Taking Shelter 

from the Storm

Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

Includes Construction Plans

FEMA P-320, Fourth Edition / December 2014
Taking Shelter 

from the Storm 

Building a Safe Room for Your Home 

or Small Business

Includes Construction Plans

FEMA P-320, Fourth Edition / December 2014
Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not 

necessarily reflect the views of FEMA. Additionally, neither FEMA nor any of its employees makes 

any warrantee, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, 

completeness, or usefulness of any information, product, or process included in this publication. 

Users of information contained in this publication assume all liability arising from such use.
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM i Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

PREFACE

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is pleased to have this 

opportunity to update and improve the guidance through this new edition of FEMA 

P-320, Taking Shelter from the Storm: Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business. 

Since the first edition of FEMA P-320 was issued in 1998, more than 1 million copies 

of the publication have been distributed, and nearly 25,000 residential safe rooms 

have been constructed with FEMA funding assistance. 

Other positive developments include but are not limited to: 

• The construction of tens of thousands of safe rooms with private funds.

• The International Code Council’s (ICC’s) release of a consensus standard on the 

design and construction of storm shelters. This standard, the ICC/NSSA Standard 

for the Design and Construction of Storm Shelters (ICC 500) is a referenced standard 

in the 2009, 2012, and 2015 International Building Code and International 

Residential Code. 
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM iii Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

CONTENTS

Preface .................................................................................................................................................................... i

Acronyms ................................................................................................................................................................. vii

Chapter 1.. Introduction............................................................................................................................................. 1

Chapter 2. Understanding the Hazards.................................................................................................................... 5

2.1 Tornadoes ........................................................................................................................................ 5

2.2 Hurricanes....................................................................................................................................... 8

2.3 Effects of Extreme Winds on a Building ......................................................................................10

2.4 Do You Need a Safe Room? ...........................................................................................................11

2.5 Assessing Your Risk ........................................................................................................................13

Chapter 3. Planning Your Safe Room ..................................................................................................................... 15

3.1 Design Basis................................................................................................................................... 15

3.2 Flood Hazard Siting and Elevation...............................................................................................16

3.2.1 Flood Hazard Siting Criteria.............................................................................................16

3.2.2 Flood Hazard Elevation Criteria.......................................................................................17

3.3 New versus Existing Homes or Buildings.....................................................................................17

3.4 Safe Room Size ...............................................................................................................................19

3.5 Safe Room Locations .................................................................................................................... 20

3.5.1 Siting Your Safe Room: Inside or Outside?..................................................................... 20

3.5.2 Siting a Safe Room Inside a Home or Small Business.....................................................21

3.6 Floor Plans Showing Possible Safe Room Locations .................................................................. 23

3.6.1 Floor Plan 1: Basement..................................................................................................... 23

3.6.2 Floor Plan 2: Safe Rooms on the Primary Level of a Home or Small Business............ 23

3.6.3 Floor Plan 3: In-Ground Safe Rooms.............................................................................. 23

3.6.4 Floor Plan 4: Multipurpose Safe Rooms in a Small Business.........................................24

3.6.5 Selection of Safe Room Type and Location.....................................................................24

3.7 Foundation Type ........................................................................................................................... 26

3.7.1 Basement Foundation Applications................................................................................. 26

3.7.2 Slab-on-Grade Applications ............................................................................................. 27

3.7.3 Crawlspace or Pile Applications....................................................................................... 28
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM iv Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

3.8 Construction Materials................................................................................................................. 29

3.9 Safe Room Doors........................................................................................................................... 30

3.9.1 What Should You Look for in a Door?............................................................................. 30

3.9.2 Why Does the Door Cost So Much?................................................................................. 32

3.10 Safe Room Cost ............................................................................................................................. 32

Chapter 4. Building Your Safe Room...................................................................................................................... 35

4.1 Design Drawings ........................................................................................................................... 35

4.2 How to Use the Drawings ............................................................................................................. 36

4.2.1 Additional Requirements for Community Safe Rooms (Serving Small 

Businesses or More Than 16 Residential Occupants) .................................................... 37

4.2.2 Seismic Risks...................................................................................................................... 38

4.3 Consumer Guide ........................................................................................................................... 38

4.4 Emergency Planning and Emergency Supply Kit ....................................................................... 40

4.5 Additional Resources.................................................................................................................... 42

Chapter 5. Safe Rooms Save Lives........................................................................................................................... 43

