Storage in Utility Room off Fire Egress (California)?

[windy]

Hi there,

First time poster - unbelievable source of knowledge here (thanks!). Anyhow, I manage a condo building built in 2005 in San Francisco. Off of our fire escape stairwells (egress), we have a number of large utility rooms (electrical boxes, cable TV, telephone, etc.). Several homeowners have proposed caging off parts of these rooms to create leasable storage.

I'm concerned about the risk in the event of a fire in that these are only accessible via the emergency stairwell and thus could lead to increased traffic. Imagine someone hauling in their golf clubs/skis/etc when a fire starts. Is there anything in the building code that says you can't build (areas designated as storage that are) only accessible off of a fire escape stairwell?

I see section 1016.2 of the CA Fire Code ("Egress shall not pass through kitchens, storage rooms, closets or spaces used for similar purposes"), but am not sure it applies as the storage isn't "within" the stairwell, though the doors open up to the stairwell (the building is entirely 2-story lofts, so these rooms are on the "half" levels).

Thanks for your help!

Best,
Claire

 

[cda]

Welcome!!

How is the sourdough bread doing?

 

[windy]

Sour as ever -

 

[cda]

Interesting set up

Entire building have a fire sprinkler system?

I take it the walls and ceiling are totally sheetrocked??

Interesting set up, not sure how it got approved.

I would say no, just to find something to support that.

Trouble is unless someone looks at every item going in there, may wind up with some bad stuff being stored there.

 

[cda]

Sour as ever -

I miss it from my time at Alcatraz

 

[windy]

Entire building is sprinklered, thankfully. But totally agree on the storage. All it takes is one person storing bike tires (common around here), cleaning products, etc. Trying to find something in the code to squash it. HOA can put a rule in place on banned products but it's my staff that will have to police it (if that's humanly possible).

 

[RLGA]

Off of our fire escape stairwells (egress), we have a number of large utility rooms (electrical boxes, cable TV, telephone, etc.).

Are these "stairwells" enclosed and connect more than two stories? If so, are you saying that the doors to these utility rooms are opened only from the stairwells? If that is true, I agree with cda--I don't know how that got approved. The 2001 CBC, Section 1005.3.3.5, specifically states that "[o]penings in exit enclosures shall be limited to those necessary for egress from normally occupied spaces..." Those doors should not have been permitted in that case; and the modification of these spaces for storage purposes would only exacerbate the situation.

 

[windy]

Wow @RLGA - that's fantastic. I wonder how "normally" (part of "normally occupied") gets defined. Obviously floors with residential units on them are normally occupied. That these Utility Rooms have no other means of entry is certainly unfortunate (they're bounded on all sides by residential units).

 

[cda]

Well you are also talking about a condo, which is a different animal.
Being a condo, which I have not had to do, do you walk out of a unit and down these stairs??


Do you happen to have access to the building plans?

Just wonder what these rooms are labeled as?

 

[windy]

There are interior hallways/corridors that lead to these stairs. I do have the plans and they label it as a Utility Closet.

 

[cda]

Interesting

Does the corridor only lead to one stair, or is there a second stairway that can be used?

 

[windy]

There are 4 stairwells (building is a square), one in each corner.

 

[cda]

One suggestion is to ask the nice Fire Marshal to come by and look at it, and advise you.

Look at 315.3.2, and 315.3.3



https://codes.iccsafe.org/public/chapter/content/10604/


and what maybe should have happened:;

1023.4

https://codes.iccsafe.org/public/public/chapter/content/10417/

 

[cda]

I do not have much more to add, without seeing the building and plans

 

[windy]

This is great - thanks so much. Will see where I get and maybe revisit (with plans) if I hit a roadblock!

 

[cda]

Truthfully

Sounds like a management call,

And sounds like should be No.

If you can get the fire marshal to come by, he may be able to say No for you.

 

[mark handler]

All Electrical devices need clearances based on their size and rating.
If you "fence off" a portion, these clearances and a emergency Path of Travel must be maintained.
As stated above, contact the Fire Marshals office and you may want to consult an Architect or Engineer.

 

[mtlogcabin]

Wow @RLGA - that's fantastic. I wonder how "normally" (part of "normally occupied") gets defined. QUOTE]

OCCUPIABLE SPACE. A room or enclosed space designed for human occupancy in which individuals congregate for amusement, educational or similar purposes or in which occupants are engaged at labor, and which is equipped with means of egress and light and ventilation facilities meeting the requirements of this code.

 

[Mr. Inspector]

If the storage areas serve any Accessible units, Type A units or Type B units the storage spaces would have to be accessible per IBC 1107.3.