780 CMR 10.00 MEANS OF EGRESS

1 8/22/08 (Effective 9/1/08)780 CMR - Seventh Edition259780 CMR OF EGRESS780 CMR General. Buildings or portions thereof shallbe provided with a MEANS of EGRESS system asrequired by 780 CMR The provisions of780 CMR shall control the design,construction and arrangement of MEANS of egresscomponents required to provide an approved meansof EGRESS from structures and portions : also refer to 521 CMR (ArchitecturalAccess Rules and Regulations) which will/mayhave impact on ingress/ EGRESS design Minimum Requirements. It shall beunlawful to alter a building or structure in a mannerthat will reduce the number of exits or the capacityof the MEANS of EGRESS to less than required by780 Maintenance-general. MEANS of egressshall be maintained to assure that all requiredegress elements and all required lighting andsignage conform to the applicable requirements of780 Obstructions.

2 It shall be unlawful toobstruct, or reduce in any manner, the clearwidth of any doorway, hallway, passageway orother MEANS of EGRESS required by the provisionsof 780 Maintenance of Exterior Stairs andFire Escapes. All exterior stairways and fireescapes shall be kept free of snow and ice. Exterior stairways and fire escapes constructedof materials requiring the application of weatherprotecting products, shall have these productsapplied in an approved manner and shall beapplied as often as necessary to maintain thestairways and fire escapes in safe corrodible structural parts of suchstairways and fire escapes tie directly into thebuilding structural system, all joints shall besealed, as necessary, to prevent water fromdamaging or corroding structural Testing and Certification. All exteriorbridges, steel or wooden stairways, fire escapesand EGRESS balconies shall be examined and/ortested, and certified for structural adequacy andsafety every five years, by a Massachusettsregistered professional engineer, or othersqualified and acceptable to the building official;said engineer or others shall then submit anaffidavit to the building CMR Definitions.

3 The following words and termsshall, for the purposes of 780 CMR and asused elsewhere in 780 CMR, have the meaningsshown in 780 CMR MEANS OF EGRESS . Acontinuous and unobstructed way of EGRESS travelfrom any point in a building or facility that providesan accessible route to an area of refuge, a horizontalexit or a public ACCESSWAY. That portion of an exitaccess that leads to an TREAD DEVICE. A devicethat has a series of steps between 50 and 70 degrees( and rad) from horizontal, usually attachedto a center support rail in an alternating manner sothat the user does not have both feet on the samelevel at the same OF REFUGE. An area where personsunable to use stairways can remain temporarily toawait instructions or assistance during Tiered seating PATH OF EGRESS TRAVEL. Thatportion of exit access which the occupants arerequired to traverse before two separate and distinctpaths of EGRESS travel to two exits are that merge are common paths of paths of EGRESS travel shall be includedwithin the permitted travel An enclosed exit access componentthat defines and provides a path of EGRESS travel to , BALANCED.

4 A door equipped withdouble-pivoted hardware so designed as to cause asemi counterbalanced swing action when COURT. A court or yard which providesaccess to a public way for one or more ESCAPE AND RESCUEOPENING. An operable window, door or othersimilar device that provides for a MEANS of escapeand access for rescue in the event of an That portion of a MEANS of EGRESS systemwhich is separated from other interior spaces of abuilding or structure by fire-resistance-ratedconstruction and opening protectives as required toprovide a protected path of EGRESS travel between theexit access and the exit discharge. Exits includeexterior exit doors at ground level, exit enclosures,exit passageways, exterior exit stairs, exterior exitramps and horizontal CMR: STATE BOARD OF BUILDING REGULATIONS AND STANDARDSTHE MASSACHUSETTS STATE BUILDING CODE260780 CMR - Seventh Edition8/22/08 (Effective 9/1/08)EXIT, HORIZONTAL.

5 A path of EGRESS travelfrom one building to an area in another building onapproximately the same level, or a path of egresstravel through or around a wall or partition to an areaon approximately the same level in the samebuilding, which affords safety from fire and smokefrom the area of incidence and areas ACCESS. That portion of a MEANS of egresssystem that leads from any occupied portion of abuilding or structure to an DISCHARGE. That portion of a MEANS ofegress system between the termination of an exit anda public DISCHARGE, LEVEL OF. The horizontalplane located at the point at which an exit terminatesand an exit discharge ENCLOSURE. An exit component that isseparated from other interior spaces of a building orstructure by fire-resistance-rated construction andopening protectives, and provides for a protectedpath of EGRESS travel in a vertical or horizontaldirection to the exit discharge or the public PASSAGEWAY.

