This means structures like older fire escapes will likely not count as an official means of egress.
Roof top structure means of egress requirement.
In general the means of egress shall not narrow in the direction of travel.
The goal is for everyone to leave the hazardous areas.
Windows must meet certain size requirements to be considered compliant to code as a point of egress.
Life safety means of egress exits nfpa 101 properly designed exits provide a safe path of escape from a fire or other emergency environment.
A staircase or fire escape can also be part of a means of egress.
These basic requirements are listed below and are meant to help facility managers and designers recognize that a room or space is obviously over capacity or that a second means of egress will be necessary.
The means of egress exits should be arranged to permit all occupants to reach a safe place before they are endangered by fire smoke or heat.
One important caveat here is that each form of egress has to satisfy current building codes.
The means of egress system serving any story or occupied roof shall be provided with the number of exits or access to exits based on the aggregate occupant load served in accordance with this section.
Rooftop structure doghouse containing a door that leads to a set of stairs.
Stipulations placed on the exit discharge include a minimum width 44 inches or the width of the exit clear ceiling heights 8 feet and a prescribed slope of 1 12 or less.
Rooms areas and spaces at the level of exit discharge complying with section 1006 2 1 with exits that discharge directly to the exterior are permitted to have one exit or access to a single exit.
Paragraph 7 2 1 5 8 9 from nfpa 101 says that roof doors have to either allow free egress from the roof or be kept locked.
For example 1910 37 now requires that a means of egress be at least 28 inches wide.
However there are some basic requirements that apply to most if not all means of egress evaluations.
Parking garages where vehicles are mechanically parked shall be permitted to have one exit or access to a single exit.