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Unsure About Use and Occupancy Classification

Nicole Brooks

REGISTERED
Joined
Sep 21, 2018
Messages
113
Location
Baltimore
I’m currently working on a new gymnasium and administrative building, it's a single-story, just under 13,000 sf, and fully sprinklered. I was looking at the building as a non-separated mixed-use of A3 and Business, but am now rethinking that classification based on the security requirements for the gymnasium. The gymnasium will be used primarily for students on the behavioral health campus and by psychiatric patients at the hospital, also on campus, and occasionally for private events and graduation ceremonies. They don’t want the patients or students to be able to leave the gymnasium unchaperoned. There are two means of egress from the gymnasium; the main exit leads to a secure, fenced-in area that meets the requirements for a safe dispersal area. The other leads through a corridor to an exterior exit that opens onto an unsecured side yard. An A3 use does not allow for delayed egress locks (outside of a courtroom), so I am considering changing it to an I occupancy, but am unsure which one would be the most applicable. What do you all think? Could I classify it as mixed-use I-4/B? The space is only used for a few hours each day separately by both populations. An I-4 use allows VB construction as well as the option to add a second story in the future (which they currently can't afford but would like the option of).
 
Is it really a daycare?

308.5​

Institutional Group I-4 occupancy shall include buildings and structures occupied by more than five persons of any age who receive custodial care for fewer than 24 hours per day by persons other than parents or guardians; relatives by blood, marriage or adoption; and in a place other than the home of the person cared for. This group shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

  • Adult day care
  • Child day care

I would really struggle with calling a gymnasium an I4 use....And this...

and occasionally for private events and graduation ceremonies.
 
I-3

308.4 Institutional Group I-3. Institutional Group I-3 occupancy
shall include buildings and structures that are inhabited
by more than five persons who are under restraint or security.
A Group I-3 facility is occupied by persons who are generally
incapable of self-preservation due to security measures not
under the occupants’ control. This group shall include, but not
be limited to, the following:
Correctional centers
Detention centers
Jails
Prerelease centers
Prisons
Reformatories
Buildings of Group I-3 shall be classified as one of the
occupancy conditions specified in Sections 308.4.1 through
308.4.5 and shall comply with Section 408
 
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