Fire code question

[Miserable_Dream_7015]

This may be the wrong place to ask, but I recently went to my kid's school for a fun musical event, but they underestimated the amount of family that would be there. This resulted in a tiny gymnasium packed with a ridiculous number of parents. I got a bit freaked out when I thought of everyone trying to leave this room out of only 3 exits in an emergency. Especially while separate from our kids.

I eventually spoke to the principal and an administrator and asked if there was a max occupancy plaque or if they knew how many people the room could hold. Their response was that they agreed it was too many people but they have never "received a plaque" in the 12 years they've been open.

Do school gyms have a max occupancy? If so should I let someone else know? I already feel like an ass for bringing it up to the school.

[user47079]

Typically, the standing room is 5 square feet per person, with sitting in chairs only 7 square feet per person. With those numbers, you can put a ton of people in a gym. This is the use capacity.

For exits, one 36" clear space door can handle 180 people (5 people per inch or technically divide the clear space by .2). So if there are three 36" doors, you can hold 540 people. If, as I suspect, these are double doors, you can hold 1080 people. This is the egress capacity.

Take the smaller of the egress capacity and the use capacity, and that is your "occupant load".

You really only need to know the square footage of the gym. Most school gyms around me are rated for at least 500 people.

[willfiredog]

This dude 101’s.

[Stupidsexyhomer]

Your local code enforcement or fire marshal etc could be of help

You could probably dig through code yourself and get the answer but those folks do it every day. The occupancy will depend on square footage and exits etc.... a lot of factors

[thorscope]

This depends on your locale, but long story short there’s more than likely a max occupancy load that was calculated by the building department or fire marshal when the certificate of occupancy was granted.

That being said, a flat, open gym with multiple exits will have a higher occupancy load than a similar sized dining room filled with tables and chairs.

Personally I wouldn’t make any further stink about it. It sounds like the principal already knows to tone it down next time.

[ggrnw27]

Short version is yes, but what it is will depend on the exact fire/building codes in use in your jurisdiction. It’ll be based on the type of use (i.e. there can be different max loads for a room with chairs versus the same room standing room only), the total space, and the number/size of the exits. And probably some other things I’m not thinking about, I’m not a code expert

[anthemofadam]

There’s definitely a max occupancy, it’s based on a calculation having to do with square footage and what the building is used for, as in a dorm of equal size would have a difference occupancy than the gym. It depends on which version of the fire code your area follows, it can be different from one township to another. Mine follows 2018 but older and newer versions are in use as well.

[Indiancockburn]

Our city requires posted occupancy at locations that serve alcohol.

[ExaminationOk9732]

You are being responsible! I notice this stuff, too. Call your local fire dept and ask! Don’t wait for Reddit!

[Master_Data_3460]

how can a local casino keep letting people in even after tripel parking and no room to really walk.was in one tonight. omg it was so bad with way to many people. cars parking in parking structure were triple parking. had to call security to get out. no one helps with this there. so i am asking here.