Appeal 24852

OSSC 2014 1008.1.2

Doors shall swing in the direction of egress travel where serving a room or area containing an occupant load of 50 or more persons.

Swing security gate at courtyard entry inward, with provisions allowing safe egress depending on occupancy load at different times of day.

One of two required egress routes from the B-Occupancy courtyard passes through an exterior passageway leading to the public way (see Appeal ID 16863) and has a required egress capacity of 65 persons. This egress passageway will remain open during business hours and will be secured by a gate after business hours. The gate will be a side-hinged swinging type and will have a power-assist activation button with standby power at each side. The door will unlock upon fire alarm and sprinkler activation to be accessible from the exterior in case of emergency and will swing into the passageway from the exterior lot line. The gate will also be held in the open position for any business-related events that occur after-hours.

The building is located at the intersection of N Mississippi and N Skidmore, a commercial area with a bustling nightlife. In order to provide a door that swings in the direction of egress while the building is fully occupied, the door would need to be set back so as not to encroach into the public way. The concern is that this protected space could serve as a temporary encampment, impeding the operation of an outward door swing in case of emergency.

Additionally, this is a Mixed-Use Occupancy building that will only be fully occupied during business hours. The gate will be closed only when the building is only occupied by residential inhabitants, whose occupant load is 15. In this scenario the occupant load is less than 50, allowing an egress door to swing in.

OSSC 2014 1008.1.1

The maximum width of a swinging door leaf shall be 48 inches nominal.

Allowance of a swinging door leaf larger than 48 inches.

The proposed width of the security gate is the full width of the in exterior passageway order to provide an unobstructed entryway into the courtyard during business hours, with a clear opening of approximately 5’-4” (64 inches). When in the closed position, gate operation will be power-assisted with standby power.

The courtyard is meant to serve as an open public/private space serving the building during business hours, with unobstructed visual and physical access for pedestrians off Mississippi Ave. According to IBC commentary, the 48-inch limitation exists because larger doors are difficult to handle and are of sizes that typically are not fire rated. A fire rated door is not required at this location, and the 2021 IBC code has struck the maximum egress door width limitation. Our understanding is that this was struck from the IBC code because the opening force requirements also stated in the code will ensure that the door will not be unreasonably difficult to open, regardless of the width of the door. Considering the new code language (which we expect to be adopted by the upcoming 2021 OSSC), we feel that this solution fulfils the Life Safety intent for ease of operating an egress door.

OSSC 2014 3004.1

Elevator hoistways over 25 feet from the bottom landing to the underside of the hoistway ceiling shall be vented.

Eliminate the hoistway vent in entirety to be consistent with the 2019 OSSC

The elevator hoistway from the bottom landing to the underside of the hoistway ceiling is 39 feet and not vented, per more recent code standards.

The section requiring hoistway venting has been eliminated from the 2019 OSSC. Explanatory text for this change per approved Appeal 24046:

Text from the International Code Council CTC Elevator Lobby Study Group states there is a specific concern with smoke movement related to stack effect when these vents are incorporated in the design.

By eliminating the vents, the stack effect is reduced and should improve overall life safety and egress in the building.