Plumbing Fixtures for Futsal Facility

[DTBarch]

Never worked on a Futsal facility before, so need a bit of help here. Potential client leasing a 15,000sf space in a flex building. He wants to install two Futsal courts, plus a concession stand. For the 98% of you that don't know what the h*ll Futsal is (me included), wikipedia says it's "a variant of association football played on a hard court, smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors"

As an indoor facility with no bleachers, I'm assuming it would be classified as an A-3 occupancy.

Existing space was formerly occupied by a batting cage business for batting skills development. There are only 2 wc and 2 lavs each in the men's and women's toilet rooms respectively (plus 1 urinal in men's). Not sure if the batting cage business had been permitted, but if so, looks like it would have been classified as a B Occupancy. As such, even under a B Occupancy, they may have been a bit under-designed for plumbing fixture count.

Question is this. As an A-3, and associated change of use classification, would he be subject to applying the bulk of the 15,000sf to the 1/7 occupant load? Using that, you end up with an occupant load of 2,143 and the need for 8 male wc's and 17 female wc's which I'm guessing he has no idea or budget for?? True or false?

 

[cda]

 

[steveray]

Pretty sure for sports floors you could use actual (i thought there was something specific on this) or 1/50 at least for excercise to keep the OL down....As long as the BO and FM are OK with that and it doesn't turn into a concert venue or rental hall when some stupid sport isn't paying the bills...

 

[CityKin]

I've played futsal. It is soccer, played indoors on a smaller court, like a basketball court, and the ball is heavier, so it better for learning ball handling skills. I would review it just like a basketball court or an indoor soccer court. For calculating exiting capacity etc, you could use 1 person per 7SF but not for toilet fixtures. For plumbing fixture count I would use actual numbers, including bleachers if any. My state code has added a paragraph in 2902.1 that allows flexibility in number of toilets required:

"OBC 2902.1 Minimum Plumbing Facilities: .... When the actual occupant load will be significantly different than that determined by section 1004 of the building code, the building official may establish an alternate basis for determining occupant load. This alternate basis shall be included in the special stipulations and conditions section of the certificate of occupancy..."

 

[ADAguy]

"sometimes" the code does include "logic" to determine minimum requirements (smiling).

 

[Yikes]

I've had a similar issue in the past, calculating occupant loads for basketball courts in a Fitness Center.
In those situations, the AHJ typically allows the posting of a lower occupant load as per the IBC 1004.1.2 exception. For example, since a pickup basketball game would typically have 10 people on the court, we were conservative and doubled it to 20 per court (in case people were sitting out on the sidelines, awaiting their turn). 4,700 SF/ 20 = 235 SF per person, actually more if you include out-of-bounds space.
That's a significantly lower occupant load than "assembly", "skating rinks" or "exercise rooms", but it reflected the reality of how it is actually used.

 

[tmurray]

We always use actual occupant loads, plus a 50% "contingency" for some folks to watch and post the occupant loads in these situations. Most people find this reasonable.

 

[CityKin]

I've had this issue quite a few times.

Seems like Table 1004.1.2 needs a use added that covers indoor sports like basketball, tennis and soccer without bleachers.

 

[mark handler]

Break the space up into uses
Standing/observation area would be 7, per table 1004.bla bla
Field or Court would be number of players and refs. at any one time
If the facility is used for other purposes; it would be an auditorium, and all would be 7 or 5.