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Exit Requirements for Houses and Fire Separations Between Attached or Built-In Garages and Houses
Hansen, A. T.
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DIVISION OF BUILDING RESEARCH
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF CANADA
'II'
E
C
1HIN II CAlL
NOTlE
No.
311NOT FOR PUBLICATION FOR INTERNAL USE
PREPARED BY AoT. Hansen CHECKED BY W.H.B. APPROVED By N.B.H.
PREPARED FOR
SUBJECT
DATE June 1960 Study of requirements in connection with the preparation of Part 9: Housing for the 1960 Edition of the National Building Code of Canada.
EXIT REQUIREMENTS FOR HOUSES AND FIRE SEPARATIONS
BETWEEN ATTACHED OR BUILT-IN GARAGES AND HOUSES
At the request of the Research Committee of the National House Builders Association, the Division o:f Building Research
agreed to investigate the exit reqUirements for houses and fire separation reqUirements between attached and built-in garages
and houses. A library search was made of the existing requirements o:f the major code and standards writing author!ties ; pertinent
extraots :from these are included in this report. The library-searoh was extended to determine the basis for the present re-quirements. Although a considerable amount of statistical information was examined, almost all of this information was reported in such a way as to make it impossible to relate it to the problem concerned.. In :fact only one document was found that presented the statistios in a manner that oould be used in the desired wayco Extraots from this dooument are contained
in this report.
The :following are the code references which were found to deal with the fire separations for attaohed and built-in
garages.
The exit reqUirements for dwellings are also listed where possible, since these were also of interest to the N.H.B ..A.
I. D..B.R .. HOUSING STANDARDS
Section 7 - Fire Protection
I
(a) Fire-resistive oonstruction with a rating of not less than one hour shall be provided •• oat breezeway or other
construction connecting attached or built-in garages to houses .. This fire-resistive construction can be provided at the following points:
(i) the walls and ceiling within the garage;
(ii) the separation between the garage and the breeze-way or between the garage and the breezebreeze-way when the garage is within 6 ft .. of the house.. This separation must be carried up to the underside of the exterior roof sheathing or similar construction;
(iii) the separation from the ceiling of the breezeway to to the underside of the exterior roof sheathing or similar construction of the breezeway when the
garage is more than 6 ft0 from the house0 This may
be either where the breezeway adjoins the garage ot houseo
Section
7
{d)MGarages10 In attached garages, a unit masonry or concrete curb
at least 6 in .. higher than the garage floor level shall be prOVided at the wall separation between the house and garage unless the
separation is of unit masonry or concrete construction0 In all
cases the door sill shall be of solid unit masonry or concrete at least 6 in .. above the garage floor o
2. A garage, erected over a cellar, basement or other space shall be completely separated from such space by a floor of reinforced concrete construction0 0 "
3 .. Garage space in a basement or cellar shall be completelY separated from all other surrounding space by fire-resistive con-struction ..
4.
In an attached garage the fire-resistive separation and in garage space in a basement or cellar, the required fire resistive walls, ceiling and floor shall only be pierced by the follOWing openings:(i) A single doorway fitted with a snug fitting self-closing door having a fire resistance not less than that of a solid wood door at least
It
in. thick in all parts or other snug fitting self-closing doors providing at least a one hour fire-resistive rating. Such fire-resistive doors shall be at least eqUipped with approved latching devices..
3-controlled from either side of the door. In garage space in a basement or cellar the curb
and door sill Shall be as reqUired in I. preceding. (ii) Horizontal or vertical penetration of wiring, ducts,
or piping providing such wiring, ducts or piping is adequately sealed within the wallar ceiling to prevent passage of flame or smoke from one side of the fire resistive separation to the other. Vertical wiring, ducts or piping shall not be permitted within
the fire-resistive wall construction but must be located on one side or other of the fire-resistive separation. All duct work passing through the garage space and which is exposed within the garage but
contains no outlet or opening within that area shall be constructed of or protected by, one hour fire-resistive material.
