The Ontario Building Code | Safety Requirements Within Floor Areas

3.10.2.4. Safety Requirements Within floor Areas

(1) Except as provided in Sentences (2) to (12), the requirements in Section 3.3. shall apply.

(2) A corridor need not be constructed as a public corridor where the travel distance, measured from inside the rental space to the nearest exit, is not more than 15 m provided that the corridor walls,

(a) are of noncombustible construction,

(b) have no openings="http://thehandyforce.com/windows/" title ="Window installer in Toronto">openings other than doors and the doors are of solid construction, and

(c) are continuous from the floor to the underside of the floor above, the ceiling or the roof.

(3) Where the building is sprinklered, doors in a public corridor do not require to be equipped with self-closing devices and latches provided that the travel distance is measured from inside the rental space to the nearest exit.

(4) Egress doors from a rental space are not required to swing in the direction of exit travel or swing on a vertical axis provided,

(a) the area of the rental space is not more than 50 m2, and

(b) the distance of travel within the rental space is not more than 10 m.

(5) Where egress doors from a rental space open onto a corridor and swing in the direction of exit travel, the corridor shall be not less than 1 500 mm wide, and the doors shall be not more than 914 mm wide.

(6) Where egress doors from a rental space open onto a corridor and do not swing in the direction of exit travel, the corridor shall be not less than 1 100 mm in width.

(7) Dead end corridors are not permitted.

(8) corridors shall be provided with,

(a) natural lighting="http://thehandyforce.com/electrical/" title ="East York Electrician">lighting that shall be uniformly distributed and be at least 4% of the corridor area, or

(b) emergency lighting="http://thehandyforce.com/electrical/" title ="East York Electrician">lighting, conforming to Sentences 3.2.7.4.(1) and (2), that shall provide average levels of illumination not less than 10 lx at floor level.

(9) Not more than two dwelling units shall be contained within one of the buildings on the property.

(10) Except as provided in Sentence (11), dwelling units shall be separated from the remainder of the buildingby a fire separation having a fire-resistance rating not less than 2 h.

(11) A fire separation is not required between a dwelling unit and an office where the office is not more than 50 m2 in area.

(12) The fire separations required in Sentence 3.3.1.1.(1) need not be provided between individual rental spaces.