Chapter 6. References .............................................................................................................................................. 49

Appendix A. Acknowledgments...................................................................................................................................51

Appendix B. Tornado Safe Room Door Fact Sheet................................................................................................... 53

List of Figures

Figure 2-1: Typical tornado damage according to the EF Scale (wind speeds are estimated 

3-second-gust wind speeds) ......................................................................................................................... 6

Figure 2-2: Recorded EF3, EF4, and EF5 tornadoes in the United States from 1950 to 2013.................................... 7

Figure 2-3: Storm surge ................................................................................................................................................... 8

Figure 2-4: Typical damage associated with hurricane categories according to the Saffir-Simpson 

Hurricane Wind Scale (wind speeds are 1-minute sustained speeds) ..................................................... 9

Figure 2-5: Effect of extreme winds on building roof and walls .................................................................................10

Figure 2-6: Example of a garage door failure that initiated progressive failure, including loss 

of the garage roof ........................................................................................................................................10
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM v Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

Figure 2-7: Wind Zones in the United States............................................................................................................... 12

Figure 3-1: Exterior walls constructed of CMUs (New Smyrna Beach, FL, 2007).....................................................18

Figure 3-2: In-home safe room under construction (New Smyrna Beach, FL, 2007) ...............................................19

Figure 3-3: An above-ground safe room constructed as an addition to a slab-on-grade home in 

a way that matches the aesthetics of the home (outside Tuscaloosa, AL, 2011) .....................................21

Figure 3-4: Core remnants of homes sometimes survive a tornado (Tuscaloosa, AL, 2011) ................................... 22

Figure 3-5: Above-ground residential safe room that was in the garage of a home hit by 

an EF5 tornado in Joplin, MO (2011) ....................................................................................................... 22

Figure 3-6: Floor Plan 1: Possible safe room locations in a basement........................................................................ 23

Figure 3-7: Floor Plan 2: Home on a slab-on-grade or crawlspace foundation......................................................... 23

Figure 3-8: Floor Plan 3: Possible in-ground safe room locations in a home without a basement...........................24

Figure 3-9: Floor Plan 4: Multipurpose safe room locations in a fire station.............................................................24

Figure 3-10: Cross section: Typical new construction basement foundation with safe room .................................... 26

Figure 3-11: Cross section: Typical slab-on-grade foundation with safe room ........................................................... 27

Figure 3-12: Cross-section: Typical crawlspace foundation with safe room ................................................................ 29

Figure 3-13: Example door label for a product that has been tested to safe room criteria........................................ 32

Figure 4-1: Seismic risk map.......................................................................................................................................... 39

Figure 5-1: Safe room that remained standing after an EF5 tornado (Newcastle, OK, 2013)................................. 45

Figure 5-2: Site-built safe room that withstood the impact of the Moore tornado (Moore, OK, 2013).................. 47

List of Tables

Table 2-1: Safe Room Risk Based on Wind Zones .........................................................................................................13

Table 3-1: Appropriate Types of Safe Rooms for New and Existing Homes and Buildings ...................................... 25

Table 3-2: Construction, Applicability, and Access for Safe Rooms ............................................................................ 25

Table 4-1: Design Drawings Index.................................................................................................................................. 36
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM vii Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

ACRONYMS

AHJ authority having jurisdiction 

ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers

CMU concrete masonry unit 

CR County Road

EF Scale Enhanced Fujita Scale

F Scale Fujita Scale

FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency

FLASH Federal Alliance for Safe Homes

HMGP Hazard Mitigation Grant Program

IBC International Building Code

ICC International Code Council

ICF insulated concrete form

IRC International Residential Code

MAT Mitigation Assessment Team

NEHRP National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program

NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology

NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

NSSA National Storm Shelter Association 

NWR NOAA Weather Radio

NWS National Weather Service

OEM Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management

SFHA Special Flood Hazard Area
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 1 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Every year, tornadoes, hurricanes, and other extreme windstorms cause injury, death, and property damage 

worth billions of dollars in the United States. Even so, more and more people build homes in tornado- and 

hurricane-prone areas, possibly putting themselves into the path of such storms.