(iii) Ductwork for heating garages installed sub-ject to the following provisions:
(A) No return air ducts shall be allowed for the garage area.
(B) Warm air registers shall be located at least 6 ft. above the garage floor level.
(0) Backdraught louvers or an automatic damper shall be installed to prevent return of air into the warm air duct when not in operation.
(D) At the penetration of the duct through the fire-resistive wall, a fire stop shall be in-stalled within the duct and so arranged that it will close automatically and remain tightly
closed upon the operation of a fusible link or other ｡ｰｰｲｾｶ･､ heat actuated device located where readily affected by an abnormal rise in temperature in the duct. Fusible links shall have an operating temperature rating approximately 50°F above the maximum temperature that would normally be
en-countered with the system in operation or shut down. These fire stops shall be eqUipped with spring catches and pins ｾｲ hinges of corrosion-resistant material.
'e
7.L.3. (i) Exits
1. Each hous'ing unit shall have at least two separate,
means of safe exit to the exterior of the building. Such means of- exit shall be by doors opening directly to the outside.
A required exit opening directly into an attached or built-in garage is not acceptable.
2. NATIONAL BUILDING CODE OF CANADA - 1953 Section 3.17: Special Occupancy Requirements'
- --- - - 3.17.1 Fire-resistive requirements for one- and two-family dwellings.
(b) Separation of attached garage
Walls, floor, and ceiling, which separate a private garage from a dwelling unit shall have a fire-resistive rating of not less than one hour.
An
intercommunicating door ｢･ｴｷｾ･ｮ an attached garage and a dwelling unit may be installed, prOVided that:(i) such door shall be single, tight-fitting and self closing;
- '- - (ii) the door shall have a fire-resistive rating which is not less than that of
It
in. solid core slab door;(ili) the door sill shall be at least 8 in. above the floor of the garage, and shall be placed on a concrete curb or step;
ｾｩｶＩ such door shall not be more than 36 in. in Width; (v) such door shall not open into a sleeping room.
The floor of an attached garage shall be of non-combustible construction.
Section 3.20.15 Means of Egress: from One- ｡ｾ､ Two-Family Dwellings 3.20.15.1 Exits- Required
Every single dwelling unit shall have at least one exit_ complying with this Article.
In buildings containing two dwelling:; units, each unit shall have two exits, except that one exit shall be sufficient
5
-if it serves only one unit and -if each unit is separated from the other by construction having a fire resistance of not less than ｾ hour.
Where one dwelling unit is located over another and two exits are required from the upper unit, the second exit may be an exterior stair.
Where rooms other than storage rooms are located above a private garage, the exits from such rooms shall not pass through the garage.
