shall be secured by hard metal fastenings to 4.2.
8 The tloors of areas covered for the means of exit
Table 20 Occupant Load in Table 22, except in assemblY' aifo Il,,,,,,tutional
the frame and bars independently of any lead, shall be illuminated to values not less than I ft candle
cement or putty used for weather-proofing (10 lux) at floor level. In auditoriums, theatres, concert
(Cki;;s"""e"4.3)--- occupancies in which case it shall not exceed 6 m.
purposes. halls and such other places of assembly, the 4.5.3 Whenever more than one exit is required for any
SI Group of Occupancy Occupant Load, Floor
illumination of tloor exit/access may be reduced during No.
2
Area in m /person room space or floor of a building, exits shall be placed
3.4.18 Louvers period of performances to values not less th1n 1/5 ft as remote from each other as possible and shall be
(I) (2) (3)
Louvers wherever provided shall be of minimum half candle (2 lux). arranged to provide direct access in separate directions
i) Residential (A) 12.5
hour fire resistance rating. from any point in the area served.
4.2.9 Fire doors with 2 h fire resistance shall be ii) Educational (B) 4
3.4.19 Glass of facade for high rise buildings, etc shall provided at appropriate places along the escape route iii) Institutional (C) 15 (see Note I) Table 22 Travel Distance for Occupancy and
be of minimum 1 h fire resistance rating. and particularly at the entrance to lift lobby and stair iv) Assembly (D) .
Type of Construction
well where a 'funnel or flue effect' may be created, a) With fixed or loose seats 0.6 (see Note 2)
and dancs floors (Clauses 4.4.1,4.5.1 and 4.5.2)
4 LIFE SAFETY inducing an upwa'rd spread of fire to prevent spread of
fire and smoke. b) Without seating facilities 1.5 (see Note 2) SI Group of Occupancy Maximum Travel Distance
4.1 General including dining rooms No. Construction
. Every building shall be so constructed, equipped, 4.2.10 All exits shall provide continuous means of v) Mercantile (F) ___ ----.J'o.----~
egress to the exterior of a building or to an exterior a) Street floor and sales 3
maintained and operated as to avoid undue danger to basement
the life and safety of the occupants from fire, smoke,
open space leading to a street.
b) Upper sale flooi~ 6
f~mes or panic during the time period necessary for
4.2.11 Exits shall be so arranged that they may be vi) Business and industrial (E&G) 10
escape: reached without passing through another occupied vii) Storage (H) 30
Linit. viii) Hazardous (J) . 10
4.2 General Exit Requirements
4.3 Occupant Load NOTES
4.2.1 An exit may be a doorway; corridor; passageway(s)
1 Occupant load in dormitory portions of homes for the
to an internal staircase, or external staircase, or to a For determining the exits required, the number of
aged, orphanages, insane asylums, etc, where sleeping
VERANDAH Of terrace(s); which have access to the persons within any floor area or the occupant load shall
accommodation is provided, shall be calculated at not less than
street, or to the roof of a building or a refuge area. An be based on the actual number of occupants, but in no
7.5 m2 gross floor area/person.
exit may also include a horizontal exit leading to an case less than that specified in Table 20.
2 The gross floor area shall include, 'in a<;ldition to the' mai~
assembly rOOIn or space, any occupied connecting room or
adjoining buildrng at the same level.
NOTES
4.3.1 Mezzanine space in the same storey or in the storeys above or below, where
entranCe is common to such rooms and spaces and they are 1 For fully sprinklered bllilding, the travel distance may be
4.2.2 Lifts and escalators shall not be considered as
The occupant .load of a mezzanine floor discharging available for use by the occupants of the assembly place. No increased by 50 percent of the values specified.
exits. deductions shall be made in the gross area for corridors, closets
to a floor below shall be added to that floor occupancy 2 Ramps shall b~ protected with automatic sprinkler system
.. ~. or other sub-divisions; the area shall include all space serving and shall be counted as one of the means of escape.
