Building Code – Life Safety Technical Committee on ... · PDF fileBuilding Code – Life Safety Technical Committee on Residential Occupancies NFPA 101 & NFPA 5000 REPORT ON...

Building Code – Life Safety Technical Committee on Residential Occupancies

NFPA 101 & NFPA 5000

REPORT ON COMMENTS (ROC) MEETING AGENDA

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Hotel Monteleone New Orleans, Louisiana

1. Call to order. Call meeting to order by Chair Warren Bonisch at 8:00 AM.

2. Introduction of attendees. For committee roster, see pg. 02.

3. Previous meeting minutes. For the December 9, 2009 meeting minutes, see pg.

05.

4. Chair’s report – W. Bonisch.

5. Staff liaison’s report – G. Harrington.

a. Revision process. Staff presentation on permitted actions at the ROC meeting. See PowerPoint presentation handout and the revision cycle schedule, pg. 09.

6. CO Detection Task Group report - Joe Versteeg (Chair), Dan Finnegan, Ron

Nickson, Steve Orlowski and Richard Roberts.

7. NFPA 101 ROC preparation. For Comments, see pg. 15.

8. NFPA 5000 ROC preparation. For Comments, see pg. 64.

9. Other business.

10. Future meetings.

11. Adjournment. Attachments

Page 1 of 71

Address List No PhoneResidential Occupancies SAF-RES

Safety to Life

Gregory E. Harrington9/2/2010

SAF-RES

Warren D. Bonisch

ChairAon/Schirmer Engineering Corporation1701 North Collins Blvd., Suite 235Richardson, TX 75080-3553

I 11/14/1997SAF-RES

Gregory E. Harrington

Secretary (Staff-Nonvoting)National Fire Protection Association1 Batterymarch ParkQuincy, MA 02169-7471

SAF-RES

Gordon Bates

PrincipalMinneapolis Fire Department350 South 5th Street, Room 230Minneapolis, MN 55415-1387

E 7/29/2005SAF-RES

James R. Bell

PrincipalMarriott International, Inc.Risk Management Department1 Marriott DriveWashington, DC 20058American Hotel & Lodging Association

U 1/1/1990

SAF-RES

H. Wayne Boyd

PrincipalUS Safety & Engineering Corporation2365 El Camino AvenueSacramento, CA 95821-5647

M 7/17/1998SAF-RES

Harry L. Bradley

PrincipalMaryland State Fire Marshals Office5 West Riding DriveBel-Air, MD 21014International Fire Marshals Association

E 1/1/1982

SAF-RES

Phillip A. Brown

PrincipalAmerican Fire Sprinkler Association, Inc.12750 Merit Drive, Suite 350Dallas, TX 75251Alternate: Michael F. Meehan

IM 10/6/2000SAF-RES

Daniel P. Finnegan

PrincipalSiemens Industry, Inc.Building Technology DivisionFire Safety Unit8 Fernwood RoadFlorham Park, NJ 07932Automatic Fire Alarm Association, Inc.

M 8/5/2009

SAF-RES

Sam W. Francis

PrincipalAmerican Forest & Paper Association1 Dutton Farm LaneWest Grove, PA 19390American Forest & Paper AssociationAlternate: Dennis L. Pitts

M 4/1/1996SAF-RES

Ralph D. Gerdes

PrincipalRalph Gerdes Consultants, LLC5510 South East Street, Suite EIndianapolis, IN 46227Alternate: David Cook

SE 1/1/1987

SAF-RES

Stanley C. Harbuck

PrincipalSchool of Building InspectionPO Box 1643Salt Lake City, UT 84110American Public Health AssociationAlternate: Jake Pauls

C 10/4/2001SAF-RES

Kenneth E. Isman

PrincipalNational Fire Sprinkler Association, Inc.40 Jon Barrett RoadPatterson, NY 12563Alternate: Donald J. Pamplin

M 1/1/1987

1Page 2 of 71


Safety to Life


SAF-RES

Marshall A. Klein

PrincipalMarshall A. Klein & Associates, Inc.6815 Autumn View DriveEldersburg, MD 21784-6304Alternate: David M. Hammerman

SE 1/1/1981SAF-RES

James K. Lathrop

PrincipalKoffel Associates, Inc.81 Pennsylvania AvenueNiantic, CT 06357

SE 1/1/1992

SAF-RES

Eric N. Mayl

PrincipalCore Engineers Consulting Group, LLC5171 MacArthur Blvd., Suite 200Washington, DC 20016

SE 3/21/2006SAF-RES

Ronald G. Nickson

PrincipalNational Multi Housing Council1850 M Street NW, Suite 540Washington, DC 20036

U 4/1/1995

SAF-RES

Steven Orlowski

PrincipalNational Association of Home Builders1201 15th Street, NWWashington, DC 20005-2800Alternate: Lawrence Brown

U 7/26/2007SAF-RES

Henry Paszczuk

PrincipalConnecticut Department of Public Safety1111 Country Club RoadMiddletown, CT 06457

E 4/15/2004

SAF-RES

Peter Puhlick

PrincipalUniversity of ConnecticutFacilities OperationsUnit 3038 Co-Generation/Central Utilities PlantStorrs, CT 06269-3038

U 1/1/1988SAF-RES

Richard Jay Roberts

PrincipalHoneywell Life Safety3825 Ohio AvenueSt. Charles, IL 60174National Electrical Manufacturers Association

M 7/23/2008

SAF-RES

John A. Sharry

PrincipalBeakmann PropertiesSharry & Associates, Inc.6928 New Melones CircleDiscovery Bay, CA 94514-2636

U 7/16/2003SAF-RES

Jeffrey L. Shearman

PrincipalZurich Services CorporationPO Box 15844Pittburgh, PA 15244NFPA Lodging Industry Section

U 9/30/2004

SAF-RES

Stephen V. Skalko

PrincipalPortland Cement Association128 Summerfield DriveMacon, GA 31210

M 01/10/2008SAF-RES

T. Hugh Talley

PrincipalHugh Talley Company3232 Landmark DriveMorristown, TN 37814American Furniture Manufacturers Association

M 1/1/1991

SAF-RES

Joseph H. Versteeg

PrincipalVersteeg Associates86 University DriveTorrington, CT 06790

SE 7/14/2004SAF-RES

Lawrence Brown

AlternateNational Association of Home Builders1201 15th Street, NWWashington, DC 20005-2800Principal: Steven Orlowski

U 1/15/1999

2Page 3 of 71


Safety to Life


SAF-RES

David Cook

AlternateRalph Gerdes Consultants, LLC5510 South East Street, Suite EIndianapolis, IN 46227Principal: Ralph D. Gerdes

SE 10/1/1995SAF-RES

David M. Hammerman

AlternateMarshall A. Klein and Associates, Inc.3950 Chaffey RoadRandallstown, MD 21133Principal: Marshall A. Klein

SE 4/5/2001

SAF-RES

Michael F. Meehan

AlternateVSC Fire & Security1417 Miller Store Road, Suite CVirginia Beach, VA 23455American Fire Sprinkler AssociationPrincipal: Phillip A. Brown

IM 4/15/2004SAF-RES

Donald J. Pamplin

AlternateNational Fire Sprinkler Association, Inc.1436 Harrison AvenueBlaine, WA 98230Principal: Kenneth E. Isman

M 10/23/2003

SAF-RES

Jake Pauls

AlternateJake Pauls Consulting Services in Building Use & Safety12507 Winexburg Manor Drive, Suite 201Silver Spring, MD 20906American Public Health AssociationPrincipal: Stanley C. Harbuck

C 7/12/2001SAF-RES

Dennis L. Pitts

AlternateAmerican Forest & Paper AssociationAmerican Wood Council1721 West Plano Parkway, #224Plano, TX 75075American Forest & Paper AssociationPrincipal: Sam W. Francis

M 5/15/2000

SAF-RES

Gregory E. Harrington

Staff LiaisonNational Fire Protection Association1 Batterymarch ParkQuincy, MA 02169-7471

3Page 4 of 71

BLD/SAF-RES December 9, 2009 ROP Meeting Minutes / Page 1

ROP MEETING MINUTES

Building Code – Life Safety Technical Committee on Residential Occupancies

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Embassy Suites Hotel Cleveland – Downtown

1. Call to order. The meeting was called to order by Chair Warren Bonisch at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, December 9, 2009, at the Embassy Suites Hotel Cleveland - Downtown, Cleveland, OH.

2. Introduction of attendees. The following committee members and guests were

in attendance:

TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT

NAME REPRESENTING Warren Bonisch, Chair Aon/ Schirmer Engineering

Corporation

Gregory Harrington, Nonvoting Secretary NFPA

James Bell, Principal Marriott International, Inc. Rep. American Hotel & Lodging Association

Harry Bradley, Principal Maryland State Fire Marshals Office - Rep. International Fire Marshals Association

Daniel Finnegan, Principal Siemens Industry, Inc. – Rep. Automatic Fire Alarm Association,

Inc. Sam Francis, Principal American Forest & Paper

Association

Page 5 of 71


Stanley Harbuck, Principal School of Building Inspection Rep. American Public Health Association

Ken Isman, Principal National Fire Sprinkler Association Marshall Klein, Principal Marshall A. Klein & Associates, Inc. James Lathrop, Principal Koffel Associates, Inc. Eric Mayl, Principal Core Engineers Consulting Group,

LLC Michael Meehan American Fire Sprinkler Association (Alternate to P. Brown)

Ronald Nickson, Principal National Multi Housing Council

Steven Orlowski, Principal National Association of Home Builders Henry Paszczuk, Principal Connecticut Department of Public

Safety Jake Pauls Jake Pauls Consulting Services in (Alternate to S. Harbuck) Building Use & Safety – Rep.

American Public Health Association Dennis Pitts American Forest & Paper (Alternate to S. Francis) Association Richard Roberts, Principal Honeywell Life Safety – Rep. National Electrical Manufacturers Association Jeffrey Shearman, Principal Zurich Services Corporation – Rep. NFPA Lodging Industry Section Joseph Versteeg, Principal Versteeg Associates

GUESTS NAME REPRESENTING Ray Battalora Schirmer Engineering

Page 6 of 71


Greg Kessinger Security Dealer & Investigation Magazine Karl Wiegand National Fire Sprinkler Association TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS NOT PRESENT NAME REPRESENTING Gordon Bates, Principal Minneapolis Fire Department

H. Wayne Boyd, Principal US Safety & Engineering Corporation

Ralph Gerdes, Principal Ralph Gerdes Consultants, LLC

Peter Puhlick, Principal University of Connecticut

John Sharry, Principal Beakmann Properties – Sharry & Associates, Inc.

Stephen Skalko, Principal Portland Cement Association T. Hugh Talley, Principal Hugh Talley Company – Rep.

American Furniture Manufacturers Association

3. Approval of minutes. The minutes of the October 23, 2007 meeting were

approved as written and distributed.

4. Staff Report – G. Harrington. Staff gave a brief presentation on the document revision process and meeting procedures.

5. Occupancy chapter __.2.4 subsection review. The committee reviewed the

proposal developed by the TC on Means of Egress to standardize on the use of the term ‘Number of Means of Egress’ and developed several committee proposals to accomplish this. See the Report on Proposals for the actions.

6. Smoke barrier door latching. The committee reviewed the issue pertaining to requirements for smoke barrier door latching. Based on action taken prior to this meeting by the TC on Detention and Correctional Occupancies, no further action was required.

7. NFPA 101 proposals. The committee acted on all of the submitted public

proposals and developed several committee proposals. See the Report on Proposals for the actions.

Page 7 of 71


8. NFPA 5000 proposals. The committee acted on all of the submitted public

proposals and developed several committee proposals. See the Report on Proposals for the actions.

9. Standardization of sprinkler system supervision language. The committee was advised of the request by the Technical Correlating Committees to standardize the language pertaining supervised vs. electrically supervised sprinkler systems. It was determined that no action was required.

10. Consistency of list-based options. Staff reported this is another item from the

TCC planning meeting. It was requested that TCs review their requirements that include lists to verify that it’s clear when all of the items in the list must be met, or only one of the items in the list must be met. The committee reviewed all list-based requirements under its purview and developed several committee proposals to provide the requested clarification. See the Report on Proposals for the actions.

11. NFPA 101 core chapter ROP draft. The committee reviewed the core chapter

draft and developed several committee proposals in response. See the Report on Proposals for the actions.

12. Other business. The chair appointed a task group to further review the issue of

carbon monoxide (CO) detection in residential occupancies to report back with recommendations at the Report on Comments meeting. The task group members are: Joe Versteeg (Chair), Dan Finnegan, Ron Nickson, Steve Orlowski, and Richard Roberts.

13. Future meetings. The committee will meet the week of October 18, 2010, in

New Orleans, to prepare the Reports on Comments (ROCs) for the 2012 editions of NFPA 101 and NFPA 5000. The exact date and location will be provided when available.

14. Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m.

Attachments

Page 8 of 71

Page 1

BLD/SAF CommitteesReport on Comments (ROC) Meetings

NFPA 101 and NFPA 5000 ROC Meetings

1

Meetings

October 2010

Monteleone Hotel

New Orleans, LA


NFPA is concerned with your Safety

If the fire alarm sounds, we will evacuate

2

,

Exiting…exits are ……..


OverviewGeneral Procedures for Meeting

Timeline for Processing the Code

3

Committee Actions

Committee Statements

Balloting


Participation in NFPA Committee Meetings is generally limited to Committee Members and NFPA Staff

4

Participation by guests is usually granted by the Chair

The Chair may limit the time of any presentation (member or guest)


All guests are requested to sign-in and identify their affiliation

Members please verify/update your contact

5

Members, please verify/update your contact information on pages attached to sign-in

Use of tape recorders or other means of reproducing verbatim transcriptions of the meeting are prohibited


Formal voting Secured by post-meeting letter ballot (2/3

majority agreement)

V ti d i ti i i l

6

Voting during meeting requires simple majority vote and is used to establish a sense of agreement that can be letter balloted

Only the results of the letter ballot determine the official position of the Committee on any Comment

Page 9 of 71

Page 2


Reminder to Members in Special Expert (SE) Category: If representing a non-SE interest (such as a consultant representing a manufacturer or an association of

7

a manufacturer or an association of users), this must be declared. The member should refrain from voting on the issue.


