Common Building Code Violations

As we do facility assessments for school districts, we come across some common violations that we see in schools. The most common is the locking of panic devices with a chain and padlock. This occurs in the older style of panic bars, or crash bars as they sometimes called, as the hardware and exit doors age they become more difficult to keep secure. The chaining of the bars together certainly keeps the doors secure, but does not allow for exiting of the building should someone be inside. As the building code has been updated, this bar type panic device is no longer allowed by code, but there are many that have not been replaced and still exist in many types of buildings, not just schools. We recommend the replacing of the panic bars with the newer style of exit devices that cannot be chained. The next most common building code violation is the blocking of an exit door, or the narrowing of an exit passageway. For educational occupancies the exit corridors must be a minimum of 6 feet wide. Many times I have observed the corridors filled with chairs, desks, band instruments, you name it and at some point in time there has been a corridor with this in it. You must maintain a clear passageway to the exit. Also, many times I have observed an exit door from a corridor, that has been closed by adding a wall and a door making a room out the space for storage or an office for example. This could be a violation of the exiting requirements as well because of taking out an exit door. The number of doors is a direct calculation of the number of occupants in the building. By decreasing the exits, you could be putting people at risk by not being able to exit the building properly. Always check with your architect before closing an exit doorway to make sure that you are not violating the building code. We find this violation more in elementary schools than others, the displaying of too much student artwork and projects on the walls of the exit corridors. While it is noble to display the work of the students, you should not cover more than 25% of the wall surface of the corridor. As you can tell from these examples, most of the violations are in the exiting requirements of the building and keeping those exit passageways safe and open for the emergency evacuation of the building. Keep that in mind as you observe the changes that are made as your building grows older and people work and modify their environments. Contact your architect and ask if the requested changes will be in compliance with the current building codes. Michael King AIA