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Sleep Lab

J

Jmb

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Joined
May 16, 2016
Messages
40
Location
PA
This project in question is under the IBC 2015.
Existing building, sleep lab.
There are 7 rooms with beds to conduct overnight sleep studies
Each room has a full bathroom

We feel that this will be a B occupancy similar to an outpatient clinic, patients are capable of self-preservation
The fact that a patient would spend the night but would be monitored, we feel that this would not fall under an I2

So the question would all 7 patient rooms need to be accessible and provide an accessible bathing room since each provides a bathing room? I don't see an exception to IBC 2015: 1109.2, Exceptions for all bathing rooms.

Thanks
 
Nope, only (1) or 5%, which ever is greater.

Having used these before and if all 7 are occupied in the event of a fire, you may have an issue if only (1) attendant is present. Patients can be obese, invalid and or normal, each wired at multiple points requiring detachment.

Nice that they each have a bathroom but (1) accessible from the common corridor could suffice for all.
 
ADAguy....Look at 1109.2 again....Very few exceptions for a nonaccessible bathroom...You could (in theory) call each one a "private sleeping office" and use the pertinent exception maybe...Agree 1 common could work, but if provided, need to meet 1109.2.
 
There you go, this is and "if provided" situation. If you give each one a RR it must comply ,

"But" it could be argued that the facility, (similar to a hotel/motel?) may not require each provided RR to comply given the limited special use condition (back to a minimum of (1) or 5%.
 
I agree - B occ, outpatient. These type facilities have an attached bathroom in each bed/sleep study room. I'm thinking that all the baths need to be ADA. I will research more and post back.
 
I would classify this as a business group B - somewhere between a clinic and a lab (Laboratories: testing and research). group B fits the best. I'm still thinking about the ADA aspect. This is sort of a hybrid situation...maybe. Great question.
 
In looking at 1109.2 (2015 IBC) I'm leaning towards that all the bathrooms must be accessible.

This may be all a moot point however, because in reality the way these sleeping labs operate, it would be impracticable to have staff "determine" which patients may need an accessible bathroom and which patients would not. The business would not be able to successfully operate under these conditions, IMHO. I think the sleep doctor would agree.

So in closing I think that the owner would want all bathrooms to be accessible, for the purposes of construction, even though the building official may allow one accessible from a common corridor, as previously described here. I've personally have seen how these type offices operate, and basically the people are wired and monitored for a night's sleep. When they wake up, the wiring is disconnected from their bodies and then they go to the bathroom and shower off all the conductive gel and sticky stuff. I can't imagine them having to leave the room and go down a common corridor to shower off...
 
Filthy McNasty said:
In looking at 1109.2 (2015 IBC) I'm leaning towards that all the bathrooms must be accessible.

This may be all a moot point however, because in reality the way these sleeping labs operate, it would be impracticable to have staff "determine" which patients may need an accessible bathroom and which patients would not. The business would not be able to successfully operate under these conditions, IMHO. I think the sleep doctor would agree.

So in closing I think that the owner would want all bathrooms to be accessible, for the purposes of construction, even though the building official may allow one accessible from a common corridor, as previously described here. I've personally have seen how these type offices operate, and basically the people are wired and monitored for a night's sleep. When they wake up, the wiring is disconnected from their bodies and then they go to the bathroom and shower off all the conductive gel and sticky stuff. I can't imagine them having to leave the room and go down a common corridor to shower off...
Click to expand...

I agree with you determination, unfortunately the architect doesn't think the same way!
 
In this case, it will come down to the doctor. I can't imagine the doctor wanting a "common" bathroom with ADA access. It just isn't practical to run a sleep lab that way... Did the architect even talk with his/her client? Oh well, there is going to be ADA in there one way or another.
 
It depends:
1. How many rooms in facility?
2. How is the room/rooms use scheduled, one at a time, staggered, all at the same time?
3. How the facility is manned.

It comes down to a performance issue.
 
There could be 1000 rooms. The determination isn't that nebulous.

The original post stated 2015 IBC. So I answer based on that. It is clearly a B occupancy, so the correct answer is a derivative of that fact, whether we like it or not.

Personally, I would not do business here. I prefer to shower in private.
 
I thought we already answered that. They can have one. The architect must supply a notorized letter from the responsible physician, to Building Official McNasty, stating that the minimum-wage appointment scheduler will be responsible for determining:
  • the ADA needs of all patients, and
  • that no more than 1 patient with ADA needs will ever be scheduled on the same day or evening.
Letter must be signed and notorized. Simple.

The more I think about this the more it sounds like a hypothetical situation designed to stimulate code talk.
 
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