3.4.1.

(1) Exit facilities complying with this Section shall be provided from every floor area that is intended for occupancy.

(1) Except as permitted by Sentence (2), if more than one exit is required from a floor area, each exit shall be separate from every other exit leading from that floor area.

(2) If more than 2 exits are provided from a floor area, exits are permitted to converge in conformance with Sentence 3.4.3.1.(2), provided the cumulative capacity of the converging exits does not contribute more than 50% of the total required exit width for the floor area.

(1) Access to exits shall conform to Section 3.3.

(1) Subject to the requirements of this Section, an exit from any floor area shall be one of the following, used singly or in combination:

(a) an exterior doorway,

(b) an exterior passageway,

(c) an exterior ramp,

(d) an exterior stairway,

(e) a fire escape (conforming to Subsection 3.4.7.),

(f) a horizontal exit,

(g) an interior passageway,

(h) an interior ramp, or

(i) an interior stairway.

(1) Access to an exterior exit passageway from a floor area shall be through exit doors at the floor level.

(2) Every exterior exit passageway that has a drop of more than 500 mm on any side shall have guards on the open sides not less than 1 070 mm high.

(1) Except as permitted by Sentence (2), horizontal exits shall not comprise more than one half of the required number of exits from any floor area.

(2) In a hospital or nursing home, horizontal exits serving patients’ or residents’ sleeping rooms shall comprise not more than two thirds of the required number of exits from any floor area.

(3) Where an elementary or secondary school is subdivided by a firewall, a horizontal exit shall not serve as an exit but is permitted to serve as an access to exit.

(1) A slide escape shall not be erected on any building as a required exit, but is permitted to be provided as an additional egress facility if unusual hazards are foreseen.

(1) Glass and transparent panels in an exit shall conform to the appropriate requirements of Article 3.3.1.18. for glass and transparent panels in an access to exit.

(1) No mirror shall be placed in or adjacent to any exit in a manner that would confuse the direction of exit.

(1) Combustible glazing is not permitted in wall or ceiling assemblies or in closures used to construct an exit enclosure.

(1) No open exterior stairway shall serve as a means of egress for residents above the second floor of a nursing home.