Remaining timeline for processing the 2012 edition of NFPA 101 and NFPA 5000

Comment Closing Date: September 3, 2010 TC ROC meetings:

8

g Core Chapters October 4-8; balloting follows Occupancy Chapters October 18-22; balloting follows

TCCs meet: January 5-6, 2011 NITMAM Closing Date: April 8, 2011 NFPA Annual Meeting: June 12-15, 2011 Amendment ballots: mid to late June (TCC – July) Standards Council Issuance: August 11, 2011


Report on Comments (ROC) preparation - today

9


General Procedures Follow Robert’s Rules of Order

Prior to discussion, a motion is

10

o to d scuss o , a ot o srequired


Committee Member participation:

Member addresses the Chair

Member receives recognition from the

11

e be ece es ecog t o o t eChair

Member speaks to the Chair

Member poses questions to others through the Chair

Member answers questions through the Chair


Committee Chair Actions:

States the Motion

Calls for discussion

12

Ca s o d scuss o

Ensures all issues have been heard

Takes the Vote

Announces the result of the Vote

Page 10 of 71

Page 3


Committee Actions on Comments:

Accept

Accept In Principle

13

Accept In Principle

Accept In Part

Accept In Principle In Part

Reject

Hold


Accept: The Comment is accepted by the Committee

without change

No Committee Statement is required for an

14

No Committee Statement is required for an Accept, but one is permitted to be provided for clarification


Accept in Principle: The Committee agrees with the change in

principle, and accepts the Comment but with change in wording

15

change in wording

Committee must indicate change in Committee Action and rationale in Committee Statement


Accept in Part: Only part of the Comment is accepted

Committee must indicate accepted part in Committee Action and address rejected part and

16

Committee Action and address rejected part and rationale for rejection in Committee Statement


Accept in Principle in Part: A combination of Accept in Principle and Accept

in Part

Committee must indicate accepted and changed

17

Committee must indicate accepted and changed parts in Committee Action

Committee must indicate rejected parts and rationale for changed/rejected parts in Committee Statement


Reject: The Committee rejects the Comment in entirety

Committee must indicate reasons for rejection in Committee Statement

18

Committee Statement

Page 11 of 71

Page 4


Hold:The Committee holds for processing as a proposal for next cycle, a Comment that:

19

introduces concept that has not had public review

changes text to point TC would have to restudy ROP or other affected parts of document

proposes something that can’t be handled within time frame for processing the ROC


Committee Statements (Explaining the Committee Action): Action of “Accept” requires no

20

Committee Statement

All other actions require a Committee Statement to explain the action of the Committee


Committee Statement must include a valid reason for the action

The reason should be technical where li bl

21

applicable

Must explain why the Comment was not accepted

Acceptance of another Comment is not an adequate reason to reject a Comment


Committee Statements (continued)

Should not reference a Comment with opposing action unless the referenced C t ti f t il l i th

22

Comment satisfactorily explains the rejection

Should not make a vague reference to intent

Should explain how submitter’s substantiation is inadequate


Letter ballots are on the Committee Action

The Ballot form allows you to vote

Affirmative on all actions

23

Affirmative on all actions except those specifically noted

The Ballot form provides a column for affirmative with comment

Note: This box only needs to be checked if there is an accompanying comment


Your ballot form is electronically submit-ableYou can save a copy f lf

24

for yourself

You can also print and fax/mail it to NFPA

All you need is (free) Adobe Reader

Page 12 of 71

Page 5


Alternates are encouraged to return ballots (insurance if Principal’s ballot not received)

B ll ti P

25

Balloting Process: Initial letter ballot

Circulation of Negatives, if any received

Circulation serves as second ballot to allow change of vote

Final vote reported


Questions?

26

Questions?

Page 13 of 71

ANNUAL 2011 REVISION CYCLE

NFPA 101 AND NFPA 5000

PROCESS STAGE PROCESS STEP

DATES FOR TC

DATES FOR TCC

1 PRELIMINARY 1.0 Notification of intent to enter cycle

2 REPORT ON PROPOSALS

(ROP)

2.1 Proposal closing date 7/31/09 7/31/09 2.2 Final date for ROP meeting 12/11/09 2.3 Final date for mailing TC ballots 12/18/09 2.4 Receipt of (TC) ballots by staff liaison 1/8/10 2.5 Receipt of TC recirculation ballots 1/22/10 2.6 Final date for TCC meeting 3/31/10 2.7 Final date for mailing TCC ballots 4/6/10 2.8 Receipt of TCC ballots 4/27/10 2.9 Receipt of TCC recirculation ballots 5/14/10 2.10 Final copy (w/ ballot statements) to Secretary, Standards Council 5/18/10 2.11 Completion of Reports 6/4/10 2.12 ROP Published and Posted 6/25/10

3 REPORT ON COMMENTS

(ROC)

3.1 Comment closing date 9/3/10 9/3/10 3.2 Final date for ROC meeting 10/22/10 3.3 Final date for mailing TC ballots 10/29/10 3.4 Receipt of (TC) ballots by staff liaison 11/12/10 3.5 Receipt of TC recirculation ballots 11/26/10 3.6 Final date for TCC meeting 1/6/11 3.7 Final date for mailing TCC ballots 1/11/11 3.8 Receipt of TCC ballots 1/21/11 3.9 Receipt of TCC recirculation ballots 2/1/11 3.10 Final copy (w/ ballot statements) to Secretary, Standards Council 2/10/11 3.11 Completion of Reports 2/17/11 3.12 ROC Published and Posted 2/25/11

4

TECH SESSION PREPARATION

ON & ISSUANCE OF

CONSENT DOCUMENTS

4.1 Notice of Intent to Make a Motion (NITMAM) Closing Date 4/8/11 4/8/11 4.2 Posting of Filed NITMAM 5/6/11 5/6/11 4.3 Council Issuance Date for Consent Documents 5/31/11 5/31/11

4.4 Appeal Closing Date for Consent Documents 6/15/11 6/15/11

5 TECHNICAL SESSION

5.0 Association Meeting for Documents with Certified Amending Motions 6/12-16/11 6/12-16/11

6

APPEALS & ISSUANCE OF DOCUMENTS

W/CAMS

6.1 Appeal closing date for Documents with Certified Amending Motions 7/6/11 7/6/11

6.2 Council issuance for Documents with Certified Amending Motions 8/11/11 8/11/11

Schedules for Revision Cycles may change. Please check the NFPA website (www.nfpa.org) for the most up-to-date information on schedules. March 2009 REVISED: September, 2010

Page 14 of 71

http://www.nfpa.org/�

Report on Comments – June 2011 NFPA 101_______________________________________________________________________________________________101-6 Log #12 SAF-RES

_______________________________________________________________________________________________Technical Correlating Committee on Safety to Life,

101-12Make any needed editorial changes to assure that the moved and renumbered text is correlated

with the remainder of the chapter.The action taken at the ROP stage by SAF-HEA will provide correlation among occupancy chapters,

but may need to be correlated within each occupancy chapter.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________101-105 Log #28 SAF-RES


101-177cReview the TC’s occupancy chapter provisions applicable to smoke barriers and, if it is the TC’s

desire, revise text so as to specifically exempt latching in the appropriate locations.The occupancy chapters might need to be correlated with the change made to 8.5.4.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________101-268 Log #267 SAF-RES

_______________________________________________________________________________________________Ignatius Kapalczynski, CT Office of State Fire Marshal

101-355Revise text as follows:

Reconsider to Accept as revised by SAF-END.Emergency forces notification shall be accomplished in accordance with 9.6.4 when the existing fire alarm system is

replaced.The revised text addresses Committee’s concerns. It requires emergency forces notification in existing

occupancy just as in a new occupancy. The basis of necessity is the same. It allows the occupancy to be improved torequirements of new but not until the system is replaced so as not to be retroactive. The emergency forces notificationrequirement of replacement systems needs to be explicitly stated.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________101-269 Log #38 SAF-RES


101-359Reconsider the proposal in light of member Klein’s Comment on Affirmative so as to correct the

annex text to reflect the maximum closet area specified by NFPA 13R and NFPA 13D.Member Klein has noted a discrepancy between what NFPA 13R and NFPA 13D state and what the

proposed annex text reports that those documents state.

1Printed on 9/16/2010

Page 15 of 71

Report on Comments – June 2011 NFPA 101_______________________________________________________________________________________________101-277 Log #208 SAF-RES

_______________________________________________________________________________________________Ted Weidner, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

101-379New text to read as follows:

Accept the original proposal for a new Chapter 34 dedicated to student residence facilities with the changes shown onAttachments #1 and #2. The existing chapter devoted to the hotel and dormitory occupancy class is too generic for the$100 billion education facilities industry. A significant number of our campuses with student enrollments of 500 - 50,000students, may have 50 percent living in housing facilities with characteristics not contemplated in the existing “Hotel andDormitory” chapter. In response to the committee statement in the proposal stage, a new Chapter 35 to cover existingstudent residential facilities is part of this comment.

***Insert Include 1 here***


Dedicated chapters 34 and 35 for residential occupancies in education facilities will summarize leading practice in oneANSI-developed document that is in widespread use by life safety professionals in most jurisdictions. It will provide aplatform for the consistent application of life safety principles for student residence facilities where agency coveragedoes not exist or where safety criteria vary widely among these agencies. It will establish the contours for futuredevelopment of fire safety methods of a coherent and complex occupancy class. It will have the practical effect ofmeeting our fire safety objectives by providing criteria for risk and budget rationalization across a broad array of studentresidence facilities that use a variety of fire protection technologies, where the hazards of contents are far lesscontrollable and predictable than in hotels and dormitories, where the character of the occupants and the nature ofprograms and living arrangements vary widely.

In response to the committee statement that “no technical substation has been provided” in Proposal101-379 the relevant section from the NFPA “Regulations Governing Committee Projects” will be copied here verbatimfor the convenience of the technical committee:

Each Proposal shall be submitted to the Council Secretary and shall include the following:(a) Identification of the submitter and his or her affiliation (i.e., TC, organization, company), where appropriate(b) Identification of the Document, edition of the Document, and paragraph of the Document to which the Proposal is

directed(c) Proposed text of the Proposal, including the wording to be added, revised (and how revised), or deleted

(e) The signature of the submitter or other means of authentication approved by the Council Secretary(f) Two copies of any document(s) (other than an NFPA document) being proposed as a reference standard or

publication (see 3.3.7)Nothing in 4.3.3.d actually defines or asserts criteria for technical substantiation. The lack of specifics about technicalsubstantiation may be the desired intent of the NFPA Standards Council in order to preserve broad discretion fortechnical committees to make their own determination.Assuming that loss history would be a component of technical substantiation, Attachment #3 (of 3) contains a sample

list of incidents over the past 10 years that, in our judgment, can be directly linked to the character of student residencehalls (vis-à-vis, hotels and dormitories). Among them:- The likelihood and frequency of false alarms- The hazard of contents (such as space heaters and high-wattage halogen lamps)- Unpredictable presence and ad hoc use of high wattage portable cooking appliances- Unpredictable numbers of occupants in a student residence room- Occupants susceptibility to arson and suicide attempt- Student residence facilities with historical significance that present special problems for life safety infrastructure

design and construction.- Existence of open flamesI have personal knowledge of an incident in which students put an old couch in an elevator, set it on fire, and ran it up

and down a 28-story residence hall at each floor. This kind of prank and criminal activity is not characteristic of theoccupants of a hotel.


Page 16 of 71

1 101_L208_Include 1_A2011ROC_R

Chapter 34 New Student Residence Facilities

34.1 General Requirements.

34.1.1 Application.

34.1.1.1 The requirements of this chapter shall apply to new buildings or portions thereof used as student residence facility occupancies. (See 1.3.1.)

34.1.2 Multiple Occupancies.

34.1.2.1 Multiple occupancies shall be in accordance with 6.1.14.

34.1.2.2 No student residence facility shall have its sole means of egress pass through any nonresidential occupancy in the same building, unless otherwise permitted by 34.1.2.2.1 or 34.1.2.2.2.

34.1.2.2.1 In buildings that are protected by an automatic sprinkler system in accordance with Section 9.7, student residence facilities shall be permitted to have their sole means of egress pass through a nonresidential occupancy in the same building, provided that the following criteria are met:

(1) The student residence facility shall comply with Chapter 34.

(2) The sole means of egress from the student residence facility shall not pass through a high hazard contents area, as defined in 6.2.2.4.

34.1.2.2.2 In buildings that are not protected by an automatic sprinkler system in accordance with Section 9.7, student residence facilities shall be permitted to have their sole means of egress pass through a nonresidential occupancy in the same building, provided that the following criteria are met:

(1) The sole means of egress from the student residence facility to the exterior shall be separated from the remainder of the building by fire barriers having a minimum 1-hour fire resistance rating.



34.1.3 Special Definitions. A list of special terms used in this chapter follows:

(1) Student Residence Facility(Hall). A building or a space in a building intended with combined living and sleeping accommodations are provided for more than 16 persons who are not members of the same family in one room, or a series of closely associated rooms, with or without independent bathroom and cooking facilities, that are managed by a private or college or university student residence facility administration.

(2) Student Room. An accommodation within in a student residence facility that combines living, sleeping, and optional sanitary, and storage facilities within a compartment.

(3) Student Suite. An accommodation within a student residence facility that with two or more contiguous rooms comprising a compartment, with or

Page 17 of 71


without doors between such rooms, that provides living, sleeping, and optional sanitary, and storage facilities.

(4) On-campus Housing. (Reserved)

(5) Off-campus Housing. (Reserved)

34.1.4 Classification of Occupancy. See 6.1.8 and 34.1.3.

34.1.5 Classification of Hazard of Contents.

34.1.5.1 The contents of residential occupancies shall be classified as ordinary hazard in accordance with 6.2.2.

34.1.5.2 For the design of automatic sprinkler systems, the classification of contents in NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems, shall apply.

34.1.6 Minimum Construction Requirements. (No special requirements.)

34.1.7 Occupant Load. The occupant load, in number of persons for whom means of egress and other provisions are required, shall be determined on the basis of the occupant load factors of Table 7.3.1.2 that are characteristic of the use of the space or shall be determined as the maximum probable population of the space under consideration, whichever is greater.

34.2 Means of Egress Requirements.

34.2.1 General.

34.2.1.1 Means of egress from student rooms or student suites to the outside of the building shall be in accordance with Chapter 7 and this chapter.

34.2.1.2 Means of escape within the student room or student suite shall comply with the provisions of Section 24.2 for one- and two- family multi-family dwellings.

34.2.2 Means of Egress Components.

34.2.2.1 General.

34.2.2.1.1 Components of means of egress shall be limited to the types described in 34.2.2.2 through 34.2.2.12.

34.2.2.1.2 In buildings, other than high-rise buildings, that are protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5, exit enclosures shall have a minimum 1-hour fire resistance rating, and doors shall have a minimum 1-hour fire protection rating.