6 An exit component that isseparated from all other interior spaces of a buildingor structure by fire-resistance-rated construction andopening protectives, and provides for a protectedpath of EGRESS travel in a horizontal direction to theexit discharge or the public EXIT HARDWARE. Panic hardware that islisted for use on fire door AREA, GROSS. The floor area within theinside perimeter of the exterior walls of the buildingunder consideration, exclusive of vent shafts andcourts, without deduction for corridors, stairways,closets, the thickness of interior walls, columns orother features. The floor area of a building, orportion thereof, not provided with surroundingexterior walls shall be the usable area under thehorizontal projection of the roof or floor above. Thegross floor area shall not include shafts with noopenings or interior AREA, NET. The actual occupied areanot including unoccupied accessory areas such ascorridors, stairways, toilet rooms, mechanical roomsand AND TELESCOPIC seating facilities having an overall shape andsize that are capable of being reduced for purposes ofmoving or Tiered seating A building component or a system ofbuilding components located at or near the opensides of elevated walking surfaces that minimizes thepossibility of a fall from the walking surface to alower A horizontal or sloping rail intendedfor grasping by the hand for guidance or OF EGRESS .

7 A continuous andunobstructed path of vertical and horizontal egresstravel from any occupied portion of a building orstructure to a public way. A MEANS of egressconsists of three separate and distinct parts: the exitaccess, the exit and the exit The leading edge of treads of stairs andof landings at the top of stairway LOAD. The number of persons forwhich the MEANS of EGRESS of a building or portionthereof is HARDWARE. A door-latching assemblyincorporating a device that releases the latch uponthe application of a force in the direction of WAY. A street, alley or other parcel ofland open to the outside air leading to a street, thathas been deeded, dedicated or otherwise permanentlyappropriated to the public for public use and whichhas a clear width and height of not less than ten feet(3048 mm).RAMP. A walking surface that has a running slopesteeper than one unit vertical in 20 units horizontal(5% slope).

8 SCISSOR STAIR. Two interlocking stairwaysproviding two separate paths of EGRESS located withinone stairwell ASSEMBLY served by MEANS of EGRESS that is not subjectto smoke accumulation within or under a A change in elevation, consisting of one ormore One or more flights of stairs, eitherexterior or interior, with the necessary landings andplatforms connecting them, to form a continuous anduninterrupted passage from one level to , EXTERIOR. A stairway that is openon at least one side, except for required structuralcolumns, beams, handrails and guards. Theadjoining open areas shall be either yards, courts orpublic ways. The other sides of the exterior stairwayneed not be , INTERIOR. A stairway not meetingthe definition of an exterior , SPIRAL. A stairway having a closedcircular form in its plan view with uniform section-shaped treads attached to and radiating from aminimum-diameter supporting A tread with nonparallel CMR: STATE BOARD OF BUILDING REGULATIONS AND STANDARDSMEANS OF EGRESS8/22/08 (Effective 9/1/08)780 CMR - Seventh Edition261780 CMR GENERAL MEANSOF Applicability.

9 The general requirementsspecified in 780 CMR through shallapply to all three elements of the MEANS of egresssystem, in addition to those specific requirements forthe exit access, the exit and the exit dischargedetailed elsewhere in 780 CMR Ceiling height. The MEANS of EGRESS shallhave a ceiling height of not less than seven feet(2134 mm).Exceptions:1. Sloped ceilings in accordance with 780 Ceilings of dwelling units and sleeping unitswithin residential occupancies in accordance with780 CMR Allowable projections in accordance with780 CMR Stair headroom in accordance with 780 Door height in accordance with 780 Protruding Objects. Protruding objectsshall comply with the requirements of 780 through Headroom. Protruding objects arepermitted to extend below the minimum ceilingheight required by 780 CMR provided aminimum headroom of 80 inches (2032 mm) shallbe provided for any walking surface, includingwalks, corridors, aisles and passageways.

10 Notmore than 50% of the ceiling area of a MEANS ofegress shall be reduced in height by : Door closers and stops shall notreduce headroom to less than 78 inches (1981mm).A barrier shall be provided where the verticalclearance is less than 80 inches (2032 mm) leading edge of such a barrier shall be located27 inches (686 mm) maximum above the Free-standing Objects. A free-standingobject mounted on a post or pylon shall notoverhang that post or pylon more than 12 inches(305 mm) where the lowest point of the leadingedge is more than 27 inches (686 mm) and lessthan 80 inches (2032 mm) above the walkingsurface. Where a sign or other obstruction ismounted between posts or pylons and the cleardistance between the posts or pylons is greaterthan 12 inches (305 mm), the lowest edge of suchsign or obstruction shall be 27 inches (685 mm)maximum or 80 inches (2030 mm) minimumabove the finish floor or This requirement shall not apply tosloping portions of handrails serving stairs Horizontal Projections.