Required landing width in existing buildings

[dmoreholt]

Hello everyone,

I have an existing two story building that is being renovated for mercantile/restaurants on the first floor and office use on the second floor. The building is about 7,700 sf total, with approximately 3,000 sf on the second floor. Not sprinklered.

There are two existing stairs that we plan on reusing for egress. One of the stairs is 6' wide, but our required stairway egress width is only 36". The code states that the landings at the top and bottom of the stairs need to be at least as deep as the width of the stairs.

Are there any exceptions in the building code or existing building code that would allow us to use shallower landings for this stair that is twice as wide as required? Providing 6' deep landings would infringe on the functionality of spaces at the top and bottom.

The applicable building codes on the project are 2018 IBC/IEBC and 2021 NFPA 101.

Thanks!

 

[steveray]

Change of use? And you will likely need some occupant load numbers....Don't miss the last 3 words....

1011.6 Stairway landings. There shall be a floor or landing
at the top and bottom of each stairway. The width of landings,
measured perpendicularly to the direction of travel,
shall be not less than the width of stairways served. Every
landing shall have a minimum depth, measured parallel to
the direction of travel, equal to the width of the stairway or
48 inches (1219 mm), whichever is less.

 

[dmoreholt]

Thanks @steveray I did miss those last 3 words. 4' is much more reasonable! That answers my question.

To answer your questions, we have an occupant load of 32 people on the second floor and I'm not sure about the change of use. We definitely have change of use happening on the first floor, but the second floor that this stair is serving was previously an office use.