34.2.2.2 Doors.

34.2.2.2.1 Doors complying with 7.2.1 shall be permitted.

34.2.2.2.2 Door-locking arrangements shall comply with 34.2.2.2.2.1, 34.2.2.2.2.2, 34.2.2.2.2.3, or 34.2.2.2.2.4.

34.2.2.2.2.1 No door in any means of egress shall be locked against egress when the building is occupied.

34.2.2.2.2.2 Delayed-egress locks complying with 7.2.1.6.1 shall be permitted, provided that not more than one such device is located in any one egress path.

34.2.2.2.2.3 Access-controlled egress doors complying with 7.2.1.6.2 shall be permitted.

Page 18 of 71


34.2.2.2.2.4 Elevator lobby exit access door locking in accordance with 7.2.1.6.3 shall be permitted. 34.2.2.2.3 Revolving doors complying with 7.2.1.10 shall be permitted.

34.2.2.2.4 Horizontal-sliding doors, as permitted by 7.2.1.14, shall not be used across corridors.

34.2.2.3 Stairs. Stairs complying with 7.2.2 shall be permitted.

34.2.2.4 Smokeproof Enclosures. Smokeproof enclosures complying with 7.2.3 shall be permitted.

34.2.2.5 Horizontal Exits. Horizontal exits complying with 7.2.4 shall be permitted.

34.2.2.6 Ramps. Ramps complying with 7.2.5 shall be permitted.

34.2.2.7 Exit Passageways. Exit passageways complying with 7.2.6 shall be permitted.

34.2.2.8 Reserved.

34.2.2.9 Reserved.

34.2.2.10 Fire Escape Ladders. Fire escape ladders complying with 7.2.9 shall be permitted.

34.2.2.11 Alternating Tread Devices. Alternating tread devices complying with 7.2.11 shall be permitted.

34.2.2.12 Areas of Refuge.

34.2.2.12.1 Areas of refuge complying with 7.2.12 shall be permitted, as modified by 34.2.2.12.2.

34.2.2.12.2* In buildings protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5, the two accessible rooms or spaces separated from each other by smoke-resistive partitions in accordance with the definition of area of refuge in 3.3.20 shall not be required.

34.2.3 Capacity of Means of Egress.

34.2.3.1 The capacity of means of egress shall be in accordance with Section 7.3.

34.2.3.2 Street floor exits shall be sufficient for the occupant load of the street floor plus the required capacity of stairs and ramps discharging onto the street floor.

34.2.3.3* Corridors, other than those within individual student rooms or individual student suites, shall be of sufficient width to accommodate the required occupant load and shall be not less than 44 in. (1120 mm). 60 in. (1527 mm).

34.2.4 Number of Exits.

34.2.4.1 In buildings other than those complying with 34.2.4.2, not less than two separate exits shall be provided on each story. (See also Section 7.4.)

34.2.4.2 A single exit shall be permitted in buildings where the total number of stories does not exceed four, provided that all of the following conditions are met:

(1) There are four or fewer student rooms or student suites per story.

(2) The building is protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5.

Page 19 of 71


(3) The exit stairway does not serve more than one-half of a story below the level of exit discharge.

(4) The travel distance from the entrance door of any student room or student suite to an exit does not exceed 35 ft (10.7 m).

(5) The exit stairway is completely enclosed or separated from the rest of the building by barriers having a minimum 1-hour fire resistance rating.

(6) All openings between the exit stairway enclosure and the building are protected with self-closing door assemblies having a minimum 1-hour fire protection rating.

(7) All corridors serving as access to exits have a minimum 1-hour fire resistance rating.

(8) Horizontal and vertical separation having a minimum -hour fire resistance rating is provided between student rooms or student suites.

34.2.5 Arrangement of Means of Egress.

34.2.5.1 Access to all required exits shall be in accordance with Section 7.5, as modified by 34.2.5.2.

34.2.5.2 The distance between exits addressed by 7.5.1.3 shall not apply to common nonlooped exit access corridors in buildings that have corridor doors from the student room or student suite that are arranged such that the exits are located in opposite directions from such doors.

34.2.5.3 In buildings not protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5, common paths of travel shall not exceed 35 ft (10.7 m); travel within a student room or student suite shall not be included when calculating common path of travel.

34.2.5.4 In buildings protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5, common path of travel shall not exceed 50 ft (15 m); travel within a student room or student suite shall not be included when determining common path of travel.

34.2.5.5 In buildings not protected throughout by an approved, automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5, dead-end corridors shall not exceed 35 ft (10.7 m).

34.2.5.6 In buildings protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5, dead-end corridors shall not exceed 50 ft (15 m).

34.2.5.7 Any student room or any student suite of rooms in excess of 2000 ft2 (185 m2) shall be provided with not less than two exit access doors remotely located from each other.

34.2.5.X Double-Loaded Corridor (Reserved).

34.2.6 Travel Distance to Exits.

34.2.6.1 Travel distance within a student room or student suite to a corridor door shall not exceed 75 ft (23 m) in buildings not protected by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5.

Page 20 of 71


34.2.6.2 Travel distance within a student room or student suite to a corridor door shall not exceed 125 ft (38 m) in buildings protected by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5.

34.2.6.3 Travel distance from the corridor door of any student room or student suite to the nearest exit shall comply with 34.2.6.3.1, 34.2.6.3.2, or 34.2.6.3.3.

34.2.6.3.1 Travel distance from the corridor door of any student room or student suite to the nearest exit, measured in accordance with Section 7.6, shall not exceed 100 ft (30 m).

34.2.6.3.2 Travel distance from the corridor door of any student room or student suite to the nearest exit, measured in accordance with Section 7.6, shall not exceed 200 ft (61 m) for exterior ways of exit access arranged in accordance with 7.5.3.

34.2.6.3.3 Travel distance from the corridor door of any student room or student suite to the nearest exit shall comply with 34.2.6.3.3.1 and 34.2.6.3.3.2.

34.2.6.3.3.1 Travel distance from the corridor door of any student room or student suite to the nearest exit shall be measured in accordance with Section 7.6 and shall not exceed 200 ft (61 m) where the exit access and any portion of the building that is tributary to the exit access are protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5.

34.2.6.3.3.2 Where the building is not protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system, the 200 ft (61 m) travel distance shall be permitted within any portion of the building that is protected by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system, provided that the sprinklered portion of the building is separated from any nonsprinklered portion by fire barriers having a fire resistance rating as follows: (1) Minimum 1-hour fire resistance rating for buildings three or fewer stories in height (2) Minimum 2-hour fire resistance rating for buildings four or more stories in height 34.2.7 Discharge from Exits.

34.2.7.1 Exit discharge shall comply with Section 7.7.

34.2.7.2* Any required exit stair that is located so that it is necessary to pass through the lobby or other open space to reach the outside of the building shall be continuously enclosed down to a level of exit discharge or to a mezzanine within a lobby at a level of exit discharge.

34.2.7.3 The distance of travel from the termination of the exit enclosure to an exterior door leading to a public way shall not exceed 100 ft (30 m).

34.2.8 Illumination of Means of Egress. Means of egress shall be illuminated in accordance with Section 7.8.

34.2.9 Emergency Lighting.

34.2.9.1 Emergency lighting in accordance with Section 7.9 shall be provided.

34.2.9.2 The requirement of 34.2.9.1 shall not apply where each student room or student suite has an exit direct to the outside of the building at street or the finished ground level.

34.2.10 Marking of Means of Egress. Means of egress shall have signs in accordance with Section 7.10.

Page 21 of 71


34.2.11 Special Means of Egress Features.

34.2.11.1 Reserved

34.2.11.2 Lockups. Lockups in student residence facilities occupancies shall comply with the requirements of 22.4.5.

34.3 Protection.

34.3.1 Protection of Vertical Openings.

34.3.1.1 Vertical openings shall comply with 34.3.1.1.1 through 34.3.1.2.

34.3.1.1.1 Vertical openings shall be enclosed or protected in accordance with Section 8.6.

34.3.1.1.2 Vertical openings in accordance with 8.6.8.2 shall be permitted.

34.3.1.1.3 In buildings, other than high-rise buildings, that are protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5, the walls enclosing vertical openings shall have a minimum 1-hour fire resistance rating, and doors shall have a minimum 1-hour fire protection rating.

34.3.1.2 No floor below the level of exit discharge used only for storage, heating equipment, or purposes other than residential occupancy shall have unprotected openings to floors used for residential purposes.

34.3.2 Protection from Hazards.

34.3.2.1 General. All rooms containing high-pressure boilers, refrigerating machinery, transformers, or other service equipment subject to possible explosion shall not be located directly under or directly adjacent to exits and shall be effectively cut off from other parts of the building as specified in Section 8.7.

34.3.2.2 Hazardous Areas.

34.3.2.2.1 Any hazardous area shall be protected in accordance with Section 8.7.

34.3.2.2.2 The areas described in Table 34.3.2.2.2 shall be protected as indicated.

Table 34.3.2.2.2 Hazardous Area Protection

Hazardous Area Description Separation/Protectiona

Boiler and fuel-fired heater rooms serving more than a single student room or student suite

1 hour and sprinklers

Employee locker rooms 1 hour or sprinklers

Bulk laundries 1 hour and sprinklers

Student laundries 100 ft2 ( 9.3 m2) outside of student rooms or student suites

1 hour or sprinklersb

Student laundries >100 ft2 (>9.3 m2) outside of student rooms or student suites


Page 22 of 71


Maintenance shops 1 hour and sprinklers

Storage roomsc 1 hour or sprinklers

Trash collection rooms Kitchens

1 hour and sprinklers Chemical suppression

a Minimum fire resistance rating. bWhere sprinklers are provided, the separation specified in 8.7.1.2 and 34.3.2.2.3 is not required. cWhere storage areas not exceeding 24 ft2 (2.2 m2) are directly accessible from the student room or student suite, no separation or protection is required.

34.3.2.2.3 Where sprinkler protection without fire-rated separation is used, areas shall be separated from other spaces by smoke partitions complying with Section 8.4.

34.3.3 Interior Finish.

34.3.3.1 General. Interior finish shall be in accordance with Section 10.2.

34.3.3.2 Interior Wall and Ceiling Finish. Interior wall and ceiling finish materials complying with Section 10.2 shall be permitted as follows:

(1) Exit enclosures — Class A

(2) Lobbies and corridors — Class A or Class B

(3) Other spaces — Class A, Class B, or Class C

34.3.3.3 Interior Floor Finish.

34.3.3.3.1 Interior floor finish shall comply with Section 10.2.

34.3.3.3.2 Interior floor finish in exit enclosures and exit access corridors and spaces not separated from them by walls complying with 34.3.6.1 shall be not less than Class II.

34.3.3.3.3 Interior floor finish shall comply with 10.2.7.1 or 10.2.7.2, as applicable.

34.3.4 Detection, Alarm, and Communications Systems.

34.3.4.1 General. A fire alarm system in accordance with Section 9.6, except as modified by 34.3.4.2 through 34.3.4.6, shall be provided.

34.3.4.2 Initiation. The required fire alarm system shall be initiated by each of the following:

(1) Manual means in accordance with 9.6.2

(2) Manual fire alarm box located at the student residence facility administrative reception desk or other convenient central control point under continuous supervision by responsible employees

(3) Required automatic sprinkler system

(4) Required automatic detection system other than sleeping room smoke detectors

34.3.4.3 Notification.

34.3.4.3.1* Occupant notification shall be provided automatically in accordance with 9.6.3.

Page 23 of 71


34.3.4.3.2 Positive alarm sequence in accordance with 9.6.3.4 shall be permitted.

34.3.4.3.3* Student rooms and student suites specifically required and equipped to accommodate hearing-impaired individuals shall be provided with a visible notification appliance.

34.3.4.3.4 In occupiable areas, other than student rooms and student suites, visible notification appliances shall be provided.

34.3.4.3.5 Annunciation and annunciation zoning in accordance with 9.6.7 shall be provided in buildings three or more stories in height or having more than 50 student rooms or student suites. Annunciation shall be provided at a location readily accessible from the primary point of entry for emergency response personnel.

34.3.4.3.6 Emergency forces notification shall be provided in accordance with 9.6.4. 34.3.4.4 Detection. A corridor smoke detection system in accordance with Section 9.6 shall be provided in buildings other than those protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5.3.

34.3.4.3.X Permanent Electronic Monitoring. (Reserved)

34.3.4.X.X Mass Notification. (Reserved)

34.3.4.4.X Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupters. (Reserved)

34.3.4.5* Smoke Alarms. An approved single-station smoke alarm shall be installed in accordance with 9.6.2.10 in every student room and every living area and sleeping room within a student suite.

34.3.4.6* Protection of Fire Alarm System. The provision of 9.6.1.8.1.3 shall not apply to the smoke detection required at each fire alarm control unit by 9.6.1.8.1(1). 34.3.5 Extinguishment Requirements.

34.3.5.1 All buildings, other than those complying with 34.3.5.2, shall be protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5.3.

34.3.5.2 Automatic sprinkler protection shall not be required in buildings where all student sleeping rooms or student suites have a door opening directly to either of the following:

(1) Outside at the street or the finished ground level

(2) Exterior exit access arranged in accordance with 7.5.3 in buildings three or fewer stories in height

34.3.5.3 Where an automatic sprinkler system is installed, either for total or partial building coverage, the system shall be in accordance with Section 9.7, as modified by 34.3.5.4. In buildings four or fewer stories above grade plane, systems in accordance with NFPA 13R, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems in Residential Occupancies up to and Including Four Stories in Height, shall be permitted.

34.3.5.4 The provisions for draft stops and closely spaced sprinklers in NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems, shall not be required for openings complying with 8.6.8.2 where the opening is within the student room or student suite.

34.3.5.5 Reserved.

Page 24 of 71


34.3.5.6 Listed quick-response or listed residential sprinklers shall be used throughout student rooms and student room suites.

34.3.5.7 Open parking structures that comply with NFPA 88A, Standard for Parking Structures, and are contiguous with student residence facilities shall be exempt from the sprinkler requirements of 34.3.5.1.

34.3.5.8 In buildings other than those protected throughout with an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5.3, portable fire extinguishers shall be provided as specified in 9.7.4.1 in hazardous areas addressed by 34.3.2.2.

34.3.6 Corridors.

34.3.6.1 Walls.

34.3.6.1.1 Exit access corridor walls shall comply with 34.3.6.1.2 or 34.3.6.1.3.

34.3.6.1.2 In buildings not complying with 34.3.6.1.3, exit access corridor walls shall consist of fire barriers in accordance with Section 8.3 that have not less than a 1-hour fire resistance rating.

34.3.6.1.3 In buildings protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5, corridor walls shall have a minimum -hour fire resistance rating.

34.3.6.2 Doors.

34.3.6.2.1 Doors that open onto exit access corridors shall have not less than a 20-minute fire protection rating in accordance with Section 8.3.

