243 Exit Access Doorway Arrangement Rule

This rule checks that spaces have exit access doors arranged with a minimum distance of separation between doors that is one-half the maximum overall diagonal dimension of the space. Where the building is equipped with an automatic sprinkler system, the separation of doors can be reduced to one-third the overall diagonal dimension of the space.

Example of Exit Access Doors without enough separation

The rule first determines if the space has automatic sprinkler protection by looking in the property reference location of the space component. If the property location isn't found there, it will look for the property reference in the floor container of the space. If the property location isn't found there, it will look for the property reference in the building container of the space. If not found, it will use the value set in the Automatic Sprinkler Protection checkbox.

The rule then uses the footprint of the space to determine the maximum overall diagonal dimension of the space by calculating the furthest distance between two points on the footprint. If the building is not equipped with an automatic sprinkler system, the required exit access door separation distance is calculated as one-half the maximum overall diagonal distance of the space. If the building is equipped with an automatic sprinkler system, the required exit access door separation distance is calculated as one-third the maximum overall diagonal distance of the space.

For each pair of the exit access doors of the space, the nearest, center, or furthest point on the footprints of the doors is used to determine the separation distance depending on the separation measurement method set in the rule parameters. If no pair of exit access doors has a separation distance greater or equal to the required exit access door separation distance, a result is generated for the space and all of the door pairs of the space.

In the Rule Parameters view, you can define the parameters of the spaces to check, exit access doorways, and automatic sprinkler protection.

Rule Parameters View

Example Parameters

• Spaces to Check filter: Defines the spaces to have exit access doorways arrangement checked.

Tip

Circulation spaces are typically not considered occupied areas for checking exit access doorway separation. To exclude circulation spaces from the check, you can include spaces where none of the space usage classifications are Circulation in the "Include Spaces to Check" filter.

• Exit Access Doorways filter: Defines the doors that will have their separation distance checked.

Tip

Typically, exit access doorway separation is required between rooms and circulation spaces, rather than ancillary spaces like closets. To target doors that open to circulation spaces, you can use a forward nearest space relation in the properties of the exit access doorways to check.

• Separation Measurement Method combo box: Specifies whether to use the nearest, center, or furthest point on the footprint of the door to measure separation distance.

• Include Doors Inside Space checkbox: Specifies whether to include doors that have a footprint that is completely contained within the footprint inside the space in addition to the doors on the boundaries of the space.

• Space Property Reference: Specifies the 1^st priority location of the True/False Automatic Sprinkler Protection property for the spaces (e.g. Pset_SpaceFireSafetyRequirements.SprinklerProtectionAutomatic).

• Floor Property Reference: Specifies the 2^nd priority location of the True/False Automatic Sprinkler Protection property for the floors (e.g. Pset_BuildingStoreyCommon.SprinklerProtectionAutomatic)

• Building Property Reference: Specifies the 3^rd priority location of the True/False Automatic Sprinkler Protection property for the buildings (e.g. Pset_BuildingCommon.SprinklerProtectionAutomatic)

• Automatic Sprinkler Protection checkbox: Specifies if the building is equipped with automatic sprinkler protection if the automatic sprinkler protection property isn't found for the space, floor, or building.

The rule lists Critical () severity results for each space that has exit access doorways too close together.

Results showing the dimensional information of the exit access doorway arrangement violation

The description within the INFO view provides the following information: