[Code of Federal Regulations] [Title 29, Volume 5] [Revised as of July 1, 2001] From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access [CITE: 29CFR1910.36] [Page 151-152] TITLE 29--LABOR CHAPTER XVII--OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR PART 1910--OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS--Table of Contents Subpart E--Means of Egress Sec. 1910.36 General requirements. (a) Application. This subpart contains general fundamental requirements essential to providing a safe means of egress from fire and like emergencies. Nothing in this subpart shall be construed to prohibit a better type of building construction, more exits, or otherwise safer conditions than the minimum requirements specified in this subpart. Exits from vehicles, vessels, or other mobile structures are not covered by this subpart. (b) Fundamental requirements. (1) Every building or structure, new or old, designed for human occupancy shall be provided with exits sufficient to permit the prompt escape of occupants in case of fire or other emergency. The design of exits and other safeguards shall be such that reliance for safety to life in case of fire or other emergency will not depend solely on any single safeguard; additional safeguards shall be provided for life safety in case any single safeguard is ineffective due to some human or mechanical failure. (2) Every building or structure shall be so constructed, arranged, equipped, maintained, and operated as to avoid undue danger to the lives and safety of its occupants from fire, smoke, fumes, or resulting panic during the period of time reasonably necessary for escape from the building or structure in case of fire or other emergency. (3) Every building or structure shall be provided with exits of kinds, numbers, location, and capacity appropriate to the individual building or structure, with due regard to the character of the occupancy, the number of persons exposed, the fire protection available, and the height and type of construction of the building or structure, to afford all occupants convenient facilities for escape. (4) In every building or structure exits shall be so arranged and maintained as to provide free and unobstructed egress from all parts of the building or structure at all times when it is occupied. No lock or fastening to prevent free escape from the inside of any building shall be installed except in mental, penal, or corrective institutions where supervisory personnel is continually on duty and effective provisions are made to remove occupants in case of fire or other emergency. (5) Every exit shall be clearly visible or the route to reach it shall be conspicuously indicated in such a manner that every occupant of every building or structure who is physically and mentally capable will readily know the direction of escape from any point, and each path of escape, in its entirety, shall be so arranged or marked that [[Page 152]] the way to a place of safety outside is unmistakable. Any doorway or passageway not constituting an exit or way to reach an exit, but of such a character as to be subject to being mistaken for an exit, shall be so arranged or marked as to minimize its possible confusion with an exit and the resultant danger of persons endeavoring to escape from fire finding themselves trapped in a dead-end space, such as a cellar or storeroom, from which there is no other way out. (6) In every building or structure equipped for artificial illumination, adequate and reliable illumination shall be provided for all exit facilities. (7) In every building or structure of such size, arrangement, or occupancy that a fire may not itself provide adequate warning to occupants, fire alarm facilities shall be provided where necessary to warn occupants of the existence of fire so that they may escape, or to facilitate the orderly conduct of fire exit drills. (8) Every building or structure, section, or area thereof of such size, occupancy, and arrangement that the reasonable safety of numbers of occupants may be endangered by the blocking of any single means of egress due to fire or smoke, shall have at least two means of egress remote from each other, so arranged as to minimize any possibility that both may be blocked by any one fire or other emergency conditions. (9) Compliance with this subpart shall not be construed as eliminating or reducing the necessity for other provisions for safety of persons using a structure under normal occupancy conditions, nor shall any provision of the subpart be construed as requiring or permitting any condition that may be hazardous under normal occupancy conditions. (c) Protection of employees exposed by construction and repair operations. (1) No building or structure under construction shall be occupied in whole or in part until all exit facilities required for the part occupied are completed and ready for use. (2) No existing building shall be occupied during repairs or alterations unless all existing exits and any existing fire protection are continuously maintained, or in lieu thereof other measures are taken which provide equivalent safety. (3) No flammable or explosive substances or equipment for repairs or alterations shall be introduced in a building of normally low or ordinary hazard classification while the building is occupied, unless the condition of use and safeguards provided are such as not to create any additional danger or handicap to egress beyond the normally permissible conditions in the building. (d) Maintenance. (1) Every required exit, way of approach thereto, and way of travel from the exit into the street or open space, shall be continuously maintained free of all obstructions or impediments to full instant use in the case of fire or other emergency. (2) Every automatic sprinkler system, fire detection and alarm system, exit lighting, fire door, and other item of equipment, where provided, shall be continuously in proper operating condition.