34.3.6.2.2 Reserved.

34.3.6.2.3 Doors that open onto exit access corridors shall be self-closing and self-latching.

34.3.6.3 Unprotected Openings.

34.3.6.3.1 Unprotected openings, other than those from spaces complying with 34.3.6.3.2, shall be prohibited in exit access corridor walls and doors.

34.3.6.3.2 Spaces shall be permitted to be unlimited in area and open to the corridor, provided that the following criteria are met:

(1) The space is not used for student rooms or student suites or hazardous areas.


(3) The space does not obstruct access to required exits.

34.3.6.4 Transoms, Louvers, or Transfer Grilles. Transoms, louvers, or transfer grilles shall be prohibited in walls or doors of exit access corridors.

34.3.7 Subdivision of Building Spaces. Buildings shall be subdivided in accordance with 34.3.7.1 or 34.3.7.2.

34.3.7.1 In buildings not protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system, each student room, including student suites, shall be separated from other student rooms by walls and floors constructed as fire barriers having a minimum 1-hour fire resistance rating.

Page 25 of 71


34.3.7.2 In buildings protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system, each student room, including student suites, shall be separated from other student rooms by walls and floors constructed as fire barriers having a minimum

-hour fire resistance rating.

34.3.7.3 Doors in the barriers required by 34.3.7.1 and 34.3.7.2 shall have a fire protection rating of not less than 20 minutes and shall not be required to be self-closing. 34.3.8 Special Protection Features. (Reserved)

34.4 Special Provisions.

34.4.1 High-Rise Buildings.

34.4.1.1 High-rise buildings shall comply with Section 11.8.

34.4.1.2* Emergency plans in accordance with Section 4.8 shall be provided and shall include the following: (1) Egress procedures (2) Methods (3) Preferred evacuation routes for each event, including appropriate use of

elevators 34.5 Building Services.

34.5.1 Utilities. Utilities shall comply with the provisions of Section 9.1.

34.5.2 Heating, Ventilating, and Air-Conditioning.

34.5.2.1 Heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning equipment shall comply with the provisions of Section 9.2, except as otherwise required in this chapter.

34.5.2.2 Unvented fuel-fired heaters, other than gas space heaters in compliance with NFPA 54, National Fuel Gas Code, shall not be used.

34.5.3 Elevators, Escalators, and Conveyors.

34.5.3.1 Elevators, escalators, and conveyors shall comply with the provisions of Section 9.4.

34.5.3.2* In high-rise buildings, one elevator shall be provided with a protected power supply and shall be available for use by the fire department in case of emergency.

34.5.4 Rubbish Chutes, Incinerators, and Laundry Chutes. Rubbish chutes, incinerators, and laundry chutes shall comply with the provisions of Section 9.5.

34.6 Reserved Windows. Egress windows shall be specified where the use of operable windows are prohibited for interior environmental and energy cost savings.

34.7 Operating Features.

34.7.1 Student Residence Facility Organization.

34.7.1.1* Employees of student residence facilities shall be instructed and drilled in the duties they are to perform in the event of fire, panic, or other emergency.

34.7.1.2* Drills of the emergency organization shall be held at quarterly intervals and shall cover such points as the operation and maintenance of the available first aid fire

Page 26 of 71


appliances, the testing of devices to alert students, and a study of instructions for emergency duties.

34.7.2 Emergency Duties. Upon discovery of a fire, employees shall carry out the following duties:

(1) Activation of the facility fire protection signaling system, if provided

(2) Notification of the public fire department

(3) Other action as previously instructed

34.7.3 Drills in Student Residence Facilities. Emergency egress and relocation drills shall be held with sufficient frequency to familiarize occupants with all types of hazards and to establish conduct of the drill as a matter of routine. Drills shall be conducted during peak occupancy periods and shall include suitable procedures to ensure that all persons subject to the drill participate.

34.7.4 Emergency Instructions for Residents or Students.

34.7.4.1* A floor diagram reflecting the actual floor arrangement, exit locations, and room identification shall be posted in a location and manner acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction on, or immediately adjacent to, every student room and in every student suite.

34.7.4.2* Fire safety information shall be provided to allow students to make the decision to evacuate to the outside, to evacuate to an area of refuge, to remain in place, or to employ any combination of the three options.

34.7.5 Emergency Plans. Emergency plans in accordance with Section 4.8 shall be provided. 34.7.6 Contents and Furnishings.

34.7.6.1 New draperies, curtains, and other similar loosely hanging furnishings and decorations shall be flame resistant as demonstrated by testing in accordance with NFPA 701, Standard Methods of Fire Tests for Flame Propagation of Textiles and Films.

34.7.6.2 Upholstered Furniture and Mattresses. 34.7.6.2.1 Newly introduced upholstered furniture shall meet the criteria specified in 10.3.2.1 and 10.3.3. 34.7.6.2.2 Newly introduced mattresses shall meet the criteria specified in 10.3.2.2 and 10.3.4. 34.7.6.3 Furnishings or decorations of an explosive or highly flammable character shall not be used.

34.7.6.4 Fire-retardant coatings shall be maintained to retain the effectiveness of the treatment under service conditions encountered in actual use.

Page 27 of 71

1

101_L208_Include 2_A2011ROC_R

Chapter 35 Existing Student Residence Facilities


35.1.1 Application.

35.1.1.1 The requirements of this chapter shall apply to existing buildings or portions thereof currently occupied as student residence facility occupancies, unless meeting the requirement of 35.1.1.2.

35.1.1.2 Any student residence facility divided into suites of rooms, with one or more bedrooms opening into a living room or study that has a door opening into a common corridor serving a number of suites, shall be classified as an apartment building.

35.1.1.3 The term student residence facility, wherever used in this Code, shall conform to include the definitions in 34.1.3.




35.1.2.2.1 In buildings that are protected by an automatic sprinkler system in accordance with Section 9.7, student residence facilities and dormitories shall be permitted to have their sole means of egress pass through a nonresidential occupancy in the same building, provided that the following criteria are met:



35.1.2.2.2 In buildings that are not protected by an automatic sprinkler system in accordance with Section 9.7, student residence facilities and dormitories shall be permitted to have their sole means of egress pass through a nonresidential occupancy in the same building, provided that the following criteria are met:





(1) Student residence facility. See 34.X.X.

(2) Guest Room. See 34.X.X.

(3) Guest Suite. See 34.X.X.



Page 28 of 71

2






35.1.5.X Control of Hazard of Contents. (Reserved)




35.2.1 General.

35.2.1.1 Means of egress from guest rooms or guest suites to the outside of the building shall be in accordance with Chapter 7 and this chapter.

35.2.1.2 Means of escape within the guest room or guest suite shall comply with the provisions of Section 24.2 for one- and two-family dwellings.

35.2.1.3 For the purpose of application of the requirements of Chapter 24, the terms guest room and guest suite shall be synonymous with the terms dwelling unit or living unit.


35.2.2.1 General.


35.2.2.1.2 In buildings, other than high-rise buildings, that are protected throughout by an approved automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5, exit enclosures shall have a minimum 1-hour fire resistance rating, and doors shall have a minimum 1-hour fire protection rating.

35.2.2.2 Doors.






Page 29 of 71

3









35.2.2.8* Escalators. Escalators previously approved as a component in a means of egress shall be permitted to continue to be considered in compliance.

35.2.2.9 Fire Escape Stairs. Fire escape stairs complying with 7.2.8 shall be permitted.










35.2.4.1 In buildings other than those complying with 35.2.4.2, not less than two exits shall be accessible from every floor, including floors below the level of exit discharge and floors occupied for public purposes.


(1) There are four or fewer guest rooms or guest suites per story.


Page 30 of 71

4



(4) The travel distance from the entrance door of any guest room or guest suite to an exit does not exceed 35 ft (10.7 m).




(8) Horizontal and vertical separation having a minimum -hour fire resistance rating is provided between guest rooms or guest suites.


35.2.5.1 Access to all required exits shall be in accordance with Section 7.5.

35.2.5.2 Reserved.

35.2.5.3 In buildings not protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5, common paths of travel shall not exceed 35 ft (10.7 m); travel within a guest room or guest suite shall not be included when calculating common path of travel.

35.2.5.4 In buildings protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5, common path of travel shall not exceed 50 ft (15 m); travel within a guest room or guest suite shall not be included when determining common path of travel.

35.2.5.5 Dead-end corridors shall not exceed 50 ft (15 m).



35.2.6.1 Travel distance within a guest room or guest suite to a corridor door shall not exceed 75 ft (23 m) in buildings not protected by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5.

35.2.6.2 Travel distance within a guest room or guest suite to a corridor door shall not exceed 125 ft (38 m) in buildings protected by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5.

35.2.6.3 Travel distance from the corridor door of any guest room or guest suite to the nearest exit shall comply with 35.2.6.3.1, 35.2.6.3.2, or 35.2.6.3.3.

35.2.6.3.1 Travel distance from the corridor door of any guest room or guest suite to the nearest exit, measured in accordance with Section 7.6, shall not exceed 100 ft (30 m).

35.2.6.3.2 Travel distance from the corridor door of any guest room or guest suite to the nearest exit, measured in accordance with Section 7.6, shall not exceed 200 ft (61 m) for exterior ways of exit access arranged in accordance with 7.5.3.

Page 31 of 71

5


35.2.6.3.3 Travel distance from the corridor door of any guest room or guest suite to the nearest exit shall comply with 35.2.6.3.3.1 and 35.2.6.3.3.2.

35.2.6.3.3.1 Travel distance from the corridor door of any guest room or guest suite to the nearest exit shall be measured in accordance with Section 7.6 and shall not exceed 200 ft (61 m) where the exit access and any portion of the building that is tributary to the exit access are protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5.




35.2.7.3 The distance of travel from the termination of the exit enclosure to an exterior door leading to a public way shall not exceed 150 ft (46 m) in buildings protected throughout by an approved automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5 and shall not exceed 100 ft (30 m) in all other buildings.



35.2.9.1 Emergency lighting in accordance with Section 7.9 shall be provided in all buildings with more than 25 rooms.

35.2.9.2 The requirement of 35.2.9.1 shall not apply where each guest room or guest suite has an exit direct to the outside of the building at street or the finished ground level.



35.2.11.1 Reserved.

35.2.11.2 Lockups. Lockups in student residence facility and student residence facility occupancies, other than approved existing lockups, shall comply with the requirements of 23.4.5.

35.3 Protection.

Page 32 of 71

6


35.3.1 Vertical Openings.




35.3.1.1.3 In buildings, other than high-rise buildings, that are protected throughout by an approved automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5, and in which exits and required ways of travel thereto are adequately safeguarded against fire and smoke within the building, or where every individual room has direct access to an exterior exit without passing through any public corridor, the protection of vertical openings that are not part of required exits shall not be required where approved by the authority having jurisdiction and where such openings do not endanger required means of egress.

35.3.1.1.4 In buildings two or fewer stories in height, unprotected openings shall be permitted by the authority having jurisdiction to continue to be used where the building is protected throughout by an approved automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5.









Boiler and fuel-fired heater rooms serving more than a single guest room or guest suite

1 hour or sprinklers


Gift or retail shops >100 ft2 (>9.3 m2) 1 hour or sprinklersb

Bulk laundries 1 hour or sprinklers

Page 33 of 71

7


Guest laundries >100 ft2 (>9.3 m2) outside of guest rooms or guest suites



Rooms or spaces used for storage of combustible supplies and equipment in quantities deemed hazardous by the authority having jurisdictionc




a Minimum fire resistance rating. bWhere sprinklers are provided, the separation specified in 8.7.1.2 and 35.3.2.2.3 shall not be required. cWhere storage areas not exceeding 24 ft2 (2.2 m2) are directly accessible from the guest room or guest suite, no separation or protection is required.





(1) Exit enclosures — Class A or Class B



35.3.3.3 Interior Floor Finish. In nonsprinklered buildings, newly installed interior floor finish in exits and exit access corridors shall be not less than Class II in accordance with 10.2.7.


35.3.4.1 General. A fire alarm system in accordance with Section 9.6, except as modified by 35.3.4.2 through 35.3.4.6, shall be provided in buildings, other than those where each guest room has exterior exit access in accordance with 7.5.3 and the building is three or fewer stories in height.


(1) Manual means in accordance with 9.6.2, unless there are other effective means to activate the fire alarm system, such as complete automatic sprinkler or automatic detection systems, with manual fire alarm box in accordance with 35.3.4.2(2) required

Page 34 of 71

8


(2) Manual fire alarm box located at the student residence facility desk or other convenient central control point under continuous supervision by responsible employees




35.3.4.3.1 Occupant notification shall be provided automatically in accordance with 9.6.3.

35.3.4.3.2 Positive alarm sequence in accordance with 9.6.3.4, and a presignal system in accordance with 9.6.3.3, shall be permitted.




35.3.4.3.6* Provisions shall be made for the immediate notification of the public fire department by telephone or other means in case of fire, and, where there is no public fire department, notification shall be made to the private fire brigade.

35.3.4.3.X Detection. (Reserved)




35.3.4.5* Smoke Alarms. An pproved single-station smoke alarm shall be installed in accordance with 9.6.2.10 in every guest room and every living area and sleeping room within a guest suite.

35.3.4.5.1 The smoke alarms shall not be required to be interconnected.

35.3.4.5.2 Single-station smoke alarms without a secondary (standby) power source shall be permitted.


35.3.5.1 All high-rise buildings, other than those where each guest room or guest suite has exterior exit access in accordance with 7.5.3, shall be protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5.3.

35.3.5.2 Reserved.

35.3.5.3* Where an automatic sprinkler system is installed, either for total or partial building coverage, the system shall be in accordance with Section 9.7, as modified by 35.3.5.4 and 35.3.5.5. In buildings four or fewer stories above grade plane, systems in accordance with NFPA 13R, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems in Residential Occupancies up to and Including Four Stories in Height, shall be permitted.

Page 35 of 71

9


35.3.5.4 The provisions for draft stops and closely spaced sprinklers in NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems, shall not be required for openings complying with 8.6.8.2 where the opening is within the guest room or guest suite.

35.3.5.5 In guest rooms and in guest room suites, sprinkler installations shall not be required in closets not exceeding 24 ft2 (2.2 m2) and in bathrooms not exceeding 55 ft2 (5.1 m2).

35.3.5.6 Reserved.

35.3.5.7 Reserved.


35.3.6 Corridors.

35.3.6.1 Walls.

35.3.6.1.1 Exit access corridor walls shall comply with either 35.3.6.1.2 or 35.3.6.1.3.

35.3.6.1.2 In buildings not complying with 35.3.6.1.3, exit access corridor walls shall consist of fire barriers in accordance with 8.2.3 having a minimum -hour fire resistance rating.

