(a) Stairwells shall be enclosed at each floor level including the first floor level, unless the fire authorities specifically waive this regulation for the first floor level. This regulation is waived in institutions having an approved sprinkler system.
All new homes opening after the date of approval of this regulation by the state board of health shall comply with this regulation before opening. Those in existence as of the date of approval of this regulation by the state board of health shall be required to comply within one (1) year from that date.
(b) Where the stairway to the basement is located directly beneath a stairway from the first to the second floor, the walls and soffit of the basement stairs shall be lined with metal lath covered with cement or vermiculite plaster and the door at the head of such stair shall be metal covered and self-closing.
(c) All fire escapes and interior stairways which are to be used for the evacuation of patients shall be forty-two (42) inches in width in institutions opening after the date of establishment of this regulation.
(d) Stairways shall be provided with hand rails.
(e) Nursing and care homes with five (5) beds or less shall be exempt from the provisions of subsections (a), (b) and (c) of this section. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 89-31.)