Toilet room in Retail stock room

[pschrad65]

A plan reviewer in California is telling me that our employee only toilet room can not open into the stock room of a retail store because of CBC section 1016.2.5 doesn't allow it. The exceptions allow egress through a stockroom with one of the conditions being that not more than 50 percent of the egress is through the stock room. I believe the intent of this is to keep more than 50 percent of the customers from exiting the sales area through the stock room, not to keep a toilet room from being built there or any other occupiable rooms like a manager's office. I have worked on hundreds of small retail projects with this condition and have never had this comment come up before. It isn't just a California thing, the ICC section reads the same. Is there something that I am missing that I can use to argue my case?

 

[ICE]

Exception 2.4 makes it clear that the exiting is from the retail space and has nothing to do with a bathroom.

 

[pschrad65]

Thanks for pointing that out ICE. Hopefully the plan reviewer will agree.