EasilyConfused
Bronze Member
Would this statement be accurate:
Occupancy TYPES determine fixture counts & Occupancy USES determine occupant LOADS for purposes of establishing egress requirements+.
On the surface this seems simplistic but here's why I'm asking.
Been through this before but.....
I have a Mixed Use non-Separated plan that's 1/2 A-3 and 1/2 B. Within the B space there are additional spaces, that for purposes of establishing ROOM occupancies by USES, would be classified as assembly (use), storage (use), kitchen (use). So even though they have differentiated USES, they are all still technically B by code because meet size requirements.
Have been struggling with coming up with a graphic that incorporates this info into a Life Safety Plan and will help me understand what I have done and therefor better explain to the building official what my thought process was at the time.
Idea is I take my plan and assign both a Occupancy Type & a Occupancy Use to each room. Sounds simple enough.
Some room types:
Large Meeting Room- OT= A-3, OU= Assembly
Offices/Toilets/Corridors etc- OT= B, OU= Business
Storage Room- OT= B, OU= Storage
Serving Kitchen- OT = B, OU= Kitchen
Lab- OT= B, OU= Educational
Small Conference Room- OT= B, OU= Assembly
This makes sense to me.
But here's the problem.
My understanding (and thus the 1st question) would be that to figure occupant loads for the building, I would take the individual rooms (and possibly a combination of spaces toilets, offices, corridors etc for some of the B spaces), look at the USE, then divide the area of the space by it’s use factor to determine the occupant load of that space. Add all the individual occupant loads together for a total building occupant load.
If this is correct, then I’m comfortable with this up until this point.
But now I need to do my fixture counts. And technically, I only have two occupancy TYPES, A-3 & B (mixed use).
Here’s where it falls apart for me.
To be able to do my fixture counts I need to know the number of occupants so I can split between male and female apply factors and arrive at counts. Additionally, the fixture counts are tied to Occupancy Type and not USE.
So, when I look at my plan, it SEEMS that the only way to calculate the occupant loads based on occupancy TYPE is to apply some factor to the two “global” A-3 & B occupancy types, since the “nested” Uses within the B Occupancy type are not types because they are USES, and therefor do not apply to the fixture table.
So, I’m thinking that for the Global A-3 Area I would divide the total area by 15N, and for the global B area I would divide the total area by 100G even though within the business area, because of different USE types, factors would be different for nested spaces within the global business area.
If this is accurate, then this would mean that occupancy uses have no bearing on fixture types.
The other thing that this would mean is that I could/would have different total occupant loads for the global business area for purposes of fixture counts vs total occupant loads for the business part of the project when individual USES are taken into consideration and then added together.
So, thus my reasoning that Occupancy TYPES determine fixture counts & Occupancy USES determine occupant LOADS for purposes of establishing egress requirements+.
Occupancy TYPES determine fixture counts & Occupancy USES determine occupant LOADS for purposes of establishing egress requirements+.
On the surface this seems simplistic but here's why I'm asking.
Been through this before but.....
I have a Mixed Use non-Separated plan that's 1/2 A-3 and 1/2 B. Within the B space there are additional spaces, that for purposes of establishing ROOM occupancies by USES, would be classified as assembly (use), storage (use), kitchen (use). So even though they have differentiated USES, they are all still technically B by code because meet size requirements.
Have been struggling with coming up with a graphic that incorporates this info into a Life Safety Plan and will help me understand what I have done and therefor better explain to the building official what my thought process was at the time.
Idea is I take my plan and assign both a Occupancy Type & a Occupancy Use to each room. Sounds simple enough.
Some room types:
Large Meeting Room- OT= A-3, OU= Assembly
Offices/Toilets/Corridors etc- OT= B, OU= Business
Storage Room- OT= B, OU= Storage
Serving Kitchen- OT = B, OU= Kitchen
Lab- OT= B, OU= Educational
Small Conference Room- OT= B, OU= Assembly
This makes sense to me.
But here's the problem.
My understanding (and thus the 1st question) would be that to figure occupant loads for the building, I would take the individual rooms (and possibly a combination of spaces toilets, offices, corridors etc for some of the B spaces), look at the USE, then divide the area of the space by it’s use factor to determine the occupant load of that space. Add all the individual occupant loads together for a total building occupant load.
If this is correct, then I’m comfortable with this up until this point.
But now I need to do my fixture counts. And technically, I only have two occupancy TYPES, A-3 & B (mixed use).
Here’s where it falls apart for me.
To be able to do my fixture counts I need to know the number of occupants so I can split between male and female apply factors and arrive at counts. Additionally, the fixture counts are tied to Occupancy Type and not USE.
So, when I look at my plan, it SEEMS that the only way to calculate the occupant loads based on occupancy TYPE is to apply some factor to the two “global” A-3 & B occupancy types, since the “nested” Uses within the B Occupancy type are not types because they are USES, and therefor do not apply to the fixture table.
So, I’m thinking that for the Global A-3 Area I would divide the total area by 15N, and for the global B area I would divide the total area by 100G even though within the business area, because of different USE types, factors would be different for nested spaces within the global business area.
If this is accurate, then this would mean that occupancy uses have no bearing on fixture types.
The other thing that this would mean is that I could/would have different total occupant loads for the global business area for purposes of fixture counts vs total occupant loads for the business part of the project when individual USES are taken into consideration and then added together.
So, thus my reasoning that Occupancy TYPES determine fixture counts & Occupancy USES determine occupant LOADS for purposes of establishing egress requirements+.
