Egress Doors Building Code

Exterior doors in homes and businesses not only provide security but they also serve as a vital means of egress during a fire or other emergency.

Egress doors building code.

The area of a window well shall not be less than 9 square feet with a horizontal length width of no less than 36 inches. This code addresses those egress features necessary to minimize danger to life from fire and smoke crowd pressures and movement of individuals and groups. Nfpa emergency exit door requirements for locks. Means of egress doors in the irc.

When the sill height of an egress window is located below grade common for egress windows provided for a basement a window well must be provided. Code expert glenn mathewson runs through the landing requirements for exterior doors including the threshold dimensions the number of allowable steps from the threshold down to the landing and the additional code allowances for exterior non egress doors. 2018 irc section r311 3 1 restricts threshold height a required exit door in residences to 1 inches from the top of the the threshold to the floor or landing on each side of the door. The exterior building entrance doors serving occupancies in group a b e m r 1 or r 2 and entrance doors to tenant spaces in occupancies in groups a b e m r 1 and r 2 are permitted to be equipped with an approved entrance and egress access control system which shall be installed in accordance with all of the following criteria.

In most countries such doors are regulated by local building codes which stipulate how many doors are required and the requirements for each exit. However the international fire code contains one additional section on maintenance of the means of egress system in existing buildings. Building codes for exterior doors. The international code council icc is a non profit organization dedicated to developing model codes and standards used in the design build and compliance process.

Code change proposals to sections preceded by the designation f will be considered by the. Any other exterior door has a threshold height limited to 7 inches. Doors are laid out so that they can be opened from the outside when the building is occupied. Egress window well code requirements.

While swinging the door should leave available at least half of the required width of a corridor hallway etc for use. Chapter 10 of this code is duplicated in chapter 10 of the international fire code. An egress door is an exit designed to allow the occupants of a building to evacuate safely during an emergency.