Div. B › Part 3 › 3.4 › 3.4.1 — General

3.4.1.6 — Restricted Use of Horizontal Exits

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(1) Except as permitted by Sentence (2), horizontal exits shall not comprise more than one-half of the required number of exits from any floor area.

(2) In a hospital or long-term care home, horizontal exits serving patients’ or residents’ sleeping rooms shall comprise not more than two-thirds of the required number of exits from any floor area.

(3) Where an elementary or secondary school is subdivided by a firewall, a horizontal exit shall not serve as an exit but is permitted to serve as an access to exit.

OBC Definitions

Defined terms on this page

access to exit

means that part of a means of egress within a floor area that provides access to an exit serving the floor area.

exit

means that part of a means of egress, including doorways, that leads from the floor area it serves to a separate building, an open public thoroughfare or an exterior open space protected from fire exposure from the building and having access to an open public thoroughfare.

firewall

means a type of fire separation of noncombustible construction that subdivides a building or separates adjoining buildings to resist the spread of fire and that has a fire-resistance rating as prescribed in this Code and the structural stability to remain intact under fire conditions for the required fire-rated time.

floor area

means the space on any storey of a building between exterior walls and required firewalls, including the space occupied by interior walls and partitions, but not including exits, vertical service spaces and their enclosing assemblies.

horizontal exit

means an exit from one building to another by means of a doorway, vestibule, walkway, bridge or balcony.

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