CODE:

State Regulations for Barrier-Free Facilities

SECTION:

1104, Areas for Evacuation Assistance

QUESTION:

1. In an open parking garage a stairway serving as a required exit is not required to be enclosed per UBC Section 1005.3.3.1, Exception 3. Since a required exit stairway in an open parking garage is not required to be enclosed, is it the intent of the State Regulations for Barrier-Free Facilities that an area for evacuation assistance be provided per Section 1104.1 General?

2. If the answer to question 1. is "yes", is the area of evacuation assistance in an open parking garage required to be enclosed?

ANSWER:

1. No. Section 1101.1 indicates that it is the intent in UBC Chapter 11 Accessibility to comply with the ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG). Proposed federal rules to update the ADAAG have been published which provide an exception for exit stairways serving open parking garages (Federal Register/Vol. 64, No. 220/Tuesday, November 16, 1999/Proposed Rules 62425). The new exception clarifies that areas of refuge are not required in open parking garages since the open design permits smoke to escape.

2. See Answer 1 above.

SUPERSEDES:

None

REQUESTED BY:

City of Bothell