Introduction

This publication is primarily intended for 

homeowners, builders, and contractors, but 

can also be used by design professionals and 

local officials for decision-making guidance on tornado 

and hurricane safe rooms. Design professionals and 

other readers seeking more technical guidance should 

refer to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s 

(FEMA’s) FEMA P-361, Safe Rooms for Tornadoes and 

Hurricanes: Guidance for Community and Residential Safe 

Rooms (2015), which provides the 

design criteria and commentary used 

to develop the prescriptive solutions 

and safe room planning guidance 

provided in this publication. The safe 

room designs in this publication were 

developed primarily for use in new 

homes and small businesses, but some 

can be used in existing buildings. 

This publication and FEMA P-361 

supersede the FEMA National 

Performance Criteria for Tornado Shelters

(1999) as well as any earlier versions 

of FEMA P-320. 

In August 2008, the International Code Council 

(ICC), with the support of the National Storm Shelter 

Association (NSSA), released a consensus standard 

on the design and construction of storm shelters. This 

standard, the ICC/NSSA Standard for the Design and 

Construction of Storm Shelters (ICC 500, 2014), codifies 

much of the safe room recommendations of the 

early editions of FEMA P-320 and FEMA P-361. ICC 

500 provides the minimum design and construction 

requirements for extreme wind 

storm shelters and has been 

incorporated by referenced standard 

into the 2009, 2012, and 2015 

International Building Code (IBC) 

and International Residential Code 

(IRC). Those involved in the design, 

construction, and maintenance 

of safe rooms should become 

knowledgeable of both FEMA 

guidance and ICC standards that 

pertain to sheltering from extreme 

winds.
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 2 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

1. Introduction

Having a safe room for your home or small business 

can help provide near-absolute protection for you and 

your family or employees from injury or death caused 

by the dangerous forces of extreme winds. Nearabsolute protection means that, based on our current 

knowledge of tornadoes and hurricanes, the occupants 

of a safe room built according to this publication will 

have a high probability of being protected from injury 

or death. Our knowledge of tornadoes and hurricanes 

is based on substantial meteorological records as well 

as extensive investigations of damage to structures 

from extreme winds. Having a safe room can also 

relieve some of the anxiety created by the threat of an 

oncoming tornado or hurricane. For examples of safe 

room success stories, see Chapter 5. 

Should you consider building a safe room in your home 

or small business to provide protection for you, your 

family, or employees during a tornado or hurricane?

This publication will help you answer this and other 

questions so you can decide how best to provide that 

protection. It includes the results of research that has 

been underway for more than 30 years by Texas Tech 

University’s National Wind Institute and other wind 

engineering research facilities on the effects of extreme 

winds on buildings.

This publication includes safe room designs and 

shows you and your builder/contractor or local design 

professional how to construct a safe room for your 

home or small business. Design options include safe 

rooms located inside or outside of a new home or small 

business. Guidance is also provided on how to modify 

an existing home or small business to add a safe room 

in an existing space. The safe rooms discussed herein 

are designed to provide protection for you, your family, 

or employees from the extreme winds expected during 

tornadoes and hurricanes and from wind-borne debris 

associated with these events. 

All guidance in this publication is applicable to 

residential safe rooms, but may also be useful for 

safe rooms in small businesses. However, safe rooms 

in small businesses (or in residences with greater 

TERMINOLOGY

Residential safe room. A safe room serving occupants of dwelling units and having an occupant load 

not exceeding 16 persons.

Community safe soom. Any safe room not defined as 

a residential safe room.

The National Weather Service did not start keeping organized records of tornadoes in the United States until 

1950. Since then, the deadliest year for tornadoes was 

2011, which claimed 553 lives.1 The single deadliest tornado to date was in Joplin, Missouri, on May 22, 2011, 

with 161 fatalities.

Compared with other natural hazards, single tornado 

events typically affect smaller geographical areas but 

occur more often and cause more deaths than hurricanes and earthquakes. From 1950 through 2011, 

tornadoes caused about 5,600 fatalities in the United 

States, more than hurricanes and earthquakes over 

the same time (NIST, 2014).

1 Source: NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory

TORNADO OCCURRENCE AND RESULTANT LOSSES

This photograph from FEMA’s photo library shows the 

vivid reality of how lives are impacted by tornadoes 

(Lafayette, TN, February 5, 2008). 

SOURCE: JOCELYN AUGUSTINO/FEMA
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 3 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

1. Introduction

SPRING 2011 TORNADO OUTBREAK

than 16 occupants) are considered community 

safe rooms and, therefore, must be designed with 

additional architectural, fire safety, ventilation, and 

other requirements, as described in FEMA P-361 

and ICC 500. For more information on requirements 

for community safe rooms in small businesses, see 

Section 4.2.1. 

