WSR 15-06-022
EMERGENCY RULES
BUILDING CODE COUNCIL
[Filed February 24, 2015, 4:17 p.m., effective February 24, 2015, 4:17 p.m.]
Effective Date of Rule: Immediately upon filing.
Purpose: This change will redefine "portable school classrooms" and add a definition of "clusters" of such classrooms, and will modify the requirements for fire sprinklers in clusters of portable school classrooms below 6,000 sq. ft. for the purpose of improving fire safety and egress for school occupants.
NOTE: This filing is to renew the emergency rule renewed on November 6, 2014, as WSR 14-23-009 (originally filed on March 14, 2014, as WSR 14-07-058). This matter has been filed for permanent rule making under WSR 14-24-090.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 51-54A-0202 and 51-54A-0903.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 19.27.031 and 19.27.074.
Under RCW 34.05.350 the agency for good cause finds that immediate adoption, amendment, or repeal of a rule is necessary for the preservation of the public health, safety, or general welfare, and that observing the time requirements of notice and opportunity to comment upon adoption of a permanent rule would be contrary to the public interest.
Reasons for this Finding: The current WAC language has become obsolete, and does not reflect the needs of school districts regarding fire safety in portable school classrooms. The existing rules negatively impact building plans for school districts throughout the state. This modification will provide immediate economic relief to school districts planning to add portable classrooms, and will provide a safer environment for building occupants.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: March 7, 2014.
Dave Kokot
Chair
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 13-04-063, filed 2/1/13, effective 7/1/13)
WAC 51-54A-0202 General definitions.
SECTION 202 GENERAL DEFINITIONS
ADULT FAMILY HOME. A dwelling, licensed by Washington state, in which a person or persons provide personal care, special care, room and board to more than one but not more than six adults who are not related by blood or marriage to the person or persons providing the services.
ALERT SIGNAL. A distinctive signal indicating the need for trained personnel and occupants to initiate a specific action, such as shelter-in-place.
ALERT SYSTEM. Approved devices, equipment and systems or combinations of systems used to transmit or broadcast an alert signal.
CHILD CARE. For the purposes of these regulations, child care is the care of children during any period of a 24-hour day.
CHILD CARE, FAMILY HOME. A child care facility, licensed by Washington state, located in the dwelling of the person or persons under whose direct care and supervision the child is placed, for the care of twelve or fewer children, including children who reside at the home.
CLUSTER. Clusters are multiple portable school classrooms separated by less than the requirements of the building code for separate buildings.
COVERED BOAT MOORAGE. A pier or system of floating or fixed access ways to which vessels on water may be secured and any portion of which are covered by a roof.
ELECTRICAL CODE. The National Electrical Code, promulgated by the National Fire Protection Association, as adopted by rule or local ordinance under the authority of chapter 19.28 RCW.
EMERGENCY DRILL. An exercise performed to train staff and occupants and to evaluate their efficiency and effectiveness in carrying out emergency procedures.
EXISTING. Buildings, facilities or conditions that are already in existence, constructed or officially authorized prior to the adoption of this code.
GRAVITY-OPERATED DROP OUT VENTS. Automatic smoke and heat vents containing heat-sensitive glazing designed to shrink and drop out of the vent openings when exposed to fire.
HOSPICE CARE CENTER. A building or portion thereof used on a 24-hour basis for the provision of hospice services to terminally ill inpatients.
MOTOR VEHICLE. Includes, but not limited to, a vehicle, machine, tractor, trailer or semitrailer, or any combination thereof, propelled or drawn by mechanical power and designed for use upon the highways in the transportation of passengers or property. It does not include a vehicle, locomotive or car operated exclusively on a rail or rails, or a trolley bus operated by electric power derived from a fixed overhead wire, furnishing local passenger transportation similar to street-railway service. The term "motor vehicle" also includes freight containers or cargo tanks used, or intended for use, in connection with motor vehicles.
NIGHTCLUB. An A-2 Occupancy use under the 2006 International Building Code in which the aggregate area of concentrated use of unfixed chairs and standing space that is specifically designated and primarily used for dancing or viewing performers exceeds three hundred fifty square feet, excluding adjacent lobby areas. "Nightclub" does not include theaters with fixed seating, banquet halls, or lodge halls.
OCCUPANCY CLASSIFICATION. For the purposes of this code, certain occupancies are defined as follows:
Group I-2. This occupancy shall include buildings and structures used for medical care on a 24-hour basis for more than five persons who are incapable of self-preservation. This group shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
Foster care facilities
Detoxification facilities
Hospice care centers
Hospitals
Nursing homes
Psychiatric hospitals
Five or fewer persons receiving care. A facility such as the above with five or fewer persons receiving such care shall be classified as Group R-3 or shall comply with the International Residential Code provided an automatic sprinkler system is installed in accordance with Section 903.3.1.3 or with Section P2904 of the International Residential Code.
Licensed care facility. A facility such as the above providing licensed care to clients in one of the categories listed in Section 310.1 of the International Building Code licensed by Washington state shall be classified as Group R-2.
Family home child care. Family home child care licensed by Washington state for the care of twelve or fewer children shall be classified as Group R-3 or shall comply with the International Residential Code.
Adult care facility. A facility that provides accommodations for less than 24 hours for more than five unrelated adults and provides supervision and personal care services shall be classified as Group I-4.
EXCEPTION:
Where the occupants are capable of responding to an emergency situation without physical assistance from the staff, the facility shall be classified as Group R-3.
Child care facility. Child care facilities that provide supervision and personal care on a less than 24-hour basis for more than five children 2 1/2 years of age or less shall be classified as Group I-4.
EXCEPTIONS:
1. A child day care facility that provides care for more than five but no more than 100 children 2 1/2 years or less of age, where the rooms in which the children are cared for are located on a level of exit discharge serving such rooms and each of these child care rooms has an exit door directly to the exterior, shall be classified as Group E.
 
