Occupancy Classification - Mechanical rooms

[blugosi]

How do we classify mechanical rooms when they support an open air A-5 occupancy such as a splish splash park, or a padel court for purposes of specifying fire alarm, fire suppression, emergency lighting, signage etc?

Group U maybe? S-2?

Going with Group U practically exempts these areas from all requirements. Not even emergency lighting....

I have asked a a similar question in an older thread here but the subject was different and the question is not really visible, sorry for repeating myself.

 

[steveray]

I lean towards S generally….we may need to actually clarify this in code one day…it gets weird when you make the top story of the building a mechanical room…

 

[TheCommish]

The mechanical room is part of the main occupancy, especially if it is lees than 10% of the building area

 

[blugosi]

The mechanical room is part of the main occupancy, especially if it is lees than 10% of the building area

Even when it is physically separated from the main occupancy, sharing no exit access with it?

If this is the case, all accessory areas of n outdoor tennis court or public swimming pool need to be sprinkler if they are more than 1.000 sqft!

903.2.1.5 Group A-5. An automatic sprinkler system shall be provided for all enclosed Group A-5 accessory use areas in excess of 1,000 square feet (93
m2).

 

[TheCommish]

Sorry my fingers got ahead of my brain, for a mechanical room suppting the splash park, my question would be does the building have greater than the MAQ for a U occupancy there for requiring a classification as a H use, if not I would go with U

 

[jar546]

Going with Group U practically exempts these areas from all requirements. Not even emergency lighting....

Rooms within a building don't become exempt and don't necessarily have to have an occupancy assigned. If the building is required to be fire sprinkler then you don't leave out a mechanical room within that building just because you are trying to assign a U occupancy to it.

Hit up IBC 508