35.3.6.1.3 In buildings protected throughout by an approved automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5, no fire resistance rating shall be required, but the walls and all openings therein shall resist the passage of smoke.

35.3.6.2 Doors.

35.3.6.2.1 Doors that open onto exit access corridors, other than those complying with 8.3.4 or in buildings meeting the requirements of 35.3.6.2.2, shall have a minimum 20-minute fire protection rating in accordance with Section 8.3.

35.3.6.2.2 Where automatic sprinkler protection is provided in the corridor in accordance with 31.3.5.9 through 31.3.5.10, doors shall not be required to have a fire protection rating but shall resist the passage of smoke and be equipped with latches to keep doors tightly closed.





(1) The space is not used for guest rooms or guest suites or hazardous areas.

(2) The space is protected throughout by an approved automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5.


Page 36 of 71

10


35.3.6.4 Transoms, Louvers, or Transfer Grilles.

35.3.6.4.1 Transoms, louvers, or transfer grilles shall be prohibited in walls or doors of exit access corridors, unless meeting the requirements of 35.3.6.4.2, 35.3.6.4.3, or 35.3.6.4.4.

35.3.6.4.2 Existing transoms shall be permitted but shall be fixed in the closed position and shall be covered or otherwise protected to provide a fire resistance rating not less than that of the wall in which they are installed.

35.3.6.4.3 The requirement of 35.3.6.4.1 shall not apply where a corridor smoke detection system is provided that, when sensing smoke, sounds the building alarm and shuts down return or exhaust fans that draw air into the corridor from the guest rooms. The transfer grille or louver shall be located in the lower one-third of the wall or door height.

35.3.6.4.4 The requirement of 35.3.6.4.1 shall not apply to buildings protected throughout by an approved automatic sprinkler system complying with 35.3.5 or buildings with corridor sprinkler protection in accordance with 31.3.5.9 through 31.3.5.10. The transfer grille or louver shall be located in the lower one-third of the wall or door height.

35.3.7 Subdivision of Building Spaces. In buildings other than those meeting the requirements of 35.3.7.1, 35.3.7.2, or 35.3.7.3, every guest room floor shall be divided into not less than two smoke compartments of approximately the same size by smoke partitions in accordance with Section 8.4. 35.3.7.1 Smoke partitions shall not be required in buildings protected throughout by an approved automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5 or a corridor sprinkler system conforming to 31.3.5.9 through 31.3.5.10. 35.3.7.2 Smoke partitions shall not be required where each guest room is provided with exterior ways of exit access arranged in accordance with 7.5.3. 35.3.7.3 Smoke partitions shall not be required where the aggregate corridor length on each floor is not more than 150 ft (46 m). 35.3.7.4 Additional smoke partitions shall be provided so that the travel distance from a guest room corridor door to a smoke partition shall not exceed 150 ft (46 m). 35.3.8 Special Protection Features. (Reserved)



35.4.1.1 High-rise buildings shall comply with 35.3.5.1.


elevators 35.4.2 Reserved.

35.5 Building Services.

Page 37 of 71

11






35.5.3 Elevators, Escalators, and Conveyors. Elevators, escalators, and conveyors shall comply with the provisions of Section 9.4.


35.X Reserved Windows. Egress windows shall be specified where the use of operable windows are prohibited for interior environmental and energy cost savings.

35.6 Reserved.


35.7.1 Student residence facility Emergency Organization.


35.7.1.2* Drills of the emergency organization shall be held at quarterly intervals and shall cover such points as the operation and maintenance of the available first aid fire appliances, the testing of devices to alert guests, and a study of instructions for emergency duties.





35.7.3 Drills in Dormitories. Emergency egress and relocation drills shall be regularly conducted in accordance with Section 4.7.

35.7.4 Emergency Instructions for Residents or Guests.

35.7.4.1* A floor diagram reflecting the actual floor arrangement, exit locations, and room identification shall be posted in a location and manner acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction on, or immediately adjacent to, every guest room door in student residence facilities and in every resident room in dormitories.

35.7.4.2* Fire safety information shall be provided to allow guests to make the decision to evacuate to the outside, to evacuate to an area of refuge, to remain in place, or to employ any combination of the three options.


Page 38 of 71

12


35.7.6.1 New draperies, curtains, and other similar loosely hanging furnishings and decorations shall be flame resistant as demonstrated by testing in accordance with NFPA 701, Standard Methods of Fire Tests for Flame Propagation of Textiles and Films. 35.7.6.2 Upholstered Furniture and Mattresses. 35.7.6.2.1 Newly introduced upholstered furniture shall meet the criteria specified in 10.3.2.1 and 10.3.3. 35.7.6.2.2 Newly introduced mattresses shall meet the criteria specified in 10.3.2.2 and 10.3.4. 35.7.6.3 Furnishings or decorations of an explosive or highly flammable character shall not be used.


35.8.X Biohazards (Reserved)

Page 39 of 71

Report on Comments – June 2011 NFPA 101Attachment #3, provided courtesy of Campus Fire-Watch is available at the link shown below:

The requirement for loss history data is backward-looking. The sum total of our organization’s experience isforward-looking and thus considerable weight ought to be given to our own instincts in making the case for adequatetechnical substantiationAttachment #1 has been revised to the point where a HOLD is a reasonable and justified committee action in the

comment stage. Attachment #2 is submitted in response to the committee statement that a companion chapter forexisting student residence facilities be submitted to the committee.Note: Supporting material is available for review at NFPA Headquarters.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________101-278 Log #206 SAF-RES

_______________________________________________________________________________________________Michael A. Anthony, University of Michigan

101-379Accept a revised Chapter 34 and a new Chapter 35 into the 2012 Life Safety Code as “Annex E”.

APPA’s Code Advisory Task Force would be willing to participate in any Task Group assembled by the TechnicalCorrelating Committee to prepare framework documents for one or two new annexes. A revised Chapter 34 and a newChapter 35 is attached herewith. (Refer to related comment submitted by Mr. Weidner on behalf of our organization).


***Insert Include 2 here***This approach would be a significant value-add for the 2012 Edition of the Life Safety Code for a very

large market – the $100 billion education facilities industry. It would establish platform for a national discussion of lifesafety issues that apply to educational facilities without the need to craft criterion in language suitable for adoption asmodel law.With the proposed new chapter(s) appearing as an annex item, it will bring attention to the complex issues and will

draw in informed debate that will help our industry balance benefits and costs. Note that the attachments block out as“Reserved” some of the more subtle issues facing life safety professionals who work in this occupancy class.A Task Group could prepare a draft of Annex E for review by the appropriate committee before the 2011 Annual NFPA

Meeting and meet the deadline for publication in the 2012 Life Safety Code.This comment, and related comments on Proposal 101-379 were prepared by the following individuals: Ed Comeau

(Campus Firewatch), Richard E Davis, PE/JD (Evergreen State University), and Ted Weidner PE/AIA/PHD (University ofNebraska-Lincoln)


Page 40 of 71


Chapter 34 New Student Residence Facilities


34.1.1 Application.

34.1.1.1 The requirements of this chapter shall apply to new buildings or portions thereof used as student residence facility occupancies. (See 1.3.1.)




34.1.2.2.1 In buildings that are protected by an automatic sprinkler system in accordance with Section 9.7, student residence facilities shall be permitted to have their sole means of egress pass through a nonresidential occupancy in the same building, provided that the following criteria are met:



34.1.2.2.2 In buildings that are not protected by an automatic sprinkler system in accordance with Section 9.7, student residence facilities shall be permitted to have their sole means of egress pass through a nonresidential occupancy in the same building, provided that the following criteria are met:





(1) Student Residence Facility(Hall). A building or a space in a building intended with combined living and sleeping accommodations are provided for more than 16 persons who are not members of the same family in one room, or a series of closely associated rooms, with or without independent bathroom and cooking facilities, that are managed by a private or college or university student residence facility administration.

(2) Student Room. An accommodation within in a student residence facility that combines living, sleeping, and optional sanitary, and storage facilities within a compartment.

(3) Student Suite. An accommodation within a student residence facility that with two or more contiguous rooms comprising a compartment, with or

Page 41 of 71


without doors between such rooms, that provides living, sleeping, and optional sanitary, and storage facilities.










34.2.1 General.

34.2.1.1 Means of egress from student rooms or student suites to the outside of the building shall be in accordance with Chapter 7 and this chapter.

34.2.1.2 Means of escape within the student room or student suite shall comply with the provisions of Section 24.2 for one- and two- family multi-family dwellings.


34.2.2.1 General.


34.2.2.1.2 In buildings, other than high-rise buildings, that are protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5, exit enclosures shall have a minimum 1-hour fire resistance rating, and doors shall have a minimum 1-hour fire protection rating.

34.2.2.2 Doors.






Page 42 of 71









34.2.2.8 Reserved.

34.2.2.9 Reserved.









34.2.3.3* Corridors, other than those within individual student rooms or individual student suites, shall be of sufficient width to accommodate the required occupant load and shall be not less than 44 in. (1120 mm). 60 in. (1527 mm).


34.2.4.1 In buildings other than those complying with 34.2.4.2, not less than two separate exits shall be provided on each story. (See also Section 7.4.)


(1) There are four or fewer student rooms or student suites per story.


Page 43 of 71



(4) The travel distance from the entrance door of any student room or student suite to an exit does not exceed 35 ft (10.7 m).




(8) Horizontal and vertical separation having a minimum -hour fire resistance rating is provided between student rooms or student suites.


34.2.5.1 Access to all required exits shall be in accordance with Section 7.5, as modified by 34.2.5.2.

34.2.5.2 The distance between exits addressed by 7.5.1.3 shall not apply to common nonlooped exit access corridors in buildings that have corridor doors from the student room or student suite that are arranged such that the exits are located in opposite directions from such doors.

34.2.5.3 In buildings not protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5, common paths of travel shall not exceed 35 ft (10.7 m); travel within a student room or student suite shall not be included when calculating common path of travel.

34.2.5.4 In buildings protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5, common path of travel shall not exceed 50 ft (15 m); travel within a student room or student suite shall not be included when determining common path of travel.

34.2.5.5 In buildings not protected throughout by an approved, automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5, dead-end corridors shall not exceed 35 ft (10.7 m).

34.2.5.6 In buildings protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5, dead-end corridors shall not exceed 50 ft (15 m).

34.2.5.7 Any student room or any student suite of rooms in excess of 2000 ft2 (185 m2) shall be provided with not less than two exit access doors remotely located from each other.



34.2.6.1 Travel distance within a student room or student suite to a corridor door shall not exceed 75 ft (23 m) in buildings not protected by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5.

Page 44 of 71


34.2.6.2 Travel distance within a student room or student suite to a corridor door shall not exceed 125 ft (38 m) in buildings protected by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5.

34.2.6.3 Travel distance from the corridor door of any student room or student suite to the nearest exit shall comply with 34.2.6.3.1, 34.2.6.3.2, or 34.2.6.3.3.

34.2.6.3.1 Travel distance from the corridor door of any student room or student suite to the nearest exit, measured in accordance with Section 7.6, shall not exceed 100 ft (30 m).

34.2.6.3.2 Travel distance from the corridor door of any student room or student suite to the nearest exit, measured in accordance with Section 7.6, shall not exceed 200 ft (61 m) for exterior ways of exit access arranged in accordance with 7.5.3.

34.2.6.3.3 Travel distance from the corridor door of any student room or student suite to the nearest exit shall comply with 34.2.6.3.3.1 and 34.2.6.3.3.2.

34.2.6.3.3.1 Travel distance from the corridor door of any student room or student suite to the nearest exit shall be measured in accordance with Section 7.6 and shall not exceed 200 ft (61 m) where the exit access and any portion of the building that is tributary to the exit access are protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5.




34.2.7.3 The distance of travel from the termination of the exit enclosure to an exterior door leading to a public way shall not exceed 100 ft (30 m).



34.2.9.1 Emergency lighting in accordance with Section 7.9 shall be provided.

34.2.9.2 The requirement of 34.2.9.1 shall not apply where each student room or student suite has an exit direct to the outside of the building at street or the finished ground level.


Page 45 of 71



34.2.11.1 Reserved

34.2.11.2 Lockups. Lockups in student residence facilities occupancies shall comply with the requirements of 22.4.5.

34.3 Protection.

34.3.1 Protection of Vertical Openings.




34.3.1.1.3 In buildings, other than high-rise buildings, that are protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5, the walls enclosing vertical openings shall have a minimum 1-hour fire resistance rating, and doors shall have a minimum 1-hour fire protection rating.









Boiler and fuel-fired heater rooms serving more than a single student room or student suite



Bulk laundries 1 hour and sprinklers

Student laundries 100 ft2 ( 9.3 m2) outside of student rooms or student suites


Student laundries >100 ft2 (>9.3 m2) outside of student rooms or student suites


Page 46 of 71



Storage roomsc 1 hour or sprinklers



a Minimum fire resistance rating. bWhere sprinklers are provided, the separation specified in 8.7.1.2 and 34.3.2.2.3 is not required. cWhere storage areas not exceeding 24 ft2 (2.2 m2) are directly accessible from the student room or student suite, no separation or protection is required.





(1) Exit enclosures — Class A



34.3.3.3 Interior Floor Finish.

34.3.3.3.1 Interior floor finish shall comply with Section 10.2.

34.3.3.3.2 Interior floor finish in exit enclosures and exit access corridors and spaces not separated from them by walls complying with 34.3.6.1 shall be not less than Class II.

34.3.3.3.3 Interior floor finish shall comply with 10.2.7.1 or 10.2.7.2, as applicable.


34.3.4.1 General. A fire alarm system in accordance with Section 9.6, except as modified by 34.3.4.2 through 34.3.4.6, shall be provided.


(1) Manual means in accordance with 9.6.2

(2) Manual fire alarm box located at the student residence facility administrative reception desk or other convenient central control point under continuous supervision by responsible employees




34.3.4.3.1* Occupant notification shall be provided automatically in accordance with 9.6.3.

Page 47 of 71


34.3.4.3.2 Positive alarm sequence in accordance with 9.6.3.4 shall be permitted.

34.3.4.3.3* Student rooms and student suites specifically required and equipped to accommodate hearing-impaired individuals shall be provided with a visible notification appliance.

34.3.4.3.4 In occupiable areas, other than student rooms and student suites, visible notification appliances shall be provided.

34.3.4.3.5 Annunciation and annunciation zoning in accordance with 9.6.7 shall be provided in buildings three or more stories in height or having more than 50 student rooms or student suites. Annunciation shall be provided at a location readily accessible from the primary point of entry for emergency response personnel.

