Emergency escape and rescue openings (EERO) are
required in single-exit Group R-2 apartment and congregate
residence buildings and all Group R-3 and R-4
dwellings where occupants may be sleeping during a
potential fire buildup. Group R-2 apartment buildings
permitted to have a single exit from a story are
required to have EERO by Table 1006.3.4(1), Note a.
Group R-2 congregate residences permitted to have a
single exit are required to have an EERO by Table
1006.3.4(2), Note a.
All basements and each bedroom/sleeping room are
to be provided with an exterior window or door that
meets the minimum size requirements and is operable
for emergency escape by methods that are obvious
and clearly understood by all users. Sleeping rooms
four stories or more above grade are not required to be
so equipped, since fire service access at that height,
as well as escape through such an opening, may not
be practical or reliable. Since single-exit apartment
buildings are limited to three stories and most Group
R-3 and R-4 buildings are two or three stories, this limit
is not applicable very often. Section 1019.3, Item 2,
limits Groups R-3 and R-4 to four stories where using
a single open exit access stairway.
The provision for basements is in recognition that
they typically have only a single means of egress without
alternative routes through standard windows.
Many times a basement is finished at a later time;
therefore, as a safety precaution, at least one EERO is
required in every basement. If bedrooms are provided
within the basement, the location and number of
EERO are determined by the bedrooms.
It is important to note that this window is only an element
of escape and is not part of the means of egress
required from the story unless it is a door conforming
to normal egress requirements.
Exceptions 1 and 3 are intended to exempt basements
that would not likely be finished as living space
since this lessens the chance of such spaces having
sleeping rooms.
The intent of Exception 2 is to permit sleeping rooms
with a door that has direct access to an exterior-type
environment, such as a street or exit balcony, to not
have an EERO. With Section 1031.4 allowing doors to
serve as EEROs, this exception is redundant. The
open atmosphere of the escape route would increase
the likelihood that the means of egress would be available
even with the delayed response time for sleeping
residents. This would also exempt walk-out basements
that did not include bedrooms.
Exception 4 is in recognition that homeowners or
apartment building designers may want a tornado
shelter in their basement. ICC 500 allows for shelters
to serve other purposes, so a storm shelter could also
be a bedroom or other room in a basement. Since
openings in storm shelters must meet very strict wind
and debris requirements in ICC 500, EEROs are not
required for this important safety feature.
Exception 5 is applicable in buildings sprinklered
throughout with an NFPA 13, 13R or 13D system. In
Group R-2, if there are two, three or four units in the
basement, this exception is considered for each unit
separately. In recognition of this addition protection,
each bedroom in a basement is not required to have
an EERO if the basement as a whole has one exit
stairway/exterior door and one EERO or the occupants
have access to either two exit stairways and/or doors.
The overall effect is that in a sprinklered dwelling unit,
an EERO can be anywhere in the basement instead of
within the bedroom.
