occupancy

Means of Egress Hazard Categories in the Existing Building Code

by Sean O'Hara, AIA, LEED AP May 30, 2019

The International Existing Building Code (IEBC) is the I-Code that covers existing buildings in depth. While the International Building Code (IBC) covers changes of occupancy in existing buildings, the IEBC goes into much greater detail. When you’re doing a change of occupancy, see if your […]

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Gross vs. Net ….are your Toilets in…or Out?

by EVstudio AEP January 28, 2019
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While doing the code analysis for two buildings with a mix of Assembly and Business occupancies the following question came up….Restroom area… in or out?   We had the restrooms included in the original code analysis area, which is correct in a Gross sf calculation but I couldn’t […]

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Accessory Occupancies in the International Building Code

by Sean O'Hara, AIA, LEED AP May 15, 2017

The International Building Code provides several routes for designing buildings with more than one occupancy. Building owners who don’t want to separate occupancies with fire separations have to employ one of these. For buildings with a large primary occupancy and a small accessory occupancy, the […]

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Business Occupancy Group as Defined in the International Building Code

by Sean O'Hara, AIA, LEED AP February 25, 2010

One of the first steps in any building project is evaluation of the appropriate occupancy group. This drives building size, building height, construction type, exiting and fire separations. Business Group B is the occupancy for office, professional and service type transactions. This also includes storage […]

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Assembly Occupancy Groups as Defined in the International Building Code

by Sean O'Hara, AIA, LEED AP April 23, 2009

One of the first steps in any building project is evaluation of the appropriate occupancy group. This drives building size, building height, construction type, exiting and fire separations. One of the groups with the largest numbers of occupants is Assembly. Assembly is the occupancy for […]

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