22 Jul Counter Encounters: COVID-19 Edition Episode 2
Here at Hayne, we’ve been on deadlines for some of our commercial projects. Submittals have been interesting, to say the least! We thought we would share a couple of our experiences…
Scene:
Hayne Architects is trying to complete a project submittal for a commercial project at an undisclosed jurisdiction somewhere in the United States of America.
Hayne
Hi [insert plan checker’s name here], I wanted to review some of the corrections for [insert project name here]. Are you available to do a screen share so we can walk through the project?
Plan Checker
No, I’m sorry, we are currently not set up for that.
Oh, OK…
What is your question?
Well on reviewing the comments you are referencing that you cannot exit through a more hazardous space, but we have reviewed these Life Safety Plans with the Fire Department Life Safety Division and they have been approved.
You cannot egress through a more hazardous occupancy per the Building Code.
Right, OK… Can you point to the Code section that defines which Occupancy is more hazardous the A2 or the F2, because I could only find the required fire separation table which says that when fire sprinklers are utilized there is a 0-hour separation required…
You cannot egress through a more hazardous occupancy per the Building Code.
Ok, well per my research the National Fire Protection Agency classifies the [insert F2 function here] as a low hazard and the [insert A2 function here] as a moderate hazard so egressing from the A2 through the F2 should be OK right?
We do not use the National Fire Protection Agency. You cannot egress through a more hazardous occupancy per the Building Code.
Ok, well what if we continue the bollard separation along the path of travel to separate the spaces like we currently show on the plan. See the attached sketch for your review.
I am sorry, [insert plan checker name here] will be out of the office and working from home on a modified schedule due to the pandemic and will be unable to communicate with her supervisor until next week. Have a nice day.
[face palm]
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