Restrooms at Outdoor Waterpark Occupant Load

[Matt Jones]

As the title says, working on several buildings on an outdoor waterpark project. I have two areas of concern/question:

1. Freestanding restroom facilities, no other occupancy in the building. I'm thinking building classification under Chapter 3 would fall into Utility given there's nothing else that fits. I may lump it in with a pool equipment building nearby (separate buildings, but could treat them as one per 503.1.2. Still doesn't really change the question, though - how would you classify occupant load for this? I think the answer is probably "there isn't one" as the park itself is an assembly occupancy (effectively) and this wouldn't factor into the net calc, but that feels wrong as well.
2. Related, I have a second set of restrooms and a towel exchange serving the park. They are attached to the ticketing building, which also has an arcade and snack bar. I'm classifying that building as A-2 (nonseparated), so again - what would you put for a load on these spaces? I'm thinking none again for the restrooms and putting the towel service under 1/150 business as it's the closest fit in my mind.

This is under 2020 Florida BC FWIW. Obviously I'll be speaking with the AHJ, but want to have a good starting point for discussion. Cheers!

 

[RLGA]

I have no experience in this area--the closest I have worked on are restrooms for a city park, but the owner was the AHJ, and they just told the design team how many fixtures they wanted. In your situation, the owner is different from the AHJ (I assume), so the best I can offer is to use the maximum capacity for which the park is permitted. If the entire water park is new, ask what target capacity the owners anticipate. I am sure the industry has some metrics that can be referenced.

If the park is a conglomeration of different water rides and areas, you could use the mall occupant load factor per Section 402.8.2. Determine the occupant load for each ride and area (buildings, beach, etc.) using Table 1004.5. The interconnecting walkways can be considered an open mall. The occupant load for the "open mall" would be based on Equation 4-1 in Section 402.8.2.1, where the gross leaseable area (GLA) would be the area of the rides and other occupied features previously described. The total occupant load would be the sum of all individual occupant loads plus the "open mall" occupant load.

This should give a couple of approaches to discuss with the AHJ.

 

[bill1952]

Occupant load of park for plumbing fixtures or occupant load of the buildings for egress and maybe fire sprinklers? I thought the later but ....

 

[classicT]

While the waterpark itself is not a building, I have taken the approach of classifying the entire park as an A-5 occupancy. Select facilities within the park may have a higher classification (i.e. restaurant facilities as A-2, arcades as A-3, etc.), and I would classify them as such. But for the restrooms, I'd just consider them part of the A-5. You can justify this be labeling them as an accessory occupancy per 508.2 (i.e. bathrooms are ancillary to the waterpark).

If the A-5 classification brings concerns regarding fire sprinklers, see 903.2.1.5. Sprinklers for accessory uses (i.e. bathrooms) less than 1000sf can be exempted.

 

[Matt Jones]

I'm concerned with both, although I was thinking a similar approach to Ron's for fixture count. Sprinklers/egress are the more concerning one as I think we will have more than enough restroom fixtures (just need to show the work).

That A-5 approach is defensible, although I think it's meant more to apply to buildings than this particular case. We have maybe 5,000 SF total of buildings, but that would put at least 2 of the 4 buildings into sprinkler territory where they wouldn't be otherwise. I can definitely see that for a Great Wolf Lodge-type indoor waterpark, but not sure it really makes sense for an outdoor waterpark with minimal built structures. Maybe that's wishful thinking, though...

 

[JPohling]

I do not believe the patrons of the water park who need to go to the bathroom are going to be concerned about the calculations being done for within a building or not. They will be concerned about if there is enough opportunities for them to relieve themselves. Having not enough restrooms will surely increase the chemical costs for all of the water rides.

 

[Matt Jones]

I do not believe the patrons of the water park who need to go to the bathroom are going to be concerned about the calculations being done for within a building or not. They will be concerned about if there is enough opportunities for them to relieve themselves. Having not enough restrooms will surely increase the chemical costs for all of the water rides.

Yes, but A-5 doesn't affect occupant load and fixture count. That will be based on chapter 10 either way. A-5 only matters if the whole park is being considered as a "building" which I believe is an unncessary approach as it would add sprinklers to buildings that would otherwise have no need of them.