Threshold for Condo Slider

[jar546]

Is this acceptable? When I say acceptable, I mean code compliant. This is a slider that goes out to a balcony on a high-rise.

 

[steveray]

Maybe.....Type B or A?

Seems like a damp or wet location for the receptacle though...

 

[classicT]

It is sliding window, not a door.

 

[Joe.B]

Haha yeah, are you asking about the outlet or the door itself? Kidding, by the thread title you're obviously talking about the "step to get over the threshold onto the balcony. It in an accessible unit? Is it a required means of egress? Does the balcony connect to anything else? And are you asking if it would be compliant under the current code or compliant at the time it was built?

 

[TheCommish]

2015 IBC
1010.1.5 Floor elevation. There shall be a floor or landing
on each side of a door. Such floor or landing shall be at the
same elevation on each side of the door. Landings shall be
level except for exterior landings, which are permitted to
have a slope not to exceed 0.25 unit vertical in 12 units
horizontal (2-percent slope).
Exceptions:
1. Doors serving individual dwelling units in
Groups R-2 and R-3 where the following apply:
1.1. A door is permitted to open at the top step
of an interior flight of stairs, provided the
door does not swing over the top step.
1.2. Screen doors and storm doors are permitted
to swing over stairs or landings.
2. Exterior doors as provided for in Section 1003.5,
Exception 1, and Section 1022.2, which are not
on an accessible route.
3. In Group R-3 occupancies not required to be
Accessible units, Type A units or Type B units, the
landing at an exterior doorway shall be not more
than 73/4 inches (197 mm) below the top of the
threshold, provided the door, other than an exterior
storm or screen door, does not swing over the
landing.
4. Variations in elevation due to differences in finish
materials, but not more than 1/2 inch (12.7
mm).
5. Exterior decks, patios or balconies that are part of
Type B dwelling units, have impervious surfaces
and that are not more than 4 inches (102 mm)
below the finished floor level of the adjacent interior
space of the dwelling unit.

1010.1.7 Thresholds. Thresholds at doorways shall not
exceed 3/4 inch (19.1 mm) in height above the finished
floor or landing for sliding doors serving dwelling units or
1/2 inch (12.7 mm) above the finished floor or landing for
other doors. Raised thresholds and floor level changes
greater than 1/4 inch (6.4 mm) at doorways shall be beveled
with a slope not greater than one unit vertical in two units
horizontal (50-percent slope).

Exceptions:
1. In occupancy Group R-2 or R-3, threshold
heights for sliding and side-hinged exterior doors
shall be permitted to be up to 73/4 inches (197
mm) in height if all of the following apply:
1.1. The door is not part of the required means
of egress.
1.2. The door is not part of an accessible route
as required by Chapter 11.
1.3. The door is not part of an Accessible unit,
Type A unit or Type B unit.

 

[ICE]

California Building Code

In occupancy Group R-2 or R-3, threshold heights for sliding and side-hinged exterior doors shall be permitted to be up to 7 3/4 inches in height if all of the following apply:

1.1. The door is not part of the required means of egress.

1.2. The door is not part of an accessible route as required by Chapter 11A or 11B.

1.3. The door is not part of an adaptable or accessible dwelling unit.

 

[Jay Smith]

Type B units are allowed to have an impervious balcony surface down 4 inches from the floor, but the threshold height is limited to 3/4 inch in 2009 A117.1 1004.5.2.2.

 

[mtlogcabin]

I worked on a lot of high-rise apartment buildings in the 70's and 80's in Dade a Broward County and do not recall ever having to step over a threshold like that. However, Palm Beach County was under the SBCCI, and local jurisdiction could have many amendments to the code.

I guess you have a lot of research to do to determine if it was code compliant at the time it was built.

 

[tmurray]

The way I would look at it, the area on the inside of the door is now a step. Is the "step" wide enough? It doesn't look like it is.

 

[ICE]

This is most likeley replicated many times in the building. If the end product is 7-3/4" or less, there is no code violation. And even if there were, it is too late to get it corrected. As long as the new threshold is no worse than the existing, I don't see a way of changing anything without a potential bigger problem.

 

[SCBO1]

2018IBC .1.7(2) If its a type B unit: I would think with the 4-inch or 4-3/4" threshold in an area with windblown rain would be needed to keep standing water from seeping in through the patio doors weep holes.

We have an issue when a 4"-plus snow melts next to a patio door here, it sometimes will inter through the weep holes.