34.3.4.3.6 Emergency forces notification shall be provided in accordance with 9.6.4. 34.3.4.4 Detection. A corridor smoke detection system in accordance with Section 9.6 shall be provided in buildings other than those protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5.3.




34.3.4.5* Smoke Alarms. An approved single-station smoke alarm shall be installed in accordance with 9.6.2.10 in every student room and every living area and sleeping room within a student suite.


34.3.5.1 All buildings, other than those complying with 34.3.5.2, shall be protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5.3.

34.3.5.2 Automatic sprinkler protection shall not be required in buildings where all student sleeping rooms or student suites have a door opening directly to either of the following:

(1) Outside at the street or the finished ground level

(2) Exterior exit access arranged in accordance with 7.5.3 in buildings three or fewer stories in height

34.3.5.3 Where an automatic sprinkler system is installed, either for total or partial building coverage, the system shall be in accordance with Section 9.7, as modified by 34.3.5.4. In buildings four or fewer stories above grade plane, systems in accordance with NFPA 13R, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems in Residential Occupancies up to and Including Four Stories in Height, shall be permitted.

34.3.5.4 The provisions for draft stops and closely spaced sprinklers in NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems, shall not be required for openings complying with 8.6.8.2 where the opening is within the student room or student suite.

34.3.5.5 Reserved.

Page 48 of 71


34.3.5.6 Listed quick-response or listed residential sprinklers shall be used throughout student rooms and student room suites.

34.3.5.7 Open parking structures that comply with NFPA 88A, Standard for Parking Structures, and are contiguous with student residence facilities shall be exempt from the sprinkler requirements of 34.3.5.1.


34.3.6 Corridors.

34.3.6.1 Walls.

34.3.6.1.1 Exit access corridor walls shall comply with 34.3.6.1.2 or 34.3.6.1.3.

34.3.6.1.2 In buildings not complying with 34.3.6.1.3, exit access corridor walls shall consist of fire barriers in accordance with Section 8.3 that have not less than a 1-hour fire resistance rating.

34.3.6.1.3 In buildings protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 34.3.5, corridor walls shall have a minimum -hour fire resistance rating.

34.3.6.2 Doors.

34.3.6.2.1 Doors that open onto exit access corridors shall have not less than a 20-minute fire protection rating in accordance with Section 8.3.






(1) The space is not used for student rooms or student suites or hazardous areas.



34.3.6.4 Transoms, Louvers, or Transfer Grilles. Transoms, louvers, or transfer grilles shall be prohibited in walls or doors of exit access corridors.

34.3.7 Subdivision of Building Spaces. Buildings shall be subdivided in accordance with 34.3.7.1 or 34.3.7.2.

34.3.7.1 In buildings not protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system, each student room, including student suites, shall be separated from other student rooms by walls and floors constructed as fire barriers having a minimum 1-hour fire resistance rating.

Page 49 of 71


34.3.7.2 In buildings protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system, each student room, including student suites, shall be separated from other student rooms by walls and floors constructed as fire barriers having a minimum

-hour fire resistance rating.

34.3.7.3 Doors in the barriers required by 34.3.7.1 and 34.3.7.2 shall have a fire protection rating of not less than 20 minutes and shall not be required to be self-closing. 34.3.8 Special Protection Features. (Reserved)



34.4.1.1 High-rise buildings shall comply with Section 11.8.


elevators 34.5 Building Services.





34.5.3 Elevators, Escalators, and Conveyors.

34.5.3.1 Elevators, escalators, and conveyors shall comply with the provisions of Section 9.4.

34.5.3.2* In high-rise buildings, one elevator shall be provided with a protected power supply and shall be available for use by the fire department in case of emergency.


34.6 Reserved Windows. Egress windows shall be specified where the use of operable windows are prohibited for interior environmental and energy cost savings.


34.7.1 Student Residence Facility Organization.


34.7.1.2* Drills of the emergency organization shall be held at quarterly intervals and shall cover such points as the operation and maintenance of the available first aid fire

Page 50 of 71


appliances, the testing of devices to alert students, and a study of instructions for emergency duties.





34.7.3 Drills in Student Residence Facilities. Emergency egress and relocation drills shall be held with sufficient frequency to familiarize occupants with all types of hazards and to establish conduct of the drill as a matter of routine. Drills shall be conducted during peak occupancy periods and shall include suitable procedures to ensure that all persons subject to the drill participate.

34.7.4 Emergency Instructions for Residents or Students.

34.7.4.1* A floor diagram reflecting the actual floor arrangement, exit locations, and room identification shall be posted in a location and manner acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction on, or immediately adjacent to, every student room and in every student suite.

34.7.4.2* Fire safety information shall be provided to allow students to make the decision to evacuate to the outside, to evacuate to an area of refuge, to remain in place, or to employ any combination of the three options.





Page 51 of 71

1


Chapter 35 Existing Student Residence Facilities


35.1.1 Application.

35.1.1.1 The requirements of this chapter shall apply to existing buildings or portions thereof currently occupied as student residence facility occupancies, unless meeting the requirement of 35.1.1.2.

35.1.1.2 Any student residence facility divided into suites of rooms, with one or more bedrooms opening into a living room or study that has a door opening into a common corridor serving a number of suites, shall be classified as an apartment building.

35.1.1.3 The term student residence facility, wherever used in this Code, shall conform to include the definitions in 34.1.3.




35.1.2.2.1 In buildings that are protected by an automatic sprinkler system in accordance with Section 9.7, student residence facilities and dormitories shall be permitted to have their sole means of egress pass through a nonresidential occupancy in the same building, provided that the following criteria are met:



35.1.2.2.2 In buildings that are not protected by an automatic sprinkler system in accordance with Section 9.7, student residence facilities and dormitories shall be permitted to have their sole means of egress pass through a nonresidential occupancy in the same building, provided that the following criteria are met:





(1) Student residence facility. See 34.X.X.

(2) Guest Room. See 34.X.X.

(3) Guest Suite. See 34.X.X.



Page 52 of 71

2






35.1.5.X Control of Hazard of Contents. (Reserved)




35.2.1 General.

35.2.1.1 Means of egress from guest rooms or guest suites to the outside of the building shall be in accordance with Chapter 7 and this chapter.

35.2.1.2 Means of escape within the guest room or guest suite shall comply with the provisions of Section 24.2 for one- and two-family dwellings.

35.2.1.3 For the purpose of application of the requirements of Chapter 24, the terms guest room and guest suite shall be synonymous with the terms dwelling unit or living unit.


35.2.2.1 General.


35.2.2.1.2 In buildings, other than high-rise buildings, that are protected throughout by an approved automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5, exit enclosures shall have a minimum 1-hour fire resistance rating, and doors shall have a minimum 1-hour fire protection rating.

35.2.2.2 Doors.






Page 53 of 71

3









35.2.2.8* Escalators. Escalators previously approved as a component in a means of egress shall be permitted to continue to be considered in compliance.

35.2.2.9 Fire Escape Stairs. Fire escape stairs complying with 7.2.8 shall be permitted.










35.2.4.1 In buildings other than those complying with 35.2.4.2, not less than two exits shall be accessible from every floor, including floors below the level of exit discharge and floors occupied for public purposes.


(1) There are four or fewer guest rooms or guest suites per story.


Page 54 of 71

4



(4) The travel distance from the entrance door of any guest room or guest suite to an exit does not exceed 35 ft (10.7 m).




(8) Horizontal and vertical separation having a minimum -hour fire resistance rating is provided between guest rooms or guest suites.


35.2.5.1 Access to all required exits shall be in accordance with Section 7.5.

35.2.5.2 Reserved.

35.2.5.3 In buildings not protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5, common paths of travel shall not exceed 35 ft (10.7 m); travel within a guest room or guest suite shall not be included when calculating common path of travel.

35.2.5.4 In buildings protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5, common path of travel shall not exceed 50 ft (15 m); travel within a guest room or guest suite shall not be included when determining common path of travel.

35.2.5.5 Dead-end corridors shall not exceed 50 ft (15 m).



35.2.6.1 Travel distance within a guest room or guest suite to a corridor door shall not exceed 75 ft (23 m) in buildings not protected by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5.

35.2.6.2 Travel distance within a guest room or guest suite to a corridor door shall not exceed 125 ft (38 m) in buildings protected by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5.

35.2.6.3 Travel distance from the corridor door of any guest room or guest suite to the nearest exit shall comply with 35.2.6.3.1, 35.2.6.3.2, or 35.2.6.3.3.

35.2.6.3.1 Travel distance from the corridor door of any guest room or guest suite to the nearest exit, measured in accordance with Section 7.6, shall not exceed 100 ft (30 m).

Page 55 of 71

5


35.2.6.3.2 Travel distance from the corridor door of any guest room or guest suite to the nearest exit, measured in accordance with Section 7.6, shall not exceed 200 ft (61 m) for exterior ways of exit access arranged in accordance with 7.5.3.

35.2.6.3.3 Travel distance from the corridor door of any guest room or guest suite to the nearest exit shall comply with 35.2.6.3.3.1 and 35.2.6.3.3.2.

35.2.6.3.3.1 Travel distance from the corridor door of any guest room or guest suite to the nearest exit shall be measured in accordance with Section 7.6 and shall not exceed 200 ft (61 m) where the exit access and any portion of the building that is tributary to the exit access are protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5.




35.2.7.3 The distance of travel from the termination of the exit enclosure to an exterior door leading to a public way shall not exceed 150 ft (46 m) in buildings protected throughout by an approved automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5 and shall not exceed 100 ft (30 m) in all other buildings.



35.2.9.1 Emergency lighting in accordance with Section 7.9 shall be provided in all buildings with more than 25 rooms.

35.2.9.2 The requirement of 35.2.9.1 shall not apply where each guest room or guest suite has an exit direct to the outside of the building at street or the finished ground level.



35.2.11.1 Reserved.

Page 56 of 71

6


35.2.11.2 Lockups. Lockups in student residence facility and student residence facility occupancies, other than approved existing lockups, shall comply with the requirements of 23.4.5.

35.3 Protection.

35.3.1 Vertical Openings.




35.3.1.1.3 In buildings, other than high-rise buildings, that are protected throughout by an approved automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5, and in which exits and required ways of travel thereto are adequately safeguarded against fire and smoke within the building, or where every individual room has direct access to an exterior exit without passing through any public corridor, the protection of vertical openings that are not part of required exits shall not be required where approved by the authority having jurisdiction and where such openings do not endanger required means of egress.

35.3.1.1.4 In buildings two or fewer stories in height, unprotected openings shall be permitted by the authority having jurisdiction to continue to be used where the building is protected throughout by an approved automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5.









Boiler and fuel-fired heater rooms serving more than a single guest room or guest suite


Page 57 of 71

7



Gift or retail shops >100 ft2 (>9.3 m2) 1 hour or sprinklersb

Bulk laundries 1 hour or sprinklers

Guest laundries >100 ft2 (>9.3 m2) outside of guest rooms or guest suites



Rooms or spaces used for storage of combustible supplies and equipment in quantities deemed hazardous by the authority having jurisdictionc




a Minimum fire resistance rating. bWhere sprinklers are provided, the separation specified in 8.7.1.2 and 35.3.2.2.3 shall not be required. cWhere storage areas not exceeding 24 ft2 (2.2 m2) are directly accessible from the guest room or guest suite, no separation or protection is required.





(1) Exit enclosures — Class A or Class B



35.3.3.3 Interior Floor Finish. In nonsprinklered buildings, newly installed interior floor finish in exits and exit access corridors shall be not less than Class II in accordance with 10.2.7.


35.3.4.1 General. A fire alarm system in accordance with Section 9.6, except as modified by 35.3.4.2 through 35.3.4.6, shall be provided in buildings, other than those where each guest room has exterior exit access in accordance with 7.5.3 and the building is three or fewer stories in height.


(1) Manual means in accordance with 9.6.2, unless there are other effective means to activate the fire alarm system, such as complete automatic sprinkler or

Page 58 of 71

8


automatic detection systems, with manual fire alarm box in accordance with 35.3.4.2(2) required

(2) Manual fire alarm box located at the student residence facility desk or other convenient central control point under continuous supervision by responsible employees




35.3.4.3.1 Occupant notification shall be provided automatically in accordance with 9.6.3.

35.3.4.3.2 Positive alarm sequence in accordance with 9.6.3.4, and a presignal system in accordance with 9.6.3.3, shall be permitted.




35.3.4.3.6* Provisions shall be made for the immediate notification of the public fire department by telephone or other means in case of fire, and, where there is no public fire department, notification shall be made to the private fire brigade.

35.3.4.3.X Detection. (Reserved)




35.3.4.5* Smoke Alarms. An pproved single-station smoke alarm shall be installed in accordance with 9.6.2.10 in every guest room and every living area and sleeping room within a guest suite.

35.3.4.5.1 The smoke alarms shall not be required to be interconnected.

35.3.4.5.2 Single-station smoke alarms without a secondary (standby) power source shall be permitted.


35.3.5.1 All high-rise buildings, other than those where each guest room or guest suite has exterior exit access in accordance with 7.5.3, shall be protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5.3.

35.3.5.2 Reserved.

35.3.5.3* Where an automatic sprinkler system is installed, either for total or partial building coverage, the system shall be in accordance with Section 9.7, as modified by 35.3.5.4 and 35.3.5.5. In buildings four or fewer stories above grade plane, systems in accordance with NFPA 13R, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems in

Page 59 of 71

9


Residential Occupancies up to and Including Four Stories in Height, shall be permitted.

35.3.5.4 The provisions for draft stops and closely spaced sprinklers in NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems, shall not be required for openings complying with 8.6.8.2 where the opening is within the guest room or guest suite.

35.3.5.5 In guest rooms and in guest room suites, sprinkler installations shall not be required in closets not exceeding 24 ft2 (2.2 m2) and in bathrooms not exceeding 55 ft2 (5.1 m2).

35.3.5.6 Reserved.

35.3.5.7 Reserved.


35.3.6 Corridors.

35.3.6.1 Walls.

35.3.6.1.1 Exit access corridor walls shall comply with either 35.3.6.1.2 or 35.3.6.1.3.

35.3.6.1.2 In buildings not complying with 35.3.6.1.3, exit access corridor walls shall consist of fire barriers in accordance with 8.2.3 having a minimum -hour fire resistance rating.

35.3.6.1.3 In buildings protected throughout by an approved automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5, no fire resistance rating shall be required, but the walls and all openings therein shall resist the passage of smoke.

