Section 350.3910  Exit Facilities and Subdivision of Floor Areas

a)         At least two exits, remote from each other, shall be provided for each floor or fire section of the building used by residents.  All exits shall be so arranged as to provide a safe path of travel to the outside of the building without traversing any corridor or space exposed to an unprotected vertical opening, except that traversing unprotected vertical openings may be permitted in existing sprinklered buildings.  At the upper floor level, at least one of the required means of egress shall consist of an interior stairway enclosed at the top and bottom, an enclosed outside stairway, or a horizontal exit. Every sleeping room, unless it has two doors providing separate ways of escape, or has a door opening directly to the outside of the building, shall have at least one outside window which can be opened from the inside, without the use of tools, to provide a clear opening of not less than 16 inches in least dimension and 400 square inches in area, with the bottom of the opening not more than four feet above the floor.

b)         An unenclosed outside stairway may be used as one of the two required means of egress from the second floor, only in existing buildings, subject to the approval of the Department, as determined by an onsite inspection.  The inspector will examine the stair for structural stability, height of risers, width of treads, width of stairway, handrails, and maintenance, including decay or dry rot in accordance with standards found in Section 350.3880(a) and (b).

1)         Unenclosed outside stairways shall not constitute more than 50 percent of the required exit capacity, in any case.  No more than one of the exits from the second floor may be an unenclosed outside stairway.  (B)

2)         Fire escapes need not be of non-combustible construction.

c)         Means of egress shall be so arranged that there are no dead end pockets, hallways, corridors, passageways, or courts whose depth exceeds 20 feet.  (B)

d)         Corridor walls shall have a fire-resistive rating of at least one hour.  Corridor walls may terminate at the underside of the ceiling.  (B)

(Source:  Amended at 13 Ill. Reg. 6040, effective April 17, 1989)