You are viewing an archived code
Exit facilities for buildings constructed, altered or converted after July 26, 1958 shall comply with the codes in effect at the time of construction, alteration or conversion, or the provisions of Chapter 10 of the Building Code, whichever is the less restrictive, as is applicable to that occupancy.
Exit facilities for buildings constructed, altered or converted prior to July 26, 1958 shall meet the following minimum requirements listed below, or where less than two exits are required shall comply with the provisions of Chapter 10 of the Building Code, including all requirements of the current Building Code for fire resistance and exits, whichever is the less restrictive:
Each of the following buildings now in existence shall be provided with access for each dwelling unit or guest room to two exits which shall be accessible either directly or through a public hallway and shall be so located that if access to one be denied, the other shall be available:
(1) In apartment houses, hotels (and two-family dwellings per Section
of the Building Code).
Where exits are arranged so that one exit must be passed to get to the other, intervening doorways between any exit doorway on a dead-end corridor more than 20 feet in depth and the main exit corridor shall be provided with a three-quarter-hour opening protector or a sprinkler head located on the room side of the doorways as well as in the dead-end corridor.
(2) Every single-family dwelling having more than two stories in which there are rental units shall have not less than two exits from the uppermost stories to a floor of occupancy below which has two exits to the exterior of the building.
(3) Every building or usable portion thereof shall have at least one exit and shall have not less than two exits where the occupant load exceeds the number set forth in Table 10A. In all occupancies floors above the first story having an occupant load of more than 10 shall have not less than two exits.
(4) In all buildings, in basements, dwelling units, and sleeping units below the fourth story, said sleeping rooms shall have an emergency egress of 5.7 square feet with minimum of 20-inch width and 24-inch height and a finished height sill not more than 44 inches above the floor. See Building Code Section
.
(5) Sleeping rooms below the fourth story shall have at least one operable window or exterior door approved for emergency escape or rescue. The units shall be operable from the inside to provide a full clear opening without the use of separate tools. Buildings with additional stories shall provide egress per Chapter 10 of the Building Code.
EXCEPTIONS:
(i) Except as provided in Table No. 10A of the Building Code, only one exit shall be required from the second floor within an individual unit.
(ii) Two or more dwelling units on the second story may have access to only one common exit when the total occupant load does not exceed 10.
(b) Exit Doors Require Manual Release. In all one and two-family dwellings, apartment houses, and hotels, required means of egress doors, including security gates, must be equipped with an approved manual release mechanism that shall be operable from the inside without the use of a key, tool or any special knowledge or effort.
(c) Security Bars Require Manual Release. In all one and two-family dwellings, apartment houses, and hotels, security bars installed over an exterior window or door required for emergency rescue from a sleeping room, must be equipped with an approved manual release mechanism that shall be operable from the inside without the use of a key, tool or any special knowledge or effort.
(Added by Ord. 399-89, App. 11/6/89; amended by Ord. 161-92, App. 6/4/92; Ord. 350-95, App. 11/3/95; Ord. 256-07, App. 11/6/2007)