35.3.6.2 Doors.

35.3.6.2.1 Doors that open onto exit access corridors, other than those complying with 8.3.4 or in buildings meeting the requirements of 35.3.6.2.2, shall have a minimum 20-minute fire protection rating in accordance with Section 8.3.

35.3.6.2.2 Where automatic sprinkler protection is provided in the corridor in accordance with 31.3.5.9 through 31.3.5.10, doors shall not be required to have a fire protection rating but shall resist the passage of smoke and be equipped with latches to keep doors tightly closed.





(1) The space is not used for guest rooms or guest suites or hazardous areas.

Page 60 of 71

10


(2) The space is protected throughout by an approved automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5.


35.3.6.4 Transoms, Louvers, or Transfer Grilles.

35.3.6.4.1 Transoms, louvers, or transfer grilles shall be prohibited in walls or doors of exit access corridors, unless meeting the requirements of 35.3.6.4.2, 35.3.6.4.3, or 35.3.6.4.4.

35.3.6.4.2 Existing transoms shall be permitted but shall be fixed in the closed position and shall be covered or otherwise protected to provide a fire resistance rating not less than that of the wall in which they are installed.

35.3.6.4.3 The requirement of 35.3.6.4.1 shall not apply where a corridor smoke detection system is provided that, when sensing smoke, sounds the building alarm and shuts down return or exhaust fans that draw air into the corridor from the guest rooms. The transfer grille or louver shall be located in the lower one-third of the wall or door height.

35.3.6.4.4 The requirement of 35.3.6.4.1 shall not apply to buildings protected throughout by an approved automatic sprinkler system complying with 35.3.5 or buildings with corridor sprinkler protection in accordance with 31.3.5.9 through 31.3.5.10. The transfer grille or louver shall be located in the lower one-third of the wall or door height.

35.3.7 Subdivision of Building Spaces. In buildings other than those meeting the requirements of 35.3.7.1, 35.3.7.2, or 35.3.7.3, every guest room floor shall be divided into not less than two smoke compartments of approximately the same size by smoke partitions in accordance with Section 8.4. 35.3.7.1 Smoke partitions shall not be required in buildings protected throughout by an approved automatic sprinkler system in accordance with 35.3.5 or a corridor sprinkler system conforming to 31.3.5.9 through 31.3.5.10. 35.3.7.2 Smoke partitions shall not be required where each guest room is provided with exterior ways of exit access arranged in accordance with 7.5.3. 35.3.7.3 Smoke partitions shall not be required where the aggregate corridor length on each floor is not more than 150 ft (46 m). 35.3.7.4 Additional smoke partitions shall be provided so that the travel distance from a guest room corridor door to a smoke partition shall not exceed 150 ft (46 m). 35.3.8 Special Protection Features. (Reserved)



35.4.1.1 High-rise buildings shall comply with 35.3.5.1.

35.4.1.2* Emergency plans in accordance with Section 4.8 shall be provided and shall include the following: (1) Egress procedures (2) Methods

Page 61 of 71

11


(3) Preferred evacuation routes for each event, including appropriate use of elevators

35.4.2 Reserved.

35.5 Building Services.





35.5.3 Elevators, Escalators, and Conveyors. Elevators, escalators, and conveyors shall comply with the provisions of Section 9.4.


35.X Reserved Windows. Egress windows shall be specified where the use of operable windows are prohibited for interior environmental and energy cost savings.

35.6 Reserved.


35.7.1 Student residence facility Emergency Organization.


35.7.1.2* Drills of the emergency organization shall be held at quarterly intervals and shall cover such points as the operation and maintenance of the available first aid fire appliances, the testing of devices to alert guests, and a study of instructions for emergency duties.





35.7.3 Drills in Dormitories. Emergency egress and relocation drills shall be regularly conducted in accordance with Section 4.7.

35.7.4 Emergency Instructions for Residents or Guests.

35.7.4.1* A floor diagram reflecting the actual floor arrangement, exit locations, and room identification shall be posted in a location and manner acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction on, or immediately adjacent to, every guest room door in student residence facilities and in every resident room in dormitories.

Page 62 of 71

12


35.7.4.2* Fire safety information shall be provided to allow guests to make the decision to evacuate to the outside, to evacuate to an area of refuge, to remain in place, or to employ any combination of the three options.





35.8.X Biohazards (Reserved)

Page 63 of 71

Report on Comments – June 2011 NFPA 5000_______________________________________________________________________________________________5000-71 Log #55 BLD-RES

_______________________________________________________________________________________________Technical Correlating Committee on Building Code,

5000-88Review the action taken by BLD-BLC on proposal 5000-88.

Proposal 5000-88 considers removal of the story height limits and area criteria from Chapter 7. Nocorrelative action was considered as to how the allowable construction types for the occupancy chapters would behandled (in the__.1.5.1 Section) without such content.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________5000-90 Log #64 BLD-RES


5000-97aReconsider the action on this proposal to determine if latching is required or not. Section 8.11.4.2

(3) appears to not require the latching hardware but implies that the occupancy chapters can offer a different option.The Occupancy Chapter TCs should review their chapter provisions applicable to smoke barriers and, if it is the TC’sdesire, revise text so as to specifically require latching in the appropriate locations.

The occupancy chapters might need to be correlated with the change made to 8.11.4.2(3).

_______________________________________________________________________________________________5000-105 Log #75 BLD-RES


5000-104bReview the actions taken on Proposals 5000-104a, 5000-166, 5000-167, 5000-168, 5000-169, and

5000-170 to ensure there is a consistent treatment of this subject.This proposal relates to the need to provide a separation between garages and living spaces in

residential occupancies. Each committee is being asked to review the base criteria proposed for chapter 8 anddetermine if further correlation within the occupancy chapters is necessary.


Page 64 of 71


_______________________________________________________________________________________________Eleanor Smith, Concrete Change

5000-164Accept the Proposal as Submitted.

I concur, generally, with the substantiation of the submitted proposal by Jake Pauls plus the negativeballot submitted by RES TC member Stanley Harbuck. In addition, and to reinforce plus supplement these TCmembers’ information, I have the following comment to support accepting the proposal as submitted. The followingcomments include information drawn from the website of Concrete Change (www.concretechange.org), the organizationwhich I have directed since the late 1980’s.Problem and Resolution This proposal would significantly resolve health and safety problems caused by current,typical house construction practices. While federal laws have required architectural access in public buildings(Americans with Disabilities Act) and in new multi-family housing (Fair Housing Act), the great majority of newsingle-family homes continue to present egregious barriers to people who develop disabilities. The current practice ofbuilding steps at all entrances of a dwelling and narrow interior passage doors causes or exacerbates the followingproblems:--Inability to exit one’s own home independently in case of emergency because there are steps at all entrances.--Inability to exit one’s home to participate in community activities, resulting in isolation and depression.--Increased falls because one must be carried up and down steps in a wheelchair or must struggle with steps whileusing crutches, canes, walkers, etc. and at the same time attempt to open or close an entry door.--Inability to enter one’s own bathroom because of the typically narrow door, leading to poor hygiene, and chronicallyrestricting intake of fluids, which in turn leads to kidney and bladder infections and other urinary tract ailments.--Isolation and depression due to inability to participate in gatherings in the homes of friends and extended family whosehomes have steps at all entrances and/or narrow bathroom doors.--Increased physical and mental stress on the part of persons caring for disabled relatives because they must doincreased lifting, carrying and hygiene tasks due to steps and narrow doors. Numerous studies have documented thatpersons doing significant amounts of care-giving suffer poorer health and higher mortality than control groups ofnon-caregivers.--Steps and narrow doors impede the ability of fire fighters, emergency medical personnel, and other emergency

responders as they attempt to evacuate people experiencing home fires, heart attacks, strokes, etc.--Further, lack of a home entrance without steps may increase injuries to emergency responders. For example, a

three-year study of more than 250 documented injuries to EMT’s showed that the most frequent injuries were backinjuries, and that the majority of these occurred at the location from which the victim was transported as opposed to thelocation (such as a hospital) to which the victim was transported. (“Evaluation of the Injury Profile of EmergencyPersonnel in a Busy Urban EMS System,” American Journal of Emergency Medicine, P.T. Hoqya and L. Ellis, July1990.)Numbers of Houses Affected

¬The current practice with regard to housing and disability is to build homes with no access and later react in crisismode when a resident experiences a disability, resulting in the above-mentioned health and safety problems as well asincreased institutionalization. The number of houses that need to have basic access features is often severelyunderestimated. Low estimates fail to recognize the following: that not just wheelchair users but a host of other peoplewith mobility impairment are affected; that when one member of a household develops a disability, the whole householdis affected; and that people with disabilities, like non-disabled people, move from house to house, with each individualimpacting the need for access in a series of houses. A study published in The Journal of the American PlanningAssociation (Summer, 2008) projects that 25% to 60% of all new houses built in 2000 will have at least one resident withsevere, long-term mobility impairment during the lifetime of the house. “Aging and Disability: Implications for theHousing Industry and Housing Policy in the United States,” Volume 74, Issue 3, June 2008, Stanley K. Smith, StefanRayer, Eleanor A. Smith) Recent conversations with the primary author of that article indicate that 60% is the morelikely figure due to the conservative parameters used in the article.Demonstrated Practicality of the Proposed RecommendationA number of local ordinances, state laws and agency policies over the past two decades have yielded some 40,000single-family houses and duplexes built with at least one entrance without steps and adequately wide interior doors.These houses were built for the general public as opposed to being designated for people who currently havedisabilities. The fact that no attempts have been made to rescind these laws or policies since their construction


Page 65 of 71

Report on Comments – June 2011 NFPA 5000requirements first were employed is an indication that such features are not difficult or costly to incorporate in newconstruction (as opposed to the much higher cost of retrofitting existing houses for access after barriers have alreadybeen constructed).

Practicality in a variety of terrains and climates The above-mentioned existing houses have proven practical in bothsouthern and northern climates; on concrete slabs and over basements; and on both level and steep terrains. (Theprovision to provide access from a driveway or attached garage facilitates entrance on steep terrain.)Cost issues. The low costs cited are based on already-constructed houses. Experienced builders of these housesestimate $200 or less as the added cost for new houses built on a concrete slab, and around $600 for houses built overa basement. These costs are in contrast to the unintended high financial costs of continuing to build with barriers,which include health problems and injuries; retrofitting to remove barriers; and increased institutionalizations of peoplefor whom architectural barriers in their home was an issue in their placement in nursing homes or other institutions.The most comprehensive study to date of the history, health and social implications, strategies and costs relevant to

this issue was commissioned by AARP and published in 2008: “Increasing Home Access: Designing for Visitability,”AARP Public Policy Institute, Jordana L. Maisel, Eleanor Smith, Edward Steinfeld, August, 2008.The Issue of Single-family Attached Houses, commonly referred to as “Townhouses” or “Row houses”, as opposed tosingle-family detached houses and duplexes, was raised by the Technical Committee. Although incorporating basicaccess (“visitability”) in townhouses can be more complex than in single-family, a variety of solutions can be applied totownhouses. Some of these are illustrated in the Townhouse section of the Photo Gallery at www.concretechange.org.Nevertheless, for purposes of this recommendation it is best to defer addressing townhouse requirements to local, stateor federal entities at the time when they adopt NFPA 5000.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________5000-138 Log #79 BLD-RES


5000-164The committee is asked to review the recommendation in this proposal once the 2009 edition of

ANSI/ICC A117.1 is available.The potential need to reference ICC/ANSI A117.1 in Chapter 12 or Chapter 22, as it applies to certain

dwelling units is within the purview of NFPA 5000.Further, staff is requested to submit this proposal to the NFPA DARAC as part of their agenda package for their June

2010 meeting


Page 66 of 71


_______________________________________________________________________________________________Jake Pauls, Jake Pauls Consulting Services

5000-164Procedurally, it would be ideal if proposal 5000-164 were Accepted in Principle at the ROC stage,

as occurred at the ROP stage for companion proposal, 5000-165, which was processed by the BLD-BSY TC. This, orsomething equivalent, is the recommendation of this comment.

Complicating the Technical Committee’s Approval in Principle of this proposal is the fact that, at thetime of this Comment submission, ICC has not yet declared the new edition of the ICC/ANSI A117.1 as approved byANSI and published although responsible ICC staff reported to the A117 Committee, on August 9: “At this point we haveto wait until the end of August (to complete some procedural items) but I do hope to be sending the standard to ANSI bythe end of the month. I will keep you all posted once I actually submit the standard to ANSI. I am hoping to have thestandard printed and available by mid November or early December.”

Among options for approval of Proposal 5000-164 within this cycle are approval at the TCC ROC meeting based onpublic availability of the ICC/ANSI A117.1-2010 standard, a successful NITMAM in June 2011, and a successful appealto the Standards Council. Thus I ask that the BLD-RES Technical Committee act in a fashion consistent with theBLD-BSY TC’s unanimous affirmative vote to accept companion Proposal 5000-165 in principle based on publication ofthe standard in time for this edition of NFPA 5000.

There is even more reason now to accept the proposal than there was in late 2009. The American Public HealthAssociation’s policy 2009-13, in the late stages of adoption when Proposal 5000-165 was submitted, was formallyadopted in November 2009 and is now published with the relevant recommendation as follows: “4. ICC and NFPA, indeveloping model codes and standards, should use generally a ‘universal design’ or inclusive design philosophy, whichmaximizes safety and usability for the largest range of people, including elderly people or those of any age withdisabilities. This includes scoping—for all new homes (subject to some very limited exemptions)—of ICC/ANSIA117.1-2009 requirements for ‘visitable dwelling units,’. . . .” Proposal 5000-164 includes only limited exceptions,consistent with current NFPA 5000 language. (See additional comment below on the issue of exceptions.)

In 2009, the acting US Surgeon General recommended visitable housing based on public health benefits. The largesystem for setting priorities for public health, Healthy People 2020, continues to include an objective that includesvisitability, i.e., “DSC HP2020–7: Reduce the proportion of people with disabilities reporting environmental barriers toparticipating in home, school, work, or community activities.” A very detailed comment by Eleanor Smith ofConcreteChange on this objective, and the need to specify visitability, is found at:healthypeople.gov/hp2020/Objectives/ViewObjective.aspx?Id=451&TopicArea=Disability+and+Secondary+Conditions&Objective=DSC+HP2020–7&TopicAreaId=17. Quoted from this website are the following reasons to consider visitability(“basic access”) as an important public health strategy.“Major ill health consequences result from continuing to consider basic access in house construction as strictly a privateand market issue, rather than acknowledging it as a public and policy issue. Ill health effects may include the following:---Increased falls because there are steps at all entrances---Increased falls because narrow bathroom doors force people using walkers to move sideways through the door;cause some wheelchair users to employ unsafe means of passage such as transferring to a desk chair on casters,crawling on the floor, etc.Falls are the leading cause of injury, death, and emergency department visits for people over age 65.---Decreased ability to exit the house in case of fire or other emergencies.---Increased bladder and kidney problems. Inability to pass through bathroom door in one’s own home or in homesvisited results in chronic self-limiting of liquids, too many hours of retaining urine, and other unhealthy practices.---Diminished health of caregivers. Many studies have established that family members who are highly involved in thecare of a person with a disability have poorer health and higher mortality than control groups of non-caregivers. Havingto lift people in and out of the house because of entry steps, or find neighbors or others to do so, and having to carrybedpans because a bathroom door is narrow are physical and psychological stress factors.---Increased depression of people who cannot leave their home independently because of steps at all entrances.---Increased depression of people for whom architectural barriers in the homes of friends and extended family make itdifficult or impossible to take part in gatherings.”