4.2.3 Every exit, exit access or exit discharge shall be and the capacity of the exits shall be designed for the
the particular assembly occupancy-) Construction of type 3 or 4 is not permitted.
continuously maintained free of all obstructions or total occupancy load thus established. I)
impediments to full use in the case of fire or other
emergency. 4.4 Capacities of Exits Table 21 Occupants pel;' Unit Exit Width 4.6 Number of ExitS
4.4.1 The unit of exit width, used to measure the I
<
': .
(Clauses 4.4.2, 4.4.3 and.C-l.6.2) 4.6.1 General
4.2.4 Every building meant for human occupancy shall
be provided with exits sufficient to permit safe escape capacity of any exit, shall be 500 mm. A clear width ! The gener.al requirements of number of exits shall
SI Group of Number of Occupants
of occupants, in case of fire or other emergency. of 250 mm shall be counted as an additional half unit. No. Occupancy r ......... supplement the requirement of different occupancies
Clear widths less than 250 mm shall not be counted Stairways Ramps Doors " in 6.1 to. 6.9.
4.2.5 In every building or structure, exits shall comply for exit width. (I) (2) (3) (4) (5)
with the minimum requirements of this part, except 4.6.2 All buildings, which are 15 m in height or above,
NOTE - The total occupants from a particular flour must i) Residential (A) 25 50 75
those not accessible for general public use. ii)
and all buildings used as educational, assembly,
evacuate within 2'/2 minutes for Type I construction. Educational (8) 25 50 75
IY2 minutes for Type 2 construction and I minute for Type 3 iii) Institutional (C) 25
institutional, industrial, storage, and hazardous
4.2.6 No building shall be so altered as to reduce the 50 75
construction. Size of the exit door/exitway shall be calculated iv) Assembly (D) 40 50 60
occupancies and mixed occupancies with any of the
number, width or protection of exits to less than that I
accordingly keeping in view the travel distance as per (
,.' v) Business (E) 50 60 75 aforesaid occupancies, having area more than 500 m 2
required. Table 22.
vi) Mercantile (F) 50 60 75 on each floor shall have a ry:rinimum of two staircases.
4.2.7 Exits shall be clearly visible and the route to 4.4.2 Occupants per unit exit width shall be in vii) Industrial (G) 50 60 75 They shall be of enclosed type; at least one of them
reach the exits shall be clearly marked and signs posted accordance with Table 21. viii) Storage (H) 50 60 75 shall be on external walls of buildings and shall open
to guide the occupants of the floor concerned. Signs i ix) Hazardou~ (J) 25 30 40 directly to the exterior, interior open space or to an
I
shall be illuminated and wired. to an independent
4.4.3 Horiz.ontal Exit Allol>l'ance I
open place of safety. Further, the provision or otherwise
electrical circuit on an alternative source of supply. When horizontal exit is provided in buildings of
I 4.5 Arrangement of Exits of alternative staircases shall be subject to the
The sizes anqcolours of the exit signs shall be in mercantile, storage, industrial, business and assembly 4.5.1 Exits shall be so located that the travel distance requirements of travel distance being complied with.
accordance with good practice [4(16)]. The colour of occupancies, the capacity per storey per unit width of on the floor shall not exceed the distance given in 4.7· Doorways
the exit signs shall be green. exit of stair~ays in Table 21 may be increased by 50 Table 22.
percent and in buildings of institutional occupancy it 4.7.1 Every exit dObrway shall open into an enclosed
NOTE - This provision shall not apply to A-2 and A-4
occupancies less thail 15 OJ in height. may be increased by ·100 percent. 4.5.2 The travel distance to an exit from the dead end stairway ora horizontal exit of a corridor or passageway
of a corridor shall not exceed half the distance specifieQ providing continuous and protected me.UlS of egress.
26 NATIONAL BUILDING CODE OF INDIA
PART 4 FIRE AND LIFE SAFETY 27
