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Sidewalk egress path must be 10 feet from building?

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PatrickGSR94

Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2016
Messages
55
Location
Mississippi
I have a code review comment stating that, due to a building being unsprinkled, the sidewalk connecting the rear exterior egress doors to the "public way" must be at least 10 feet away from the building itself. I have never heard of this ever in my 17 year career. We've built many, many buildings with a sidewalk up against the building, with egress doors coming out onto the sidewalk. Especially where there's a fire access drive all around the building, it usually goes: building exterior wall > sidewalk > access drive, with no grass or landscaping in between any of those elements. The comment references IBC 1027 regarding exit discharge at grade, etc. but I can't find anything saying that the walkway has to be 10 feet from the building. Any insight?
 
redeyedfly said:
The walkway doesn't need to be 10' from the building but the Egress Court has to be at least 10' wide. (1027.4.2)
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Right, the walkway leads out to the front parking lot, and the sidewalks and patio areas around the front entry doors.

The comment states "based on the fact that this facility does not contain a sprinkler system, any sidewalks that pass in front of any exterior openings will need to be at least 10 feet away from said openings unless the two means of travel are being provided to the public way".
 
Might be a loco thing

Ask if there is a local amendment

or section off the code they are citing
 
I haven't heard of that either, is it because of explosion concerns when egressing?
 
This is a state fire marshal review, which only enforces the IBC and NFPA 101. And it's just an office building, nothing special about it.
 
PatrickGSR94 said:
This is a state fire marshal review, which only enforces the IBC and NFPA 101. And it's just an office building, nothing special about it.
Click to expand...

Ask the nice fire marshal for code sections

If cannot provide / they cannot enforce it
 
So I think it's probably the 1027.4.2 section about the exterior wall needing to be rated if the walkway is less than 10 feet wide, which makes sense. Although I'm not sure what the building not being sprinkled has to do with it. I don't see any sprinkler exceptions to that requirement.

The building in question is an existing building with a ~5' sidewalk all around, up against the building. We will just show some additional concrete to make the walkway 10 feet wide, from the egress doors out to the parking lot and front patio areas.
 
SECTION 1027
EXTERIOR EXIT STAIRWAYS AND RAMPS

1027 is limited to exterior stairways and ramps and should not be applied to side walks.
BTW my code book (2018 edition) does not have a section 1027.4.2 in it so maybe it is a local amendment
 
mtlogcabin said:
SECTION 1027
EXTERIOR EXIT STAIRWAYS AND RAMPS

1027 is limited to exterior stairways and ramps and should not be applied to side walks.
BTW my code book (2018 edition) does not have a section 1027.4.2 in it so maybe it is a local amendment
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2015 IBC had Exit Discharge in 1027. I assume that is the code in the OP's jurisdiction.
 
It ain't a court...

COURT. An open, uncovered space, unobstructed to the sky,
bounded on three or more sides by exterior building walls or
other enclosing devices.
 
steveray said:
It ain't a court...

COURT. An open, uncovered space, unobstructed to the sky,
bounded on three or more sides by exterior building walls or
other enclosing devices.
Click to expand...

but Egress Court is defined as "a Court OR Yard which provides access to a public way for one or more exits."
 
[BG] YARD. An open space, other than a court, unobstructed from the ground to the sky, except where specifically provided by this code, on the lot on which a building is situated.

[BG] COURT. An open, uncovered space, unobstructed to the sky, bounded on three or more sides by exterior building walls or other enclosing devices.
 
mtlogcabin said:
[BG] YARD. An open space, other than a court, unobstructed from the ground to the sky, except where specifically provided by this code, on the lot on which a building is situated.

[BG] COURT. An open, uncovered space, unobstructed to the sky, bounded on three or more sides by exterior building walls or other enclosing devices.
Click to expand...
I saw those, but check out the definition of "Egress Court".
 
More meddling with code that just makes things uglier....by bringing YARD into egress court, the logic would be that all exterior walls would have to be rated within 10' of an exit discharge door or exterior walkway...
 
I feel like this is more a failure of common sense by the fire marshal. If fire is bursting out of the windows, no one is going to wander by them on the sidewalk.
 
An exit discharge will be either directly exit onto a public way or you will need to cross a yard and or a court to get to the public way. If you are required to use a court to accomplish this then that court becomes an egress court that must be constructed as required by the code. Under the 2018 IBC that would be section 1028.4
 
So if the egress court or open area has two walls the code is requiring that area to be 1-hr rated walls for a distance of 10-ft.

____wall________ l l
Bldg. l court or open area l l public way
l___ wall________ l l
l--- 10ft ----l l l
 
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