Wedged Stair Door and Obstructed Corridor in an Unsprinklered Office
You inspect a three-story, 36,000 sq ft office building constructed in 1985. The building is unsprinklered and has a single interior exit stair serving all floors. Each floor has an occupant load of about 45 people based on the tenant layout. On the second floor, the stair door is wedged open, the door closer is missing, and the door has a 1 in gap at the bottom. The corridor outside the stair is 44 in wide, but boxes and a copier reduce the clear width to about 30 in. An exit sign at the stair is dark. The owner says the building is "grandfathered" and has never had a citation. The buyer wants to know if the building is legal for its current use.
1. Which conditions are fire and life safety deficiencies, and why?
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The wedged-open stair door and missing closer are deficiencies because the stair enclosure is intended to limit smoke entry during a fire; propping the door defeats that protection. The 1 in gap at the bottom may also compromise the enclosure and should be evaluated with the door assembly. The stored boxes and copier reduce the corridor clear width from 44 in to about 30 in, which can obstruct egress and disable the required corridor width. The dark exit sign is a deficiency because it fails to identify the egress path. These are observable conditions that should be reported as fire and life safety concerns, not merely housekeeping. Avoid stating a specific code section unless you have verified the applicable edition and occupancies. The report can say the conditions may impair egress and smoke containment and recommend immediate correction.
2. How should you address the owner's "grandfathered" single-stair claim?
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Explain that "grandfathered" is not a determination you can make from a visual inspection. Existing buildings may be permitted to retain features that would not be allowed in new construction, but that depends on the applicable code edition, occupancy classification, occupant load, construction type, travel distance, fire-resistance ratings, and any approved modifications. A single stair serving three floors and 45 occupants per floor may be permitted under some existing-building provisions, but you cannot confirm that without drawings, occupancy records, and a code analysis. The report should state that the means of egress configuration was observed, that code compliance was not determined, and that the owner should obtain a fire code official or licensed code consultant's evaluation. Do not tell the buyer the building is illegal, and do not accept the owner's claim as proof of compliance.
3. What recommendations and report language are appropriate?
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Recommend immediate removal of storage from the corridor, repair or replacement of the stair door closer, correction of the door gap, and restoration of the exit sign. Recommend that the owner have the fire door assembly inspected and that the fire code official evaluate the single-stair configuration and the building's overall life safety features. Report the observed conditions with locations and measurements, then distinguish them from the unresolved code question: the door and storage issues are correctable maintenance and life safety deficiencies, while the single-stair legality is an unresolved code determination. Include limitations that the inspection was visual, non-invasive, and not a code compliance review. Avoid using the word "legal" as a conclusion; instead tell the buyer what was observed, what was corrected immediately if anything, and what requires authority review.