One Door In, One Door Out: A Tenant Fit-Out Recalculated
A tenant fit-out of 8,000 sq ft in a fully sprinklered, single-story Type IIB shell contains 4,300 sq ft of open office, a 1,800 sq ft training room with tables and chairs, a 900 sq ft break room, a 500 sq ft storage and file room, and 500 sq ft of reception and corridor. The suite has one 3-ft public entrance at the front and one 3-ft rear door opening onto the parking lot; the training room has a single door to the suite corridor. The contractor has fitted the training room door with a keyed deadbolt and a card reader so the room can be secured after hours, and proposes to keep the rear door locked from the inside with a removable key. No other exits exist.
1. Compute the occupant load and the required egress width, and state whether the two 3-ft doors are adequate.
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Occupant load by use, using gross area for business and storage and net area for the assembly room:
| Space | Area | Factor | Occupants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open office | 4,300 | 150 gross | 29 |
| Training room | 1,800 | 15 net (tables and chairs) | 120 |
| Break room | 900 | 150 gross | 6 |
| Storage/file | 500 | 300 gross | 2 |
| Reception/corridor | 500 | 150 gross | 4 |
| Total | 161 |
Required egress width: 161 x 0.15 in. = 24.2 in. across level components, 0.2 in. per occupant where stairs are involved (none here).
Are the doors adequate? Capacity-wise, yes - each 3-ft door provides far more than 24.2 in. of capacity, and where two exits are required, each exit must provide at least half of the total required width, which is about 12 in. and is easily met. But capacity is not the governing issue here. The governing issues are:
- Number of exits. 161 occupants exceed the limit for a single exit, so two means of egress are required from the suite, separated by at least one-half of the diagonal of the suite area, reduced to one-third because the building is sprinklered. The two doors must be checked against that separation; front-to-rear placement usually passes, but it must be measured.
- The training room's own exits, addressed separately below.
2. The training room seats 120 people behind one door. Can the suite's two exits satisfy the requirement?
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No. Exits for the room must be available from inside the room.
- A space with an occupant load of 50 or more requires two means of egress. The training room at 120 occupants needs two separate ways out, and the single door to the suite corridor does not provide them.
- Separation. The two exits from the room must be separated by at least one-half of the diagonal of the room, measured between the nearest edges of the exits, reduced to one-third because the building is sprinklered. In a 1,800 sq ft room that is a real geometric constraint - two doors side by side at the same end of the room will not pass.
- Common path and travel. The path from the far corner of the room to the nearest of the two doors must stay within the common-path limit, and the exit access travel distance from the most remote point must be within the allowance for an A-3 space in a sprinklered building.
- Fix. Add a second door at the opposite end of the room (ideally to a corridor or directly out), or reduce the room's occupant load by removing seats or by reconfiguring the space so that a compliant second path exists. Furniture layout is not a defense: the load is computed on the room as designed.
3. Evaluate the hardware on the training room door and the proposal to lock the rear door from the inside.
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Both proposals are egress violations.
Training room door:
- Doors serving Group A occupancies with an occupant load of 50 or more must be equipped with panic hardware - a device that releases with one operation, without a key, special knowledge or effort, and with a force within the limits the code sets. At 120 occupants, this door qualifies.
- An access-control system is permitted only where it meets the access-controlled egress door provisions: a sensor on the egress side that unlocks on approach, a manual release device located as required and marked, unlocking on loss of power, and release upon fire alarm. A card reader alone does not comply.
- A keyed deadbolt on the egress side is prohibited outright.
Rear door:
- Egress doors must be openable from the inside without a key or special knowledge. A removable key, a keyed deadbolt, or any arrangement that requires a key to get out is not permitted - the removable-key provision in the code is limited to the outside of certain doors, not to the egress side.
- If the tenant wants security, the acceptable tools are panic hardware with external keyed access, or delayed egress where the specific conditions are met (and where the code official approves), not a locked egress door.
Official's action: approve the fit-out only with the second training room exit, compliant panic hardware, and a rear door that is openable from the inside without a key.