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Medical Office Building Occupant Load- Hallways & Toilets etc.

Q

QuestionThat

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When calculating "Business" occupant loads at 100 gross for a medical office building (as example) can you pull out the corridors and toilet areas from the total gross sf to reduce the gross sf?
 
FLOOR AREA, GROSS. The floor area within the inside perimeter of the exterior walls of the building under consideration, exclusive of vent shafts and courts, without deduction for corridors, stairways, ramps, closets, the thickness of interior walls, columns or other features. The floor area of a building, or portion thereof, not provided with surrounding exterior walls shall be the usable area under the horizontal projection of the roof or floor above. The gross floor area shall not include shafts with no openings or interior courts.

FLOOR AREA, NET. The actual occupied area not including unoccupied accessory areas such as corridors, stairways, ramps, toilet rooms, mechanical rooms and closets.
 
steveray said:
No
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That cut and dry huh? That would be my understanding but keep getting a lot of arguments regarding this over the years. Would your understanding be that the whole "gross" concept is meant to imply that it includes all areas of the building related to the business (excepting any other areas like storage and conference (assembly) areas that are taken into account with their own sf's?
 
Ty J. said:
FLOOR AREA, GROSS. The floor area within the inside perimeter of the exterior walls of the building under consideration, exclusive of vent shafts and courts, without deduction for corridors, stairways, ramps, closets, the thickness of interior walls, columns or other features. The floor area of a building, or portion thereof, not provided with surrounding exterior walls shall be the usable area under the horizontal projection of the roof or floor above. The gross floor area shall not include shafts with no openings or interior courts.

FLOOR AREA, NET. The actual occupied area not including unoccupied accessory areas such as corridors, stairways, ramps, toilet rooms, mechanical rooms and closets.
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QuestionThat said:
Yes. I understand. Talking related to occupant loads not building area per se.
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Floor area only pertains to determining occupant load per Ch. 10. Building area is referenced in Ch.5 and defined in Ch. 2.

The definitions I provided are clear and answer your question entirely. Steve is correct, the answer is a flat no.
 
Last edited:
"But that's the way we've been doing it for years."

It is never -- oops, messed that up a few times. Glad I learned something new.
 
Ty J. said:
Floor area only pertains to determining occupant load per Ch. 10. Building area is referenced in Ch.5 and defined in Ch. 2.

The definitions I provided are clear and answer your question entirely. Steve is correct, the answer is a flat no.
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I'm familiar with those definitions and net and gross SF. Maybe I'm wrong but don't think those definitions really have a lot to do with the original question. Original question was related to occupant loads and chapter 10
 
QuestionThat said:
I'm familiar with those definitions and net and gross SF. Maybe I'm wrong but don't think those definitions really have a lot to do with the original question. Original question was related to occupant loads and chapter 10
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Those definitions only pertain to occupant loads. They are not used elsewhere. Check out 1002.1 and you will see that they are referenced definitions for Ch. 10.

I think you are mixing up building area and floor area.
 
Ty J. said:
Those definitions only pertain to occupant loads. They are not used elsewhere. Check out 1002.1 and you will see that they are referenced definitions for Ch. 10.

I think you are mixing up building area and floor area.
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That's interesting. Never paid much attention to the definitions in the context of chapter 10 specifically. I reread the definitions in this context and helps clarify somewhat. Thanks.
 
The interpretation I have received from the State Building Official here is CT as well as the IBC is that any portion of the building area with a roof over it (including stair shafts, elevators shafts & mechanical shafts) gets included into the gross floor area used for occupant load calculations.
 
Tim Mailloux said:
The interpretation I have received from the State Building Official here is CT as well as the IBC is that any portion of the building area with a roof over it (including stair shafts, elevators shafts & mechanical shafts) gets included into the gross floor area used for occupant load calculations.
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That is correct. The only permissible deductions are for shafts with no openings or interior courts.
 
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