The safe rooms in this publication have been designed 

with life-safety protection as the primary consideration. 

They are a set of “prescriptive solutions” to the 

technical design criteria set forth in ICC 500 and FEMA 

P-361. When installation and foundation requirements 

are addressed by a licensed professional engineer or 

architect, these designs will meet or exceed the design 

requirements set forth in the ICC 500 for residential 

storm shelters for both tornado and hurricane hazards. 

The safe room designs presented herein provide sitebuilt solutions; information on prefabricated safe 

rooms can be found in Section 4.3 of this publication.

The Southeastern and Midwestern portions of the United States experienced historic tornado activity in the spring of 2011. From April 25 to 28, 2011, hundreds of 

tornadoes ranging from EF0 to EF5 touched down from Texas to New York, with 

some of the strongest and most devastating on April 27 occurring in Alabama, 

Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee. According to the National Weather Service 

(NWS), tornado-caused deaths reached 364 during the month of April, with 321 

people killed during the April 25–28 tornado outbreak.

Less than a month later, on May 22, more than 50 tornadoes touched down 

across an eight-State area, the most powerful of which was a 0.75-mile-wide 

EF5 tornado that cut a 6-mile path through Joplin, MO. The tornado destroyed 

thousands of homes and caused widespread damage in the city. This historic 

tornado resulted in 161 fatalities, the most fatalities ever recorded from a single tornado since modern record keeping began in 1950.

A Mitigation Assessment Team (MAT) was deployed to assess the damage in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, and Joplin, MO. The MAT 

investigated the performance of residential buildings, commercial and industrial buildings, critical and essential facilities, and infrastructure, as well as safe rooms, storm 

shelters, hardened areas, and tornado refuge areas. FEMA P-908, Mitigation Assessment Team Report – Spring 2011 

Tornadoes: April 25-28 and May 22 (FEMA, 2012), presents the MAT’s field observations, as well as subsequent conclusions and recommendations, which have been incorporated into this edition of FEMA P-320. 

Two MAT recommendations were successfully submitted as code change proposals for the 2015 IBC. As a result, 

the 2015 IBC requires storm shelters to be incorporated when any of the following are constructed: K-12 schools with 

capacity for more than 50 occupants; 911 call stations; fire, rescue, ambulance, and police stations; and emergency 

operation centers. The requirement only applies in Wind Zone IV (see Figure 2-7 for wind zone details) for communities 

that adopt the 2015 IBC.
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 5 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

CHAPTER 2

Understanding the Hazards

Almost every State in the United States has 

been affected by extreme windstorms such as 

tornadoes and hurricanes. All Atlantic and Gulf 

of Mexico coastal areas in the United States, including 

Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Hawaii, have 

been affected by hurricanes. Even States not normally 

considered to be susceptible to extreme windstorms 

have experienced dangerous extreme winds; lesser 

known areas for experiencing extreme winds are 

typically near mountain ranges, including the Pacific 

Northwest coast.

A homeowner’s decision regarding whether to build a 

safe room depends in large part on the risk of being 

struck by one of these events. This chapter describes 

tornadoes, hurricanes, the effect of high winds on a 

building, and the decision process for determining the 

need for a safe room. 

2.1 Tornadoes

A tornado is a violently rotating column of air with 

wind speeds that can be significantly higher than 

design wind speeds in modern building codes. 

Although tornadoes typically occur in the spring and 

summer months, they can occur at any time in any 

part of the country. In some cases, hurricanes spawn 

tornadoes. The severity of a tornado is categorized by 

the Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF Scale). As of February 

2007, the EF Scale (see Figure 2-1) was adopted by the 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

(NOAA) to replace the Fujita Scale (F Scale). The EF 

Scale is designed similar to the F Scale, but has been 

revised to have a greater number of Damage Indicators, 

which are used to characterize the degree of damage 

experienced by buildings during a tornado. 

The risk and frequency of tornadoes varies across the 

country and within each State. Comparing the numbers 

of tornadoes recorded in different areas of the country 

can give you a better understanding of potential 

tornado activity in those areas. Figure 2-2 shows the 

general locations of recorded EF3, EF4, and EF5 

tornadoes in the United States between 1950 and 2013 

(NOAA, 2014a). While this map presents a reasonable 

portrayal of tornado activity in the United States 

since 1950, it should not be assumed that locations 

that do not have a tornado track marked have never 

had a tornado or will never experience one. First, any 

tornadoes that occurred prior to 1950 are not shown on 

TERMINOLOGY

Missile. Test specimen used to simulate wind-borne 

debris.

