Daycare
.
through Grade 2
Students in Existing Buildings
What do I need to know?
Existing
buildings often have daycare, nursery schools or church school classrooms for children in the second grade and below which may be located on a floor other than
the ground level floor. These classrooms may have been located on these floor
levels before there were specific requirements associated with the type of use,
or the classrooms were relocated to upper floor levels some time over the life
of the building.
In
any case, the presence of children in the second grade and below on a floor
other than the level of exit discharge is not permitted by the NC Building Code
and has not been permitted by the code since 1967.
In
1967, the NC Building Code Council recognized the hazards associated with
locating small children on levels other than the ground level and modified the
NC Building Code to limit the location of small children to the first floor.
Lower grades were further limited with their classrooms to be located nearest
the exits.
In
subsequent years, the requirements have become more specific:
While
the addition of automatic sprinklers to a building typically eliminates the requirement
for 1-hour rated corridors, when daycare facilities are involved, the 1-hour corridors are required
regardless of the presence of sprinklers.
The requirement limiting the location of younger children to the
level of exit discharge (the ground floor) is based on the difficulties in
exiting. These difficulties include the following:
1. Difficulty
reaching the handrails, and
2. Difficulties
with the tread/riser height, resulting in
3. Slow exit
travel, compounded by people behind moving more quickly.
Those difficulties can have disastrous effects: the slow pace
often results in tripping, delaying or stopping egress altogether. When
children are coming down in a group, such as in a class, the concept of a
quick, smooth exit from a building may quickly dissolve.
In considering an existing situation where classrooms with younger
children have been located on upper or basement floors, there are two ways to
view the situation:
1) Existing complying
"grandfathered" situation: If there has been no change to your
building since the 1960s (before the first requirement) when it was originally
constructed, then what you have is an existing condition which is technically
"grandfathered" (i.e., was not addressed at the time it was
constructed but is no longer permitted). You need to discuss with the
congregation whether the potential liability of maintaining the children on the
upper or basement level until you do your renovation/expansion in 2-3 years is
worth it, given the documented egress problems and the fact that all the model
building codes prohibit younger children on levels other than the level of exit
discharge. You have to consider injury to a child or an adult in exiting up or
down the stairs as well as in any delay in egress due to the children slowing
down egress as well.
2) Existing non-complying situation: If there has
been any renovation to the building since the original construction in the
1960s that affected or involved the location of the children, then they should
have been relocated to the ground floor at that time and the building as it
currently exists is non-complying. The children should be relocated either up
to or down to the ground floor level as quickly as possible. Again, your
liability in an injury situation once it is determined that you have a
non-complying building would not be good. If your building was constructed any
time after 1967, the code restricted young children to the ground floor level.
[See timeline of code requirements
below for exact code requirements.]
In either case, the recommendation of the NC Department of
Insurance is that you move the children to the ground floor level as quickly as
possible. It is what is safest for them.
1958 NC STATE
BUILDING CODE, SECTION 612:
(b) Special Exit Requirements for
(c) Churches. Allows
reduction of exits and aisles with the Commissioner of Insurance's approval.
(d) Schools and
1967 NC STATE
BUILDING CODE, SECTION 406.3 - SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS, GROUP "C"
OCCUPANCY, Item 8: Small children shall be on the
first floor. The lower grades shall be located in the classrooms nearest the
exits.
1978 NC STATE
BUILDING CODE, SECTION 406 - EDUCATIONAL OCCUPANCY, SPECIAL PROTECTIVE
REFERENCES 406.3 Item 7: Rooms used for day care, nurseries,
kindergarten or first grade pupils shall not be located above or below the
floor of exit discharge. Rooms used for second grade pupils shall not be
located more than one (1) story above the floor of exit discharge.
[* The 1978 code
contains additional specific requirements [509.4] associated with daycare
facilities containing more than 15 children which were in operation prior to
*
requirements essentially
unchanged from 1978 through 2002
2002 NC BUILDING
CODE 1007.6: Group E. Rooms
used for first grade children and younger shall be located on the level of exit
discharge. Rooms used for second grade children shall not be located more than
one story above the level of exit discharge.
Published by:
NC Department of Insurance
(919) 661-5880
www.ncdoi.com
3/05