3. NATIONAL BUIIDING CODE {1955 EDITION} ... NATIONAL BOARD OF FffiE UNDERWRITERS
316.2 Enclosed Parking Garages Not Exceeding 750 Square Feet in Area.
. (a) An enclosed parking garage not exceeding 750 sq. ft o shall not be located within or attached to a building used for
any
other occupancy except industrial occupancy, unless separated from the other occupancies by walls, partitions, floors andceilings of materials to restrict the passage of gases, smoke and odour from the garage to the ·other occupancies. The garage need not be so ｳ･ｰ｡ｲｾｴ･､ from industrial occupancies o
(b) There shall be no opening from the garage into rooms used for sleeping quarters o
(Exits for dwellings are not covered in this Codeo
Comments relevant to these reqUirements were published in the form of a letter in "House
&
Homelt November 1958 written by Eo W; FOWler, Director of Codes and Standards, N.BoFoU. The letter reads in part:u . . .It (The National Building Code of N.B.F.U.) does not re'"
quire fire retardant separation between garage portions and other ｾ［ parts of a dwelling. 0 • The National Building Code did require'
fire resistant separation some years ago, but a careful review of the fire experience with garage attached dwellings showed such separation to be no longer ｮ･･､･ｾＬ and the requirement was removed olt
) 4. UNIFORM BUILDING CODE - 1955 EDITION - PACIFIC COAST BUILDING
OFFICIALS CONFERENCE
Section 1504. Private garages which are constructed in conjunction with any group H or I (dwellings and residential) occupanCies which have openings into such buildings shall be equipped with fixed
louvered or-screened openings or exhaust ventilation with
eXhaust openings located within 6 ino of the flooro The clear area of the louvered opening or of the openings into the exhaust
ducts shall be-not less than 60 sqo ino per car stored in such private garage o Under no circumstances shall a private garage have any-opening directlY into a room used for sleeping quarterso
Table Noo 5B shows a one-hour fire separation required on the garage side for an attached garage which may have a self-closing, tight-:fitting solid wood door' 1 3/8" in thicknesso
Exits Required
Section 3302 (a) Number of Persons - The number of persons permitted in any building or portion thereof shall not exceed those set forth in Table No o 33-A except that where additional exit facilities are provided the occupancy load may be
increased in accordance with Section 3302(b) and (c);
(b) Number of exits - Buildings or portions thereof naving an occupant load of more than 10 shall not have less
than two exits0
Table No o 33-A states that dwellings must be assumed to have at least 1 occupant per 300 sqo fto of floor area o (It would appear therefore that one exit would be permitted for most houseso)
50 BASIC BUILDING CODE - 1955 EDITION BUILDING OFFICIALS CONFERENCE OF AMERICA
41401 Attached Garages
414011-Private garages located beneath a one- or two-family
dWelling or-attached thereto shall have walls, partitions, floors and-ceilings separating the garage space from the dwelling con-structed of not less than i-hour fire resistance, with the sill of the door opening between them raised not less than 8 inches above the garage flooroThe door opening protections shall be
1-hour fire doors complying with Article 9 or It in o solid core wooddoors.
414.12 Private garages located beneath motels and multi-family dwellings and in which no gasoline or oil is stored or handled shall be of protected construction of not less than It-hour fire resistance.
414.13 Private garages separated from frame residence buildings outside the fire limits by a breezeway not less than 10 fto in length may be of unprotected frame (type 4=B) construction but the
junction of garage and breezeway shall be fire stopped to comply With section 887.
7
-414 02 Egress - Where living quarters are located above a private garage, required egress facilities shall be protected from the garage area with !-hourfire resistive constructiono
611 02 Grade floor exits - From the first or grade floor direct exits shall be provided to the street consisting of one unit
of exit width for each 50 occupants on the grade floor in buildings of high hazard use group and for each 100 occupants in all other use groups in addition to the exits from the upper and lower floor exitwayso
60 :NEW YORK STATE BUILDING CODE A-407 Private Garages
A-407-l General ｒ･ｱｵｩｲ･ｭ･ｮｴｳｾ
(a) Private garages which are attached to or form part of dwellings shall be separated from adjoining or adjacent parts of dwellings b1 distance or fire protective materials and constructions to retard the spread of fire from within a garage to the dwelling 0
(b) Floors of private garages shall be placed or arranged
ｳｯｾｴｨ｡ｴ heavier than air flammable vapors cannot spread to fixed
sources of ignitiono Such floors shall be of material that will not absorb flammable liquids nor be ignited 0
(c) Construction of private garages and arrangement of fixed installations shall be such that toxic gases originating within garages shall not spread to dwellings nor shall air for
heating, ventilation and such uses be circulated through garages to dwellings0
A-407-2 Separation Requirements
(a) Art open breezeway 5 l'to or more in length shall be acceptable as distance separation, providing a draft stop is placed between the roof and ceiling in the garage and of the
breezewayo A draft stop may be of 2 ｩｾｮｯｭｩｮ｡ｬ thickness of wood or one faced with non-combustible material on the garage side o
(b) When an open breezeway is less than 5 l'to in length the distanoe separation Shall not be acceptable and separation by fire protective materials and construction shall be required o Such construction shall be smoke tight and of non-combustible finish materials on the garage side of the walls, partitions,
floors and ceiling extending over an area of
5
fto from or in commonof combUstible members of such protected parts for 10 minutes or moreo Pans of garage walls, floors and ceilings that are
in common with dwelling" walls9 floors and ceilings shall have
a combined fire resistance rating of 30 minutes or more. A-407-3 Passageway to Dwellings
(a) Passage between an attached or built-in garage and a dwelling shall be through a door opening eqUipped with a self-closing door having a fire resistance rating of not less than 20 minutes. Such door Shall not open directly into a room for sleeping quarters.
(b) The top of the sill of a door opening between a garage ana-dwelling shall be at least 8 in. above the level of the garage fioor.
A-407-4 Permissible Equipment
Any permanent heating or other applianoe with an open flame, for use within a garage shall be of an approved type and installed not less than 6 ft. above the floor level. A-206 Emergency Escape
Applicable to one- and two-family dwellings. A-206-1 General Requirement
In addition to the primary exit from dwellings there shall be provided a secondary exit or, in lieu thereofg one
or more escape openings for emergency use. A-206-2 Escape Openings
(a) At least one escape opening or secondary exit shall be provided at each floor containing a habitable space or recreation room.
(b) Escape openings shall include doors, openable parts of windows or openable panels located so as to provide ready . access to legal open spaces.,
(0) Escape openings shall have minimum dimensions of 24 in. x 30 in. with bottom of openings no higher than 3 ft. above finished floor in all above grade storeys and no higher than 4 ft 6 in. where required in basement and cellar.
ｾ 9 ｾ
70
SOUTHERN STANDARD BUILDING CODE ｾ 1958 ｾ SOUTHERN BUILDING CODE CONGRESS4120
5
Fire resistive rating of separation"000
A separation between a private garage and any oocupancyshall be the minimum fire resistance specified above for the, occupancy except in the case of a one-or two-family dwelling, no fire-resistive separation shall be required ••• " (for
residential occupancy - IMo) 506 - Private Garages
50601 - Garages which are provided for the storage of motor vehicles owned by tenants of buildings on the premises, and with maximum undivided space used for storage of not more than four automobiles or trucks of one ton or less capacity, but not exceeding 850 sq. fto shall be considered private garages o All other garages shall be considered public garages.
506.2 - Private garages may be of ｾ･ 1, 11, Ill, IV, V, or VI construction but no private garage shall occupy spaoe above the first floor of Type VI building (wood frame) or shall be
'ereoted in the fire distriots exoept as provided in Seotion 304.2 (ioe o limited to 1 storey height and 650 sq. fto). No private garage shall be located within or attaohed to a building occupied for any other purpose unless it is separated from suoh other
ocoupanoy by walls, partitions, floors, and oeilings that have a fire-resistanoe rating as speoified in Seotion 412.5 (Mixed Occupanoy Separations). Walls, floors, partitions and ceilings that effeot suoh separation, shall be oontinuous and unpierbed. A-single flush-type solid core wooden door of not less than'l! in. nominal thiokness equipped with a ｳ･ｬｦｾｯｬｯｳｩｮｧ devioe may be
permitted provided the sill is raised at least 8 in. above the garage floor when the doo:rway oonneots with any room in which there is any direct fired heating devioe or gas fixtures o In
no oase, however, shall a garage have an opening direotly into a room used for sleeping purposes o (There are no applioable exit requirements in this Code o)
80 BUILDING CODE REQUIREMENTS FOR NEW DWELLING CONSTRUCTION
U.S o Dept. of Commeroe, National Bureau of Standards (BMS 107) Chapter VIII Fire Proteotion
Seotion 801 Fire Separation 80105 Garages
When a garage for not more than two automobiles is located
Wi.thin a .single- or two-family ､ｷ･ｬｬｩｮｧｾ the ｷ｡ｬｬｳｾ partitions and ceiling shall be protected on the garage side with an incombustible material not less than ｾ ino thick or with an incombustible
material not less than 3/8 ino thick backed with tongue-and-groove boards not less than 1 inonominal thickness o
Wlien a garage for more 'than two and not more than five automobiles is located within a dwelling, the floor construction above the garage and the walls and partitions enclosing it shall have a fire resistance of at least
t
hour ooooｾ 0 When a garage is attached to a dwelling the ceiling construction
over the garage and the walls separating it from the dwelling shall be'of construction conforming to that given above according
to the number of automobiles accommodated o When a garage accommodates not more than five ｡ｵｴｯｭｯ｢ｩｬ･ｳｾ openings from a dwelling into the
garage shall be restricted to a single doozway provided with a
self-closing door covered with metal on the garage side or a
It
ino solid core wood slab dooro oo No glass shall be permitted inany door between a dwelling and a garage o The sill of each door shall be at least Ｗｾ ino above the garage floor level o
Garage floors shall be of incombustible material o Heating devices for garages shall be installed in approved separate heating rooms or shall be of an approved type installed approximately at eave
level or near the ceiling0 (Exits for one- and two-family dwellings
are not coveredo)
9. MINIMUM PROPERTY STANDARDS FOR ONE AND TWO LIVING UNITS
Uo So FEDERAL HOUSING ADMINISTRATION
No requirements are provided to regulate.fire separations between dwelling units and attached or built-in garages or carports.
Although reqUirements are given for both main entrance doors and service ､ｯｯｲｳｾ there is no requirement to provide that one or the other or both be installed o
100 MID- WEST BUILDING CODE 1955 EDITION
Midwest Conference of Building ｏｦｦｩ｣ｩ｡ｬｳｾ Vol
II.
•
11
-Section 1060032 Occupancy Separations
I
Occupancy separations shall be provided between resident buildings and structures and attached private garages or auxiliary buildings in not less than a one-hour fire-resistive occupancy separationo One-hour fire-resistive occupancy separations shall be of not less than one-hour fire-resistive construction 0 All openings in such separations shall be supplied with Class nC n fire doors and such doors shall be kept normally closed o
Section 205001 Materials for Attached Garage Doors
Every door opening into an attached garage, other than an exterior door shall be self-closing, tight fitting, and of ＱｾＳＯＸ ino
solid slab wood or equal construction 0 (No mention is made of the number of exits o)
110 NATIONAL FIRE CODES, 1957 Edition National Fire Portection Association, Volume III - Building Construction and Equipment o Private Residential Garages
Page No o 88-2
10 Private residential garages of 3-car capacity or less when not used for commercial repair or servicing operations are excluded from the application of these standards although many of tne principals contained therein continue to apply0 This
exclusic)n is based on the belief that the parking or storage of modern passenger cars does not involve any hazards substantially greater than various other fire hazards normally present in ｲ･ｳｩ､･ｮｾﾭ
tial occupancies such as heating and cooking equipment and the hazard of possible ignition of combustible furnishings through
careless smoking0
20 The health hazard to living areas normally calls for tight partitions or floors between garage and living areas0 From
the point of view of fire hazards there is no occasion to require more than the separation provided for the exclusion of gases, smoke, and odours except that as a matter of general fire protection
applicable to all basement" storage or service areas , it is
desirable to utilize forms of construction which will restrict the spread of fire o
3. Heating furnaces, water heaters: and other appliances
having open flames or exposed heated surfaces in garages should
preferably be so located or protected as to minimize the hazard resulting from impact with automobiles. Any equipment containing a'potential source of ignition should have the combustion
ｾｨｾ｢･ｲ aSh pit, etc., raised above the floor.
12. STATISTICS
'. The''following reference and extract was the only one of a large number examined that contained information on the
relative hazard of an attached garage. NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION
Fife Record Bulletin FR. 56-2 Occupancy fire record. One- and two;';--'fam.11y dwellings.
