Long Way Down

These rear exits are a good ways off of the ground. People trying to make an attempt to exit through these rear exits will find themselves making a huge leap.

This is an issue that should have been addressed during the plan review stage and emphasizes why doing plan reviews are so important.

I would venture to guess that the original plans called for stairs and they just never got put in.

This creates a dangerous situation for those that might have to evacuate this building to the rear. Not only is it a long way down, jumping may cause a person to lose his/her balance and roll right into that water.

If you do plan reviews, make sure you inspect all the way through the project. Don’t let contractors get by with promising to put something like these stairs in before they officially open. Make sure all safety components are installed and in service prior to issuing an occupancy permit.

Stay safe and do those inspections.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Davis on January 14, 2010 at 1:30pm

The other issue with this is, if these are infact exit doors, are their other exit doors within the structure that would allow these to be eliminated based on occupant load and square footage? If not, then this facility would not be adequately equipped with proper exit egress and would be a closable fire code infraction.