Iowa Administrative Code
Agency 481 - Inspections and Appeals Department
Inspections Division
Chapter 60 - Minimum Physical Standards for Residential Care Facilities
Rule 481-60.7 - Typical Construction

(1) Details and finishes shall be designed to provide a high degree of safety for the occupants by minimizing the opportunity for accidents. Hazards such as sharp corners shall be avoided. (III)

(2) No door shall swing into the exit corridor except doors to spaces such as small closets that are not subject to occupancy. Each resident bedroom shall have a door that is a swing type and swings in, unless the door is fully recessed.

(3) All doors opening into corridors shall be swing-type doors, except elevator doors. (III)

(4) All sinks shall have towel dispensers that hold non-reusable towels. (III)

(5) Partition, floor, and ceiling construction in resident areas shall comply with noise reduction criteria in the following table. The requirements set forth in this table assume installation methods that will not appreciably reduce the efficiency of the assembly as tested. Location of electrical receptacles, grills, ductwork, and other mechanical items, and blocking and sealing of partitions at floors and ceilings shall not compromise the sound isolation required. (III)

Table 1

*STC shall be determined by tests in accordance with methods set forth in ASTM Standard E 90 and ASTM Standard E 413.

**Public space includes lobbies, dining rooms, recreation rooms, treatment rooms, and similar places.

***Service areas include kitchens, elevators, elevator machine rooms, laundries, garages, maintenance rooms, boiler and mechanical equipment rooms, and similar spaces of high noise. Mechanical equipment located on the same floor or above residents' rooms, offices, nurses stations, and similar occupied spaces shall be effectively isolated from the floor.

(6) Doors, sidelights, borrowed lights, and windows in which the glazing extends below 31 inches from the floor shall have a horizontal mullion or railing at 31 to 34 inches above the finished floor and be glazed with safety glass, plastic glazing material, or wire glass where required by the state fire marshal. All replacement glass shall meet this code with no exception.