Wind-borne debris. Debris that is picked up by the 

wind and moved with enough force to damage and 

even penetrate windows, doors, walls, and other 

parts of a building. In general, the stronger the wind, 

the larger and heavier the debris it can carry and the 

greater the risk of severe damage or injury. But even 

small stones, branches, and other lighter debris can 

easily break glass doors and windows.
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 6 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

Figure 2-1: Typical tornado damage according to the EF Scale (wind speeds are estimated 3-second-gust wind speeds)SOURCE: NOAA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE, STORM PREDICTION CENTER

Complete destruction of engineered and/or well-constructed residence; slab swept clean.(165–220 mph)Most walls collapse except small interior rooms. (127–178 mph)Broken glass in doors and windows, uplift of roof deck and significant loss of roof covering (>20%), collapse of chimneys and garage doors. (79–116 mph)
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM

7 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

Figure 2-2: Recorded EF3, EF4, and EF5 tornadoes in the United States from 1950 to 2013SOURCE: NOAA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE, STORM PREDICTION CENTER
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 8 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

2. Understanding the Hazards

this map. Second, it is likely that some tornadoes went 

undetected and are therefore not shown on this map. 

And lastly, if a tornado is not shown in a particular 

location on this map, it does not suggest that a tornado 

will never occur in those locations; a tornado can 

occur anytime and anywhere, given the appropriate 

conditions.

2.2 Hurricanes

A hurricane is a tropical cyclone with sustained winds 

of 74 mph or greater. Hurricanes are characterized 

by a low-pressure center that creates strong winds and 

rain. Hurricane intensities depend on a number of 

complex processes, but are generally measured in terms 

of maximum surface wind speeds or minimum surface 

pressure. Hurricanes are categorized by the SaffirSimpson Hurricane Wind Scale (see Figure 2-4), which 

assigns a category from 1 to 5 based on a hurricane’s 

sustained wind speed. Hurricanes can be devastating 

storms; while tornadoes affect smaller areas, hurricanes 

are broad storms capable of delivering high winds 

and flooding to large areas. A hurricane that reaches 

Category 3 or higher is considered a major hurricane, 

but Category 1 and 2 hurricanes are still dangerous.

In the United States, 289 hurricanes were recorded 

to have made landfall between 1851 and 2011. Over 

one-third of these hurricanes (97) were classified as 

major hurricanes. Hurricanes have made landfall in 

Florida more than in any other State. The second most 

hurricane-affected State is Texas, but every State on 

the Gulf Coast and bordering the Atlantic Ocean is 

susceptible to damage caused by hurricanes, as are 

U.S. island possessions and Territories of Puerto Rico, 

American Samoa, and Guam, which have been seriously 

affected by numerous tropical cyclones. Hurricanes 

between 1950 and 2011 resulted in 3,102 deaths 

(NOAA, 2014b).

TERMINOLOGY

Storm surge. In this publication, “storm surge” means 

an abnormal rise in sea level 

accompanying a hurricane 

or other intense storm, with 

a height that is the difference between the observed 

level of the sea surface and 

the level that would have 

occurred in the absence of 

the tropical cyclone. Storm 

surge (see Figure 2-3) is usually estimated by subtracting 

the normal or predicted astronomical tide from the 

observed storm tide. The 

storm surge measurement 

does not include wave 

height unless specifically 

noted, which can add 3 feet 

or more.

Figure 2-3: Storm surge

Safe rooms designed to protect you and your family or employees from a hurricane or tornado should not be built in areas expected to be flooded during 

a hurricane, thunderstorm, or other severe weather event. Residents of hazard-prone coastal areas should abide by the warnings of their local emergency 

services personnel and evacuate to safer ground. The protection from wind 

provided by safe rooms and shelters is quickly negated when people find themselves trapped and inundated by floodwaters.

If you do not know whether your home or small business is in a storm surge

area or other area subject to flooding, ask your local emergency management 

or floodplain management official.