Relative to injury prevention, the safety of stairways in homes is a growing concern as homes now account for 90percent of all stair-related injuries treated in hospital emergency departments. The failure to provide—as a matter ofminimum mandatory requirements in building codes—a zero-step entrance to new homes is contributing to the relatively


Page 67 of 71

Report on Comments – June 2011 NFPA 5000rapidly growing toll of home stair-related injuries that, currently, exact a societal cost of about $10 million per hour in theUSA. Further information about the recent, rapid growth in home stair-related injuries is provided at my website,http://web.me.com/bldguse/Site/Stairways.html. We already have a large stock of nonvisitable homes. We should notbe building any more of them, especially when the societal need for visitable housing is growing faster than new homeconstruction can satisfy. As this proponent has pointed out repeatedly in prior proposals on zero-step entrances—comparable to those the model codes of both ICC and NFPA already require for all new buildings other thandwellings—the combination of entrance doors and steps is unreasonably dangerous.

In terms of accessibility and usability, we have recently celebrated a major anniversary of the Americans withDisabilities Act (ADA) and, with our increasing proportion of older Americans and the need to control healthcare costs,the case of homes usable for ones life span gain is increasingly strong.

Within NFPA (and in many other organizations) there is a growing focus on accessibility and usability. The high-levelDisability Access Review and Advisory Committee (DARAC) set up by, and reporting to, the NFPA President took astrong stand in support of the kind of scoping for visitability that is included in Proposal 5000-164. This follows thestrong support, with an accept in principle action taken on companion proposal 5000-165 at the ROP meeting of theBLD-BSY Technical Committee in the fall of 2009.

Momentum is clearly supportive of Proposals 5000-164 plus 5000-165 and NFPA is an important part of thatmomentum (as shown in the attention to accessibility in the July-August 2010 issue of NFPA Journal and the success ofNFPA e-ACCESS). But I recognize that seeing Proposal 5000-164 through to a successful incorporation into NFPA5000 will benefit from a significant reduction of the opposition encountered to date (and possibly continuing) in theBLD-RES TC. I hope BLD-BSY, in considering its ROC consideration of Proposal 5000-165 is able to craft the correctaction that takes into account the delay in the publication of A117.1. Then, BLD-RES should follow that action so that,procedurally, the delayed publication of A117.1 can be easily addressed in subsequent deliberations in the NFPAprocess.Note also that a comment has been submitted by Eleanor Smith (ConcreteChange) on the BLD-RES TC’s rejection of

Proposal 5000-164 and she is planning to attend that TC meeting on October 19th so that the best available informationis readily available to the BLD-RES TC.

Relative to the TC’s expressed need “to have the opportunity to review the final, published standard before it can bereferenced in NFPA 5000. It is expected to be released well in advance of the committee’s ROC meeting in Oct. 2010.”NFPA can act on Proposal 5000-164 even though, at the TC ROC meetings, the full standard is not yet available inpublished form. Here follows the relevant excerpt from the final, soon-to-be-published text (except for some formatissues) of ICC/ANSI A117.1.

Type C (Visitable) dwelling units shall comply with Section 1005.At least one unit entrance shall be on a circulation path complying with Section 1005.5 from a

public street or sidewalk, a dwelling unit driveway, or a garage. A circulation pathcomplying with Section 1005.5 shall connect the unit entrance complying with Section 1005.2 and with the spacesspecified in Section 1005.4. . The entrance level shall include a toilet room or bathroomcomplying with Section 1005.6 and one habitable space with an area 70 square feet minimum. Where a foodpreparation area is provided on the entrance level, it shall comply with Section 1005.7.

: A toilet room or bathroom shall not be required on an entrance level with less than 120 square feet ofhabitable space.

Circulation paths shall comply with Section 1005.5.The circulation path shall consist of one or more of the following elements: walking surfaces

with a slope not steeper that 1:20, doors and doorways, ramps, elevators complying with Sections 407 through 409, andwheelchair (platform) lifts complying with Section 410.

Walking surfaces with slopes not steeper than1:20 shall comply with Section 303.. The clear width of the circulation path shall comply with Section 403.5.

Doors and doorways shall comply with Section 1005.5.3Doorways shall have a clear opening of 31-3/4 inches (810 mm) minimum. Clear opening of

swinging doors shall be measured between the face of the door and stop, with the door open 90 degrees.Thresholds shall comply with Section 303.

Exception: Thresholds at exterior sliding doors shall be permitted to be 3/4 inch (19 mm) maximum in height, providedthey are beveled with a slope not steeper than 1:2.

Ramps shall comply with Section 405. Handrails, intermediate landings and edge protection are not required where the sides of ramp runs have a

vertical drop off of 1/2 inch (13 mm) maximum within 10 inches (255 mm) horizontally of the ramp run.The clear width of the circulation path shall comply with Section 403.5.


Page 68 of 71

Report on Comments – June 2011 NFPA 5000At a minimum, the toilet room or bathroom required by Section 1005.4 shall include a

lavatory and a water closet. Reinforcement shall be provided for the future installation of grab bars at water closets.Clearances at the water closet shall comply with Section 1004.11.3.1.2.. At a minimum,the food preparation area shall include a sink, a cooking appliance, and a refrigerator. Clearances between all opposingbase cabinets, counter tops, appliances or walls within the food preparation area shall be 40 inches (1015 mm)minimum in width.

Spaces that do not provide a cooktop or conventional range shall be permitted to provide a clearance of 36inches (915 mm) minimum in width.

Receptacle outlets and operable parts of lighting controls shall belocated 15 inches minimum and 48 inches maximum above the floor.

The following shall not be required to comply with Section 1005.8. 1. Receptacle outlets serving a dedicateduse.2. Controls mounted on ceiling fans and ceiling lights.3. Floor receptacle outlets4. Lighting controls and receptacle outlets over countertops

Note that a more user-friendly version of these requirements was included in the Substantiation for the originalProposal 5000-164 (and it is not repeated here).

Relative to the BLD-RES TC’s other reasons for rejecting Proposal 5000-164 there were three concerns expressed in arelatively vague, cryptic or incomplete fashion that makes very difficult a response in a reasonable-length comment.

First: “The substantiation does not provide details on all of the issues addressed by A117.1.” What specific detailsdoes the TC consider important for its considerations (especially relative to the justifications already provided in theoriginal proposal, the negative ballot, and the website containing the most complete information on visitability,www.concretechange.org)? More generally, how can the BLD-RES TC block a proposal which has gotten such afavorable response and support from committees that deal in great detail—and with a lot of specialized expertise—withaccessibility issues (specifically the BLD-BSY TC and DARAC)?

Second: “The cost implications of the proposal are unclear.” On the contrary, the cost implications are very clear.Relative to the benefits provided by the visitability features—notably the most costly of the features, the zero-stepentrance—the costs have been clearly presented and they are low. They were set out in the original proposal for5000-164 and their source was clearly identified (www.concretechange.org at which the homepage’s top-of-page linkslead directly to a very detailed page titled, “Construction Costs.” As an investigator of falls, I have a unique perspectiveon the relative size of the costs, for example, of building the home properly in the first place—with a zero-stepentrance—which, if implemented would have prevented the falls I have investigated in two newly constructed homeswhere the lady of the house fell while exiting the main home entrance with its stepdown at the door. My siteinvestigation cost in both cases was several times larger than the $100 to $600 cost of eliminating such steps and, moreimportantly, the injured party and her family suffered costs many, many times greater (e.g., by three or more orders ofmagnitude or powers of ten) than the cost of proper, step-free construction of the entrance. Such averted-injury benefitsare not the only ones. There are also huge benefits over the life of the home in terms of increased usability. For somehomes, there are also the life-saving benefits of not having to traverse, or have ones wheelchair carried over a thresholdand step(s) combination in the very limited time there is when fire forces a hasty escape from a dwelling. I repeat, thecost implications are very clear and, equally clear, are the benefits relative to costs.

Third: “Additional exceptions, such as for townhouses, should be addressed.” The ConcreteChange website(www.concretechange.org) has an entire page, “Townhouse Problems, Townhouse Alternatives,” that deals withtownhouses, particularly three types that (on superficial consideration) appear to be problematic. They are:

1. No access to ground floor2. Townhouses over retail3. Garage under main floor

Thus before the focus is on making blanket exceptions for certain townhouses, we need to ask if the problems are trulyinsurmountable and if so, are there other issues with such townhouses that would lead us to stop building them. This isanother one of those cases where we already have a lot of unvisitable dwellings; therefore we need not build any moreof them when there are good, visitable approaches to their design and construction. Thus, no exceptions are proposedin this comment for 5000-164 for townhouses other than the general exceptions already in the proposal.

More practically, we need to ask the question, “If NFPA 5000 incorporates Proposal 5000-164, how many times willthere be a problem building certain townhouses?” The answer is “None.” NFPA 5000 is a model code that is ahead ofother model codes in North America and, in some respects, more widely. Model codes play an important role in pushingor pulling the building industry to better things. Thus, there is no impediment currently for the incorporation of visitabilityin NFPA 5000.

Also, clearly, based on technical developments in design and construction, problems will be solved creatively and withgood engineering. One need only look at all the improvements that have been made in urban transportation systems in


Page 69 of 71

Report on Comments – June 2011 NFPA 5000the last few decades. For example, on the matter of inaccessible entrances to urban buses—a common problem wasthe high, difficult-to-use stairs for people to use getting in and out of buses. Now with changes in bus architecture andwith “kneeling” buses and very effective, easy to use ramps at bus entries, everyone can use a bus relatively easily andsafely. The building industry, especially the home building industry needs to discover what can be easily andeconomically done to home entrances that parallel what has been done with buses. Notably, the problem is inherentlymore difficult with buses as the interior floor has to be some distance above the roadway; the same is not true for allhouses in relation to their exterior access. Moreover, as is stressed on the ConcreteChange website, the zero stepentrance to homes can be on thr front, back or sides. Buses, by contrast, have to have their entrances on a particularside.

Thus visitability or basic access is an indicator of just how committed we are to making the environment work, in areasonably safe fashion for all. NFPA 5000 has already led in some important innovations in home design (includingstairways built to the standards people appreciate in all other settings and fire protection that befits the dangers ofhomes compared to larger buildings). NFPA 5000 and NFPA generally stand for doing things right, not just sticking withwhat one group, home builders and those on code committees who are married to the home builders’ limitedimagination and social responsibility, insists on building with the same designs over and over again—

Therefore, publishing a model building code with the fewest exceptions for dwellings is a long overduestep into the 21st century where everyone’s needs and capabilities are considered.

Again, the BLD-RES TC should not be out of step with socially responsible positions taken by other NFPA committees,especially if the NFPA model codes and standards are to continue to be the ones contributing to solution of public healthproblems rather than adding to the problems. Just as NFPA’s process is not some mindless clone of what the othermodel code organization does, its codes and standards should not be clones of what that other organization produces.


Page 70 of 71

Report on Comments – June 2011 NFPA 5000_______________________________________________________________________________________________5000-140b Log #183 BLD-RES

_______________________________________________________________________________________________Disability Access Review and Advisory Committee ,

5000-164Accept proposal #5000-164.

The committee stated the following four (4) reasons for rejecting proposal #5000-164:1. The ICC/ANSI A117.1-2009 is not yet finalized or available for review. The committee needs to have the opportunity

to review the final, published standard before it can be referenced in NFPA 5000. It is expected to be released well inadvance of the committee's ROC meeting in Oct. 2010.

2. The substantiation does not provide details on all of the issues addressed by A117.1.3. The cost implications of the proposal are unclear.4. Additional exceptions, such as for townhouses, should be addressed.DARAC believes that those four (4) reasons

have been adequately addressed and resolved as follows and therefore the proposal should be approved.1. The ICC/ANSI ASC A117 Committee formally approved the text on July 30, 2010 by a vote of 44 in the affirmative

and 2 in the negative. The appeal period closed August 30, 2010 with no appeals filed. The final ballot approved text ispublished on the ICC website. It will be available for purchase as soon as the printer can deliver it.

2. Text has been provided to answer any questions or concerns raised by reason #2. Information is available on theIC website.

Costs have been fairly and adequately addressed by Concrete Change which is sponsored and overseen by theStatewide Independent Living Council (SILC) of Georgia. A national system of Statewide Independent Living Councilswas established under Title VII of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended in 1994. The Statewide Independent LivingCouncil (SILC) of Georgia was founded in 1995 to ensure that people with disabilities have opportunities to live asindependently as possible. Their PowerPoint presentation on methods and costs is available for review. In Summary,they state, that on new construction, the costs are approx.: $200 zero-step entrance plus $50 interior doors; total about$250 average (about 1/3 the cost of one bay window) with a range from $100-$600. Their website is:www.concretechange.org

Note: Supporting material is available for review at NFPA Headquarters.4. The committee stated that there should be some scoping exceptions for townhouses it is within their power to modify

the proposal to add them, but it is not a valid reason for rejecting the entire proposal.This year is the 20th anniversary of the ADA. There has been a huge effort on the part of the President, Congress and allfederal agencies to make society accessible to people with disabilities including, but not limited to, temporary housingused by FEMA to house evacuees, court houses, recreational facilities, computer software, educational and hiringopportunities. NFPA codes and standards have been among the leaders in accessibility and this proposal is timely,appropriate and cost effective. Each one of us will benefit at some point in our own lives from having new housesconstructed as “visitable”.The Disability Access Review and Advisory Committee was balloted for their approval to submit this comment to NFPA5000. The results are as follows:Number Eligible to Vote: 9Ballot Results: Affirmative: 6Ballot Not Returned: 3 (Barbosa, Olson and Scott)As this comment received the required 2/3 approval vote of the committee members eligible to vote in accordance withDARAC’s Bylaws and Operating Procedures, this comment is submitted in DARAC’s name to NFPA 5000.


Page 71 of 71