Exits - California

California’s state requirements regarding means of egress include a substantial amount of regulatory information beyond the federal requirements. Click on the following links to view the state and federal regulations regarding exits (egress):

Exits

Citations

California: Title 8, Division 1, Chapter 4, Subchapter 7, Group 1

Federal: 29 CFR 1910.33, .34, .35, .36, .37, and Appendix to Subpart E

A summary of the additional requirements includes the following:

• Exit and directional signs must have a luminance on their face of at least 50 lux. Electrically illuminated signs must be lighted with two electric lamps, either one of which must be sufficient to provide the required luminance.
• In any room or building having 51 or more occupants, exit and/or directional signs must be provided at every exit door, corridor intersection, exit stairway or ramp, and other locations as necessary.
• If only two exits are required, they must be placed a distance apart equal to not less than one-half the length of the maximum overall diagonal dimension of the building or area to be served measured in a straight line between exits. An exception is provided when exit enclosures are used.
• The distance of travel from any point to an exterior exit door, horizontal exit, exit passageway, or an enclosed stairway in a building not equipped with an automatic sprinkler system throughout must not exceed 150 feet (or 200 feet with an automatic sprinkler system), with some exceptions.
• Every area used mainly for the storage of materials liable to burn with extreme rapidity or from which poisonous fumes or explosions will result upon exposure to fire, must have an exit within 75 feet of any point in the area where employees may be present, with some exceptions.
• Within a building, changes in elevation of less than 12 inches along any exit serving a tributary occupant load of 10 or more must be by ramps. When a corridor or exterior exit balcony is accessible to an elevator, changes in elevation of the floor must be made by means of a ramp.
• Exits, corridors, and exterior exit balconies must provide at least 7 feet of headroom from floor to ceiling, including any projections, except in doorways and stairways.
• Trim and handrails may reduce the required width of a stairway by up to 3-1/2 inches.
• Where any doorway, ramp, walkway, stairway, or ladder landing exits directly into the path of vehicular traffic, an adequate barrier and warning must be installed to prevent workmen stepping directly into traffic.
• The total width of exits in feet must be equal to at least the total occupant load served (including a percentage of those from other floors) divided by 50.
• Every portion of every building in which are installed seats, tables, merchandise, equipment, or similar materials must have aisles leading to an exit.
• Circular stairs used as an exit must have a minimum width of run of at least 10 inches and the smaller radius must be at least twice the width of the stairway.
• Buildings or structures used for human occupancy must have at least one approved exit door.
• Exit doors must be of the side swinging type, at least 3 feet wide and 6 feet 8 inches high, and capable of opening at least 90 degrees, with the clear width of the exitway being at least 32 inches (or at least 28 inches in existing buildings with doors less than 3 feet wide).
• No leaf of an exit door may exceed 4 feet in width.
• Exit doors must be openable from the direction of exit travel without the use of a key or any special knowledge or effort whenever the building is occupied (except in Group B occupancies).
• Manually operated horizontal sliding doors may be used as required exits when serving occupant loads of 10 or less.
• Manually-operated edge bolts or surface-mounted flush bolts and surface bolts are prohibited on required exit doors. When exit doors are installed in pairs and use automatic flush bolts, the door leaf with these bolts must have no door knob or surface-mounted hardware. The unlatching of any leaf must not require more than one operation.
• Numerous, specific egress requirements are provide for:
  • panic hardware and latches used on exit doors;
  • cold storage, processing, and manufacturing rooms; and
  • mobile refrigerated compartments.