Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
Exit provisions, including doors, corridors, stairways,
other exit-ways, locks, and other applicable items must conform to the
requirements of NFPA 101 concerning means of egress and to this section to
ensure that residents can be rapidly and easily evacuated from the building at
all times, or from one part of the building to a safe area of refuge in another
part of the building. Exit provisions are as follows:
(1) Bedroom space arrangement and doors and
corridors must be designed for evacuation of bedfast residents by means of
rolling the bed to a safe place in the building or to the outside.
(2) Public assembly rooms, common living
rooms, dining rooms, and other rooms with a capacity of 50 or more persons or
greater than 1,000 square feet in area must have two means of egress remote
from each other. Out-swinging doors with panic hardware must be provided for
these egress doors.
(3) Exit doors
and ways of egress must be maintained clear and free for use at all times,
except as permitted by NFPA 101. Furnishings, equipment, carts, and other
obstacles must not be left to block egress at any time, except as permitted by
NFPA 101.
(4) Steps in interior
ways of egress are prohibited. If changes of elevation are necessary within
ways of egress, approved ramps with a maximum slope of one unit of rise to 12
units of run must be provided.
(5)
Doors in means of egress must be as follows:
(A) Locking hardware or devices which are
capable of preventing or inhibiting immediate egress must not be used in any
room or area that can be occupied.
(B) A latch or other fastening device on an
exit door must be provided with a knob, handle, panic bar, or similar releasing
device. The method of operation must be obvious in the dark, without use of a
key, and operable by a well-known, one-action operation that will easily
operate with normal pressure applied to the door or to the device toward the
exterior. Locking hardware which prevents unauthorized entry from the outside
is permissible. Self-closing devices and permanently mounted hold-open devices
to expedite emergency egress and prevent accidental lock-out must be provided
for exterior exit doors.
(C) No
screen or storm door may swing against the direction of exit travel when main
doors are required to swing out.
(D) To aid in control of wandering residents,
buzzers or other sounding devices may be used to announce the unauthorized use
of an exit door. Other methods include approved emergency exit door locks or
fencing with a gate outside of exit doors which enclose a space large enough to
allow the space to be an exterior area of egress and refuge away from the
building.
(E) Inactive leaves of
double doors may have easily accessible and easily operable bolts if the active
leaf is 44 inches wide, where permitted by NFPA 101. Center mullions are
prohibited.
(F) Resident baths or
toilets having privacy locks will require that keys or devices for opening the
doors are kept readily available to the staff.
(G) Folding doors must not be used in exit
corridors or other means of egress. Sliding doors, when permitted by NFPA 101,
may be used as secondary doors from residents' bedrooms to grade or to a
balcony, or in certain other areas, when permitted by NFPA 101. Corridor doors
to rooms must swing into the room or be recessed so as not to extend into the
corridor when open; however, doors ordinarily kept closed may be excepted.
(6) Horizontal exits, if
provided, must be according to NFPA 101.
(7) Areas outside of exterior exit or
discharge doors must be as follows:
(A)
Provision must be made to facilitate continuation of emergency egress away from
a building for a reasonable distance beyond the outside exit door, especially
for movement of non-ambulatory residents in wheelchairs and beds. Any condition
which may retard or halt free movement and progress outside the exit doors will
not be allowed. Ramps must be used outside the exit doors in lieu of steps
whenever possible.
(B) The landing
outside of each exit door must be essentially the same elevation as the
interior floor and level for a distance equal to the door width plus at least
four feet. Generally, the difference in floor elevation at an exterior door
must not be over 1/2 inch with the outside slope not to exceed 1/4 inch per
foot sloping away from the door for drainage on the exterior. In locations
north of the +20 Fahrenheit Isothermal Line as defined in the ASHRAE Handbook
of Fundamentals, the landing outside of all exit doors must be protected from
ice build-up which would prohibit the door from opening or would be a slip
hazard.
(C) Emergency egress
lighting immediately outside of exit doors is required as a part of the
building emergency lighting system. Photocell devices may be used to turn
lights off during daylight hours.
(8) The requirements of an emergency lighting
system must be in accordance with §554.361 of this division (relating to
Electrical Requirements for New Facilities).