WARNING
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 9 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

Figure 2-4: Typical damage associated categories according to the Saffir-SimpScale (wind speeds are 1-minute sustaSOURCE: NOAA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE, N

A high percentage of framed homes will be destroyed, with total roof failure and wall collapse. Fallen trees and power poles will isolate residential areas. Power outages will last for weeks to possibly months. Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months. (157 mph or higher)Well-built framed homes may incur major damage or removal of roof decking and gable ends. Many trees will be snapped or uprooted, blocking numerous roads. Electricity and water will be unavailable for several days to weeks after the storm passes. (111–129 mph)

Well-buisustain sof most or some trees wiland powtrees and residentwill last wmonths. be uninhmonths. 

Well-constructed framed homes could have damage to roof, shingles, vinyl siding, and gutters. Large branches of trees will snap and shallowly rooted trees may be toppled. Extensive damage to power lines and poles likely will result in power outages that could last a few to several days. (74–95 mph)

Well-concould susiding darooted truprooted roads. Nis expeccould lasto weeks(96–110 
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 10 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

2. Understanding the Hazards

2.3 Effects of Extreme 

Winds on a Building

Extreme winds can cause severe damage to a building. 

For example, the roof covering, roof deck, or wall 

siding can be pulled off and the windows can be 

pushed into or pulled off of a building. Figure 2-5 

shows how extreme winds can affect a building and 

cause it to fail. When wind enters a building through 

a broken window, door, or roof section, that wind acts 

on the inside of a building much like air acts when 

forced into a balloon; it pushes on the walls and roof 

of the building from the inside. These forces within 

the building added to the wind forces acting on the 

outside of the building often result in building failure. 

Buildings are generally not designed to resist forces 

acting on both the inside and the outside of the 

building.

Buildings that fail under the effects of extreme winds 

often appear to have exploded. This has given rise to 

the misconception that, during an extreme wind event, 

the windows and doors in a building should be opened 

to equalize the pressure and prevent atmospheric 

pressure differences from inside and outside the 

building. 

In fact, opening a window or door allows wind to enter 

a building and increases the pressure acting on the 

interior of the building and the risk of building failure. 

This is illustrated in Figure 2-6, where the failure of a 

garage door initiated progressive failure that included 

the loss of the garage roof.

Damage can also be caused by flying debris. If wind 

speeds are extreme, debris can penetrate or perforate 

windows, walls, or the roof. For example, a 2-inch × 

4-inch wood stud weighing 15 pounds, when carried 

Figure 2-5: 

Effect of extreme winds on 

building roof and walls

Figure 2-6: 

Example of a garage door failure 

that initiated progressive failure, 

including loss of the garage roof
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 11 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

2. Understanding the Hazards

by a 250-mph wind, can have a horizontal speed of 100 

mph, which is enough force to penetrate or perforate 

most common building materials used in homes today. 

Even a reinforced masonry wall, which typically has 

hollow cells between reinforced cells, will be perforated 

unless it has been designed and constructed to resist 

debris impact during extreme winds. Because debris 

can severely damage and even perforate windows, walls, 

and roofs, they threaten not only buildings but the 

occupants as well. 

2.4 Do You Need a Safe Room?

Building owners should ask themselves several 

questions when considering whether to install a 

safe room:

• What is my risk of tornadoes and/or hurricanes?

• What existing refuge options do I have if a tornado 

or hurricane occurs in my location?

• What level of safety am I comfortable with?

• How feasible is it to construct a safe room, and what 

are the costs?

On the basis of 60 years of tornado history and more 

than 150 years of hurricane history, the United 

States has been divided roughly into four zones that 

geographically reflect the number and strength of 

recorded extreme windstorms (Figure 2-7). Zone IV 

has experienced the most and the strongest tornado 

activity. Zone III has experienced significant tornado 

activity and includes most coastal areas that are 

susceptible to hurricanes. Zones II and I represent 

areas with relatively lower historical tornado activity 

that correlate with a lower risk of tornadoes in those 

areas. Zone II includes some areas east of the Rocky 

Mountains that are not covered in Zone III and parts 

of the northeast. Zone I primarily consists of areas 

west of the Rocky Mountains, where there are relatively 

few tornado occurrences. Additionally, the hurricaneprone region (as identified in Figure 2-7 along the Gulf 

Coast and Atlantic Coast) indicates substantial risk to 

hurricanes. 

Section 2.5 includes guidance to help you determine 

your level of risk from these extreme events and will 

assist you in your decision whether or not to install a 

safe room. If you decide that you need a safe room, 

Chapter 3 will help you and your builder/contractor 

or local design professional in planning your safe 

room. To learn more about the wind history for the 

area where you live, check with your local building 

official, meteorologist, or emergency management 

official. Also, visit the NOAA National Climatic Data 

Center, which contains data on various types of storms 

within the United States, at http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/

stormevents.

The prescriptive designs included in this publication 

should not be used to install safe rooms in hurricaneprone areas that may be inundated by storm surge or 

flooding from a hurricane. In areas not prone to storm 

surge, a safe room may be installed within mapped 

floodplains only when the designs provided herein 

meet the flood hazard criteria presented in Section 3.2, 

comply with all local floodplain ordinances, and are 

coordinated with local emergency management. 

Your home or place of business may be built in 

accordance with local building codes that take into 

account the effects of minimum design winds for your 

area. Building codes require that buildings be able 

to withstand a “design” wind event. In most inland 

tornado-prone regions, the building code design wind 

speed (typically associated with a severe thunderstorm) 

is 115 mph in the latest editions of the IRC and IBC 

(2015 editions). For hurricane-prone areas, design 

wind speeds required by the 2015 IRC and 2015 IBC 

typically range from 115 mph to 180 mph. A tornado or 

EVACUATION CONSIDERATIONS

A safe room may be designed and constructed to meet 

all applicable FEMA criteria. However, use of the safe 

room during an emergency event may not be in compliance with mandatory evacuation orders of the local 

jurisdiction. For instance, local emergency management officials may declare a mandatory evacuation 

prior to a hurricane event. FEMA recommends that all 

potential safe room occupants comply with local jurisdictional directions and evacuation orders during 

an emergency event even if they have constructed a 

safe room.
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 12 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

Figure 2-7: Wind Zones in the United States*

* If you are uncertain of your location because of the level of 

detail and size of the map, or if you live on or very near one of the delineation lines, use the highest adjacent wind zone
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 13 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

2. Understanding the Hazards

hurricane can cause winds much stronger than those 

on which local code requirements are based. Having a 

home built to the minimum requirements of the code 

does not mean that your home can withstand wind 

from extreme wind events. In addition to extreme 

wind speeds, tornadoes and hurricanes can produce 

significant wind-borne debris. Inland areas that are 

outside of the hurricane wind-borne debris region are 

not required by code to be designed to resist debris, 

which makes the protection of a safe room particularly 

important. The safe room designs in this publication 

provide a place to seek safe shelter during these 

extreme wind events. 

Building codes are adopted at the local or State level 

in a process that takes model codes, such as the IRC 

and IBC, and accepts them as the local building code, 

often with amendments or modifications. With the 

incorporation of ICC 500 by referenced standard into 

the 2009, 2012, and 2015 IRC and IBC, States and local 

communities that adopt these codes with the reference 

to ICC 500 intact require any new facility designated as 

a tornado or hurricane storm shelter to be constructed 

to the requirements 

in ICC 500. ICC 500 

codifies much of FEMA’s 

guidance for safe room 

design and construction. 

A safe room designed 

and constructed 

to the prescriptive 

designs included 

in this publication 

(and properly sited 

to address flood hazards) will meet or exceed the 

ICC 500 residential storm shelter design criteria. For 

small businesses, community safe rooms, and safe 

rooms in residential buildings with more than 16 

occupants, additional criteria are specified in ICC 500, 

including, but not limited to, ventilation, sanitation, 

and fire separation requirements. The designs in this 

publication are intended for residential safe room 

applications, and will not meet the necessary criteria 

for small business safe rooms without additional 

detailing and modifications.

2.5 Assessing Your Risk

To determine if you are in an area prone to low, 

moderate, or high wind hazards, use Figure 2-7 to 

determine the wind hazard zone for the area where 

your building is located. If you are uncertain of 

your location, given the level of detail and size of 

the map, or find you live on or very near one of the 

delineation lines, use the highest adjacent wind zone. 

Once you determine your wind hazard zone, your risk 

and guidance for your level of risk can be found in 

Table 2-1.

Note that some areas 

of the United States 

are also subject to 

hurricanes (see Figure 

2-7). If you live in this 

hurricane-prone region, 

your risk is considered 

high for the intent of 

considering a safe room.

RESIDENTIAL SAFE 

ROOMS

It is recommended that 

residential safe rooms 

are designed for 250 

mph winds regardless 

of the location of the 

safe room with respect 

to the wind zone areas. 

