In pa. I have a basement in a 100 year old building. Id like to make a n office in the basement, which means a second exitVery hard...no good second exit...but I do have base,ent windows...3 to 4 foot wide by 2 foot tall, less than 6 foot off the floor. Will one of those work?
Have all work permitted and inspected. WE KEEP GOING UNTIL YOU HAVE THE INFORMATION YOU NEED. I come and go. be patient.
Hello, those windows only 2' tall will generally not suffice as a rated fire exit.
Required fire exits depend on the usage, some uses will be granfathered in not requiring a second exit in many but not all cases.
For instance a one man office may not require a fire exit... or remodeling storage may not require a fire exit under your local codes...but an office with employees, or public traffic may very well require a fire exit.
How you decide to approach this is the critical issue
If you can be cajoled into mentioning that there might be more than one or a few people in the space at anyone time, they might very well dissallow the occupancy.. if you end up violating the occupancy later, such as turning space into one requiring a fire exit.. they can come back later and demand a fire exit... there are your own property liability insurance issues as well.. if you use the space in a way that requires a fire exit, but do not have a fire exit, then the insurance can deny coverage or deny a claim.
For those and other reasons, more than a few minor remodels are done by unlicensed handymen without permits wit the attendant risks mentioned above.
The city building department in order to keep the city from being held liable and to keep their jobs will tend to go by the letter of the local codes, common sense applied or not.
Let me know how extensive the remodel is going to be and I might be able to elaborate on my response a bit more in detail.
Hi and thanks for choosing JustAnswer.com.Sure you can do this! You will need drawings and permits as this impacts your Certificate of Occupancy & use.2' is acceptable as the minimum height for an egress window.: I highlighted the sections appliciable to your intentions.
SECTION R310 EMERGENCY ESCAPE AND RESCUE OPENINGS R310.1 Emergency escape and rescue required. Basements, habitable attics and every sleeping room shall have at least one operable emergency escape and rescue opening. Where basements contain one or more sleeping rooms, emergency egress and rescue openings shall be required in each sleeping room. Where emergency escape and rescue openings are provided they shall have a sill height of not more than 44 inches (1118 mm) above the floor. Where a door opening having a threshold below the adjacent ground elevation serves as an emergency escape and rescue opening and is provided with a bulkhead enclosure, the bulkhead enclosure shall comply with Section R310.3. The net clear opening dimensions required by this section shall be obtained by the normal operation of the emergency escape and rescue opening from the inside. Emergency escape and rescue openings with a finished sill height belowthe adjacent ground elevation shall be provided with a window well in accordance with Section R310.2. Emergency escape and rescue openings shall open directly into a public way, or to a yard or court that opens to a public way. Exception: Basements used only to house mechanical equipment and not exceeding total floor area of 200 square feet (18.58 m2). R310.1.1 Minimum opening area. All emergency escape and rescue openings shall have a minimum net clear opening of 5.7 square feet (0.530 m2). Exception: Grade floor openings shall have a minimum net clear opening of 5 square feet (0.465 m2). R310.1.2 Minimum opening height. The minimum net clear opening height shall be 24 inches (610 mm). R310.1.3 Minimum opening width. The minimum net clear opening width shall be 20 inches (508 mm). R310.1.4 Operational constraints. Emergency escape and rescue openings shall be operational from the inside of the room without the use of keys, tools or special knowledge. R310.2 Window wells. The minimum horizontal area of the window well shall be 9 square feet (0.9 m2), with a minimum horizontal projection and width of 36 inches (914 mm). The area of the window well shall allow the emergency escape and rescue opening to be fully opened. Exception: The ladder or steps required by SectionR310.2.1 shall be permitted to encroach a maximum of 6 inches (152 mm) into the required dimensions of the window well. R310.2.1 Ladder and steps.Window wells with a vertical depth greater than 44 inches (1118 mm) shall be equipped with a permanently affixed ladder or steps usable with the windowin the fully open position. Ladders or steps required by this section shall not be required to comply with Sections R311.7 and R311.8. Ladders or rungs shall have an inside width of at least 12 inches (305 mm), shall project at least 3 inches (76 mm) from the wall and shall be spaced not more than 18 inches (457 mm) on center vertically for the full height of the window well. R310.3 Bulkhead enclosures. Bulkhead enclosures shall provide direct access to the basement. The bulkhead enclosure with the door panels in the fully open position shall provide the minimum net clear opening required by Section R310.1.1. Bulkhead enclosures shall also comply with Section R311.7.8.2. R310.4 Bars, grilles, covers and screens. Bars, grilles, covers, screens or similar devices are permitted to be placed over emergency escape and rescue openings, bulkhead enclosures, or window wells that serve such openings, provided the minimum net clear opening size complies with Sections R310.1.1 to R310.1.3, and such devices shall be releasable or removable from the inside without the use of a key, tool, special knowledge or force greater than that which is required for normal operation of the escape and rescue opening.
You may need to provide a 36"X36" platform that is 44" below the sill height - to meet the 44" sill height limit.
Questions? Steve
Experience: 35 years of troubleshooting construction, remodel, component & material failures. What to do next
Hmm, the highlight, in my compose window, of revelent sections, came out highlight the entire document! & I can't undo it!