2. Family child care homes licensed by Washington state for the care of 12 or fewer children shall be classified as Group R-3.
Residential Group R. Residential Group R includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, for sleeping purposes when not classified as an Institutional Group I or when not regulated by the International Residential Code. This group shall include:
R-1 Residential occupancies containing sleeping units where the occupants are primarily transient in nature, including:
Boarding houses (transient) with more than 10 occupants
Congregate living facilities (transient) with more than 10 occupants
Hotels (transient)
Motels (transient)
R-2 Residential occupancies containing sleeping units or more than two dwelling units where the occupants are primarily permanent in nature, including:
Apartment houses
Assisted living facilities as licensed by Washington state under chapter 388-78A WAC
Boarding houses (nontransient) with more than 16 occupants
Congregate living facilities (nontransient) with more than 16 occupants
Convents
Dormitories
Fraternities and sororities
Hotels (nontransient)
Live/work units
Monasteries
Motels (nontransient)
Residential treatment facilities as licensed by Washington state under chapter 246-337 WAC
Vacation timeshare properties
R-3 Residential occupancies where the occupants are primarily permanent in nature and not classified as Group R-1, R-2, or I, including:
Buildings that do not contain more than two dwelling units.
Boarding houses (nontransient) with 16 or fewer occupants.
Boarding houses (transient) with 10 or fewer occupants.
Care facilities that provide accommodations for five or fewer persons receiving care.
Congregate living facilities (nontransient) with 16 or fewer occupants.
Congregate living facilities (transient) with 10 or fewer occupants.
Care facilities within a dwelling. Care facilities for five or fewer persons receiving care that are within a single-family dwelling are permitted to comply with the International Residential Code provided an automatic sprinkler system is installed in accordance with Section 903.3.1.3 or with Section P2904 of the International Residential Code.
Adult family homes, family home child care. Adult family homes and family home child care facilities that are within a single-family home are permitted to comply with the International Residential Code.
Foster family care homes. Foster family care homes licensed by Washington state are permitted to comply with the International Residential Code, as an accessory use to a dwelling, for six or fewer children including those of the resident family.
R-4 Classification is not adopted. Any reference in this code to R-4 does not apply.
PORTABLE SCHOOL CLASSROOM. A prefabricated structure((,)) consisting of one or more rooms with direct exterior egress from the classroom(s). The structure is transportable in one or more sections, ((which requires a chassis to be transported,)) and is designed to be used as an educational space with or without a permanent foundation. The structure shall be ((trailerable and)) capable of being demounted and relocated to other locations as needs arise.
RECALL SIGNAL. An electrically or mechanically operated signal used to recall occupants after an emergency drill or to terminate a shelter-in-place event that shall be distinct from any alarm or alert signal used to initiate an emergency plan, or other signals.
SHELTER-IN-PLACE. An emergency response used to minimize exposure of facility occupants to chemical or environmental hazards by taking refuge in predetermined interior rooms or areas where actions are taken to isolate the interior environment from the exterior hazard.
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 13-04-063, filed 2/1/13, effective 7/1/13)
WAC 51-54A-0903 Automatic sprinkler systems.
903.2.1.6 Nightclub. An automatic sprinkler system shall be provided throughout Group A-2 nightclubs as defined in this code.
903.2.3 Group E. An automatic sprinkler system shall be provided for Group E occupancies.
EXCEPTIONS:
1. Portable school classrooms with an occupant load of 50 or less calculated in accordance with Table 1004.1.2, provided that the aggregate area of any cluster of portable classrooms does not exceed ((5,000)) 6,000 square feet (((1465 m2))) (557 m2); and clusters of portable school classrooms shall be separated as required by the building code((.)); or
 
2. Portable school classrooms with an occupant load from 51 through 98, calculated in accordance with Table 1004.1.2, and provided with two means of direct independent exterior egress from each classroom in accordance with Chapter 10, and one exit from each class room shall be accessible, provided that the aggregate area of any cluster of portable classrooms does not exceed 6,000 square feet (557 m2); and clusters of portable school classrooms shall be separated as required by the building code; or
 
3. Group E occupancies with an occupant load of 50 or less, calculated in accordance with Table 1004.1.2.
903.2.8 Group R. An automatic sprinkler system installed in accordance with Section 903.3 shall be provided throughout all buildings with a Group R fire area.
EXCEPTION:
Group R-1 if all of the following conditions apply:
 
1. The Group R fire area is no more than 500 square feet and is used for recreational use only.
 
2. The Group R fire area is on only one story.
 
3. The Group R fire area does not include a basement.
 
4. The Group R fire area is no closer than 30 feet from another structure.
 
5. Cooking is not allowed within the Group R fire area.
 
6. The Group R fire area has an occupant load of no more than 8.
 
7. A hand-held (portable) fire extinguisher is in every Group R fire area.
903.2.11.1.3 Basements. Where any portion of a basement is located more than 75 feet (22,860 mm) from openings required by Section 903.2.11.1, or where new walls, partitions or other similar obstructions are installed that increase the exit access travel distance to more than 75 feet, the basement shall be equipped throughout with an approved automatic sprinkler system.