meet specific requirements.

\The other alternative is a building based on the Performance based design..... Large smoke control system or anything unusual in the building?
 
Can the stair serve as an exit access and still provide for compliance from the most remote point to the exit discharge? If so, then it can be an open stair, but only for two connecting floors. See Section 708.2, exception #11, which will reference you to Section 1016.1 This exception can apply only if there are at least two means of egress from each floor, which it sounds like there is as you indicated there are four stairs.
 
Codegeek said:
Can the stair serve as an exit access and still provide for compliance from the most remote point to the exit discharge? If so, then it can be an open stair, but only for two connecting floors. See Section 708.2, exception #11, which will reference you to Section 1016.1 This exception can apply only if there are at least two means of egress from each floor, which it sounds like there is as you indicated there are four stairs.
Click to expand...
A stairway is either -an exit or part of exit access - If the stairway is open or unrated, it is part of the exit access and Common Path of Travel and Travel Distances still apply....

If the stairway is fire rated and meets the requirements of an exit, the CPT and travel distance stop once your enter the exit............
 
Builder Bob said:
A stairway is either -an exit or part of exit access - If the stairway is open or unrated, it is part of the exit access and Common Path of Travel and Travel Distances still apply....If the stairway is fire rated and meets the requirements of an exit, the CPT and travel distance stop once your enter the exit............
Click to expand...
Agree. I was offering up the exit access as it had not been previously mentioned as a possible reason for the unrated openings.
 
Builder Bob said:
The other alternative is a building based on the Performance based design..... Large smoke control system or anything unusual in the building?
Click to expand...
Nothing like that in place that I am aware of. They have non-rated doors/frames(with sidelites)/hardware from the corridor into the stairway. I have not seen that situation in new construction and wanted to know if there were some provision for that in the code - that is the bottom line question.

The performance-based design aspect is not something I had considered as an explanation, but may be plausible. If that is the case, I'll be very interested to know those details.
 
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