(T,able onEage 15)
Where dwelling fires start Kitchens
Living rooms Bedrooms Basements
Concealed wall, ceiling and floor spaces Attics
Halls and stairways Closets Porches Roofs Utility rooms Exposure fires Dining rooms Bathrooms Attached garages Total
%
26.5 26.5 12.3 10.4 5.2,4.7
2.92.4
2.4
1.9 1.4 1.4 1.00.5
...&t..2
100.0%Causes of dwelling fires
Smoking and matohes
Hea'ting.and cooking equipment
Eleotrica1 causes (wiring ＸＮＳｾＬ applianoes ＴＮＶｾＩ
Rubbish (ignition source unknown) Lightning
ChiJimeys and flues
Flammable liquids - (dry': ｣Ｑ･｡ｮｩｮｧｾ painting, etc.) Children and matches
Spontaneous ignition - (paint rags, etc.) Exposure.
Hot ashes,> ooals
Candles .and other open flames Combustibles near heaters Incendiary, suspicious Miscellaneous known causes Unknown causes
Total
13. DISCUSSION AND SUMMARY
17.2 13.7 12.9.:
;-7.9
,:5 .. 9 4.94.2
3.6
3.4
2.8 1 ..91.7
1.3 1.05.4
10.1 ＱＰＰｯｏｾ-No reference could be found to explain why the requirements
at ｰｲ･ｾ･ｮｴ generally insist on fire separations between attached
orbUilt-in garages and houses. It has been suggested that it is possibly a carry-over from the days of primitive automobiles when they were much more of a fire hazard than automobiles are at
present. It would appear from the statistios presented by the H.P.P.A. that fires oocur with less frequency 10 attaohed garages than in any other area of the house, and it would seem far more. : logical to require fire separations for the kitchen or living room 1Ahan for an attaohed garage. Some sort o"f provision for the
seems more realistic. Furthermore it does not appear to be realistic to require a high degree of fire protection from the wall proper, while the door may offer considerably less
pro-tection. This is usually the case in most installations.
Of the eleven major code or standards writing bodies quoted; ten had specific requirements or recommendation regardi separations between attached or built-in garages and houses. The eleventh authority made no mention of fire separations at these locations.
Of the ten with requirements or recommendations for fire separations, four, including D.B.R. Housing Standards, ahd the N.B;C. of Canada, require a one-hour fire separation,
ｃ＿ｮ｟ｾ｟ ｲ･ｱｵｾｲ･ｳ a !-hour separation, one requires at-hour. separation,
one reqU1res that the garage be clad with either 2-in. 1n-combustible finish or a combination of 3/8-in. in1n-combustible finish on wood board cladding. These code authorities do not require any fire protection. It is of special interest to note 'that these authorities include the National Board of Fire
Under-writers and the .National Fire Protection Assoc. who, presumably would be most-aware of the degree of hazard of such construction.
The ｎｾｂＮｆＮｕＮ ｾｮ､ N.F.P.A. however mention only that the separations
resist the-passage of gases, smoke and odour from the garage and do-not require fire separations. Of the eight codes having
definite reqUirements for doors connecting dwellings and garages, ｾｩｶ･ require ｬｾＭｩｮＮ solid core wood slab doors and three require at least 1-3/8 in. solid core wood. In some cases minimum fire resistance rating is listed as an alternative, but there seems to be little relation between the two alternatives. In most cases snug fitting, self-closing doors are reqUired.
Most codes also have a requirement for a sill between the garage and house of from 6 to 8 in .. in height, presumably to restrict the passage of any spilled liquid; - or gases which are heavier than air.
Of the eleven authorities, only five give references that may be applied to houses conoerning the minimum number of exits reqUired. Of these it would appear that three, inoluding the N.B.C. of Canada will permit only one exit, while one will permit one exit provided there is an alternate escape xit either in the'form of a push-out panel or a minimum size openable
window.. The DoB.Ro Housing Standards, on the other hand, require two exits neither of which open into a garage.
