4 Chapter 1 ● Administration
of large assembly occupancies by the provisions of Chapters 12
and 13 deals not only with fire but also with storm, collapse,
crowd behavior, and other related factors, a list of which is pro-
vided in A.12.4.1.3 and A.13.4.1.3. The provisions of 12.7.6 and
13.7.6 require crowd managers in all assembly occupancies.
1.1.3 Egress Facilities. The Code establishes minimum criteria for the
design of egress facilities so as to allow prompt escape of occupants
from buildings or, where desirable, into safe areas within buildings.
Relocating building occupants to safe areas within a building
might include moving them as follows:
1. Into an area of refuge
2. Through doors in a horizontal exit that lead into another fire
compartment
3. Through doors in a smoke barrier that lead into another
smoke compartment N 1.1.6 Injuries from Falls. The Code also addresses reducing injury
In some cases, an egress system that relies on total evacua-
tion to the exterior is not practical. For example, in a health care
occupancy, building evacuation might expose patients to condi-
tions more dangerous than those encountered in relocating the
patients from a fire compartment to a safe smoke compartment
on the same floor. For most occupancies, the Code provisions
permit the designer to choose whether the egress system relies
on full evacuation. For occupancies such as health care, a
protect-in-place strategy is used that requires the subdivision of
floors into two or more smoke compartments, regardless of the
presence of fire exit stairs.
For high-rise buildings, egress systems have traditionally
been implemented so as to rely on partial building evacuation/
relocation. Occupants on the fire floor and the floors immedi-
ately above and below the fire floor are directed to relocate to
floors a few levels below the fire floor. This procedure is intended
to preclude having to direct all building occupants to evacuate
immediately to ground level until the fire conditions dictate
such action. See A.4.8.2.1(3) for detailed guidance on occupant
evacuation strategies. N 1.1.7 Emergency Communications. The Code also addresses other
1.1.4 Other Fire-Related Considerations. The Code addresses other
considerations that are essential to life safety in recognition of the fact
that life safety is more than a matter of egress. The Code also addresses
protective features and systems, building services, operating features,
maintenance activities, and other provisions in recognition of the fact
that achieving an acceptable degree of life safety depends on additional
safeguards to provide adequate egress time or protection for people
exposed to fire.
N 1.1.5* Hazardous Materials Emergencies. The Code also addresses
other considerations that provide for occupant protection during emer-
gency events involving hazardous materials.
N A.1.1.5 Incidents involving hazardous materials are capable of posing
significant life safety challenges in buildings. The Code recognizes this
potential and includes technical requirements to address concerns related
to hazardous material inventories and associated emergencies.
2018 Life Safety Code Handbook
The scope of the 2018 edition of the Code has been expanded to
include occupant protection from hazardous materials emer-
gencies, as reflected by the provision of a new subsection, 1.1.5.
See 4.1.3, which references NFPA 30, Flammable and Combustible
Liquids Code;1 NFPA 45, Standard on Fire Protection for Laborato-
ries Using Chemicals;2 NFPA 54, National Fuel Gas Code;3 NFPA 55,
Compressed Gases and Cryogenic Fluids Code;4 NFPA 58, Liquefied
Petroleum Gas Code;5 NFPA 400, Hazardous Materials Code;6 and
NFPA 495, Explosive Materials Code.7 Also see 4.2.3. Subsec-
tion 7.12.2 references the means of egress requirements of the
noted standards where hazardous materials are stored, used, or
handled and where mandated by the applicable occupancy
chapters. A new annex, Annex C, NFPA Documents on Hazardous
Materials, provides the scoping provisions of the noted hazard-
ous materials standards as additional guidance.
to occupants from falls.
The scope of the 2018 edition of the Code has been expanded to
include occupant protection from fall injuries, as reflected by the
provision of a new subsection, 1.1.6. Although the Code has con-
tained requirements intended to prevent falls in means of egress
for many years (e.g., stair geometry, handrails, level walking sur-
faces, etc.), fall injury protection criteria have been significantly
enhanced with the addition of requirements for tub and shower
grab bars. See 24.2.8 for installation details in one- and two-family
dwellings. The provisions of 24.2.8 are also referenced by several
other occupancy chapters: Chapter 12, New Assembly Occupan-
cies; Chapter 14, New Educational Occupancies; Chapter 16, New
Day-Care Occupancies; Chapter 26, Lodging or Rooming Houses;
Chapter 28, New Hotels and Dormitories; Chapter 30, New Apart-
ment Buildings; Chapter 32, New Residential Board and Care
Occupancies; Chapter 36, New Mercantile Occupancies; Chap-
ter 38, New Business Occupancies; Chapter 40, Industrial Occu-
pancies; and Chapter 42, Storage Occupancies.
considerations that provide for communications to occupants under
emergency conditions and to others.
The scope of the 2018 edition of the Code has been expanded to
include emergency communications, as reflected by the provi-
sion of a new subsection, 1.1.7. Specifically, this provision recog-
nizes new criteria added to Chapter 9 and several occupancy
chapters mandating the completion of a risk analysis to deter-
mine the necessity of a mass notification system for emergencies
other than fire, such as an active shooter situation or an impend-
ing weather emergency. See new Section 9.14, which references
NFPA 72®, National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code®,8 for the risk
analysis mandate where specified by the applicable occupancy
chapter.
1.1.8* Considerations Not Related to Fire. The Code also addresses
other considerations that, while important in fire conditions, provide an