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Garage Open Air Calculations

Welcome iodinej to the Code worlds' equivalent of Wonderland.

Having been in a parking garage or two during, let's say, a conference ending? 'Occupied' is a fair word. There are egress requirements for them, and other code requirements as well. Keeping the space ventilated is only critical during peak ingress/egress, but that's when there is the greatest risk to health and safety.
 
Thanks Aegis. Looks like that answers the OP, especially paragraph three clarifies the intention on natural ventilation limits. Both Type I & Type II can be unlimited in building area (albeit a height restriction for Type II), and the 200' requirement could potentially allow for a 400' wide cross section to either an 30' open yard or court?
 
Do you make them put a bathroom in the open parking garage if there is no facility within 500'.

Storage (see Sections IBC 2902.2, 2902.4 and 2902.4.1)

S-1 S-2

Water closets

1 per 100

Lavatories

1 per 100

Drinking Fountain

1 per 1,000

Service Sink

1 service

sink
 
I really do not want to be difficult but I can't see where you can waive these requirements.

I do not see any where in the actual body of the code that an S-1 or S-2 do not need to meet the requirements for plumbing because they are not considered occupied spaces nor do I see where it says an open parking garage is not occupied.

An attendant at the entrance/exit is an occupant, and no matter how many times some one says that the cars are the occupants, until the actual body of the code gives an exception to drivers and passengers of motor vehicles using a garage then I have no choice but to consider them occupants just like it says in the body of the code IBC T1004.1.2: parking garage has an 'occupant' load of 200 gross.
 
An attendant at the entrance/exit is an occupant,
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If you have an attendant then yes you must provide a restroom within 500 ft for that person

As stated earlier a parking garage without attendants by design is not for human occupancy therefore plumbing fixture would not be required.

OCCUPIABLE SPACE. A room or enclosed space designed for human occupancy in which individuals congregate for amusement, educational or similar purposes or in which occupants are engaged at labor, and which is equipped with means of egress and light and ventilation facilities meeting the requirements of this code.
 
PUBLIC OR PUBLIC UTILIZATION. In the classification of plumbing fixtures, "public " applies to fixtures in general toilet rooms of schools, gymnasiums, hotels, airports, bus and railroad stations, public buildings, bars, public comfort stations, office buildings, stadiums, stores, restaurants and other installations where a number of fixtures are installed so that their utilization is similarly unrestricted.
 
Ok, I see where you're going with the def. of Occupiable Space, but where does it say in the IBC or IPC that the space has to be occupiable? What it does say is these occupancies need to have a minimum fixture count.

2902.1 Minimum number of fixtures. Plumbing fixtures

shall be provided for the type of occupancy and in the minimum

number shown in Table 2902.1 Types of occupancies not

shown in Table 2902.1 shall be considered individually by the

building official. The number of occupants shall be determined

by this code. Occupancy classification shall be determined in

accordance with Chapter 3.

It does not say types of occupancies that are occupiable, it does say

Structures for the

storage of goods,

warehouses,

storehouses and freight

depots, low and

moderate hazard.

I guess you could argue that a vehicle is not a good being stored.
 
mtlogcabin said:
If you have an attendant then yes you must provide a restroom within 500 ft for that person

As stated earlier a parking garage without attendants by design is not for human occupancy therefore plumbing fixture would not be required.

OCCUPIABLE SPACE. A room or enclosed space designed for human occupancy in which individuals congregate for amusement, educational or similar purposes or in which occupants are engaged at labor, and which is equipped with means of egress and light and ventilation facilities meeting the requirements of this code.
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I understand what you are saying, but gbhammer does have a good point, as it is not exempted as I stated in an earlier post in this thread. If it is an enclosed warehouse, an S-2 Occupancy, you are required to provide the required toilet facilities. There is no exemption for unoccupiable spaces, in the IPC, regardless of which definition you quote, employees will be present for cleaning and maintanence, if not in attendance, and is thereby occupied. Would you require restrooms for a self-storage warehouse? I do not see a difference between the two.

I guess a better question would be, who issues a Certificate of Occupancy for a parking garage or warehouse?
 
Papio Bldg Dept said:
....Would you require restrooms for a self-storage warehouse?....
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I have been required to provide them, but only for the on-site office. Nothing extra for the storage areas.

.....

That's not quite true. We did have to provide them for storage areas once, but they waived the separate facilities requirements.
 
Self storage warehouse without an onsite office.

Do you require lighting in all the units?

Do you require a side hinge egress door?

Do you require heat?

They are all required for an occupied space when designing for human occupancy.

If not the you accept the building/space is not designed for human occupancy.
 
mtlogcabin said:
NOPE for the same reason.The building is not designed for human occupancy.
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Then why are the plumbing fixture counts designed off of an occupant load determined by a table that has occupancy load use/function calculations for parking garages and storage areas. Is there not a discrepancy there worth considering? Where is the footnote in the IPC table where it states except for areas not designed for human occupancy?
 
iggentleman said:
I have been required to provide them, but only for the on-site office. Nothing extra for the storage areas......

That's not quite true. We did have to provide them for storage areas once, but they waived the separate facilities requirements.
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110.1 Use and occupancy. No building or structure shall be used or occupied, and no change in the existing occupancy classification of a building or structure or portion thereof shall be made until the building official has issued a certificate of occupancy therefor as provided herein.

In my opinion, if a building, or structure, or portion thereof, has a means of egress system, and there is an occupant load established to determine those requirements, then it is, by default occupied (regardless of human comfort allowances/exceptions). A certificate of occupancy should be issued, and as far as I can see, the IPC can not be disregarded. I have certainly been wrong on these types of things before, but this is how I was trained, both by the ICC and the RDPs whom I worked for.
 
Last week a DRP listed an overhead 6000 sq. ft. canopy/carport as a U use group for the power company to park their trucks under. As U use they were not required to have plumbing or a sprinkler system. They initialy called it an S-2 open parking garage, and changed the use when I pointed out that a sprinkler was required, they had plumbing next door in an office trailer.
 
gbhammer said:
Last week a DRP listed an overhead 6000 sq. ft. canopy/carport as a U use group for the power company to park their trucks under. As U use they were not required to have plumbing or a sprinkler system. They initialy called it an S-2 open parking garage, and changed the use when I pointed out that a sprinkler was required, they had plumbing next door in an office trailer.
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We have accepted cross access agreements in the past for similar situations in order to count an adjacent occupancy's plumbing as long as the combined occupant load increase doesn't require additional fixtures and access is maintained. We certainly aren't trying to be unrealistic in our application of the plumbing code fixture count requirements. We are also contemplating revisions to the IPC at our next code change for low occupant load buildings and adjacent occupancy developments, but as of now they are Departmental reviews on a case by case basis.
 
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