Means of egress

[Inspect72]

I have a building that is an existing three story apartment building. There is a means of egress that was added at some point off the second floor out the back. It was most likely a window which was made in to a door with stairs going down. From the two apartments on the third floor they build steps from the window to the building behind it. The building that behind the apartment building had some new construction and caused the steps that were off the second floor of the apartment building needing modification. The issue is that there is limited space between the apartment building and the building behind it. Maybe 5 feet. What code would you reference for the replacement of the steps when there is limited access to begin with? They want the steps to be put back but there is difficulty meeting current code. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Yankee Chronicler]

I can't imagine a means of egress that relies on an adjacent building. The situation you describe is a perfect example of why this is a dangerous concept.

In this case, if I understand you correctly NO work was done on the building you are concerned about, but work was done on the adjacent building. When that work was undertaken, was it understood that it served as a means of egress from building #1? Was it understood that the work in building #2 was going to compromise egress from building #1?

If you now make changes to building #1, will it be classified as a repair or as an alteration? If it will be an alteration, then the owner or the design professional has to decide which compliance method they want to follow.

 

[TheCommish]

While not ideal, I have seen some buildings in MA and Boston including been in a theater and exited out a stairway then over went over the roof of an existing adjacent building as secondary means of egress, down more stair to the street.

 

[Mr. Inspector]

I don't know if Illinois uses the IBEC, but that is the code to start with.