Table 2-1: Safe Room Risk Based on Wind Zones 

WIND ZONE RISK GUIDANCE

I Low Risk Need for an extreme-wind safe room is a matter of homeowner or small 

business owner preference

II Moderate Risk Safe room should be considered for protection from extreme winds

III and IV High Risk Safe room is the preferred method of protection from extreme winds

Hurricane-Prone 

Region High Risk

Safe room is the preferred method of protection from extreme winds.

FEMA recommends that all potential safe room occupants comply with local 

jurisdictional directions and evacuation orders during an emergency event, 

even if they have constructed a safe room.

HURRICANE RISK

For more detailed information on hurricane 

risks in the United 

States, see Chapter 3 

of FEMA P-55, Coastal 

Construction Manual 

(FEMA, 2011). 
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 15 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

CHAPTER 3

Planning Your Safe Room

Now that you better understand your risk from 

a tornado or hurricane, you can work with 

your builder/contractor and local design 

professional as necessary to build a safe room to 

provide protection for you, your family, or employees 

from these extreme windstorms. This section describes 

the basis of the safe room designs presented in this 

publication and shows you where you can build a safe 

room in your home or small business. 

3.1 Design Basis

The purpose of a safe room is to provide a space where 

you, your family, or employees can survive a tornado or 

hurricane with little or no injury. To provide protection 

for the occupants during extreme windstorms, the 

safe room must be adequately anchored to a proper 

foundation to resist overturning and uplift; even when 

using the prescriptive designs in this publication, this 

may require the services of a licensed professional 

engineer. Further, the connections between all parts of 

the safe room must be strong enough to resist failure, 

and the walls, roof, and door must resist perforation by 

wind-borne debris. 

Most homes, even new ones constructed according 

to modern building codes, do not provide adequate 

protection for occupants seeking life-safety protection 

from tornadoes. Homes built to a modern building 

code in hurricane-prone areas, such as wind-borne 

debris regions, better resist wind forces and windborne debris impacts from hurricanes. However, a 

tornado or hurricane can produce wind and windborne debris loads on a home or small business that 

are much greater than those on which building code 

requirements are based. Only specially designed 

and constructed safe rooms that are built above the 

minimum code requirements of the IBC and IRC 

to the criteria of this publication, FEMA P-361, or 

the ICC 500, offer life-safety occupant protection 

during a tornado or strong hurricane. The safe room 

DESIGN REQUIREMENTS

This publication provides FEMA safe room designs 

that meet or exceed the minimum residential shelter 

design requirements from FEMA P-361 and ICC 500. 

The safe room designs in this publication are applicable for both tornado and hurricane hazards for the 

residential shelter (with 16 or fewer occupants) design 

criteria identified in FEMA P-361 and ICC 500. 

The safe room design wind speed used for these 

designs is 250 mph. The safe rooms have been designed as “partially enclosed buildings” per ASCE 7 

to meet the requirements of both residential and community safe rooms for tornado and hurricane hazards. 

Further, the debris impact resistance is based upon 

the 15-pound 2-inch × 4-inch board missile traveling 

horizontally at 100 mph (again, the most restrictive criteria for both tornado and hurricane hazards). 

For additional design criteria and information for residential safe rooms, see FEMA P-361.
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 16 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

3. Planning Your Safe Room

designs provided in this publication are based on wind 

speeds that are rarely exceeded in the United States. 

Therefore, a safe room built in accordance with these 

designs is expected to withstand the forces imposed 

on it by extreme winds without failing; this statement 

applies to both materials and connections used within 

the safe room. The intent of the designs is to enable the 

safe room occupants to survive an extreme windstorm 

with minor or no injuries, not for the safe room to 

remain completely undamaged. 

Predicting the exact strength of tornadoes and 

hurricanes is very difficult due to the complex nature 

of the storms. That is another reason why the safe room 

designs in this publication are based on extreme wind 

speeds and why the primary consideration is life safety. 

Designing a building, or portion of a building, to 

resist damage from more than one natural hazard 

requires different, sometimes competing, approaches. 

For example, building a structure on an elevated 

foundation to raise it above expected flood levels can 

increase its vulnerability to wind and seismic damage. 

In flood-prone areas, careful attention should be given 

to the warning time, velocity, depth, and duration of 

floodwaters. These flooding characteristics can have a 

significant bearing on the design and possibly even the 

viability of a safe room. These considerations, among 

others, should be thoroughly evaluated during the 

design process. Your local building official or licensed 

professional engineer or architect can provide you 

with information about other natural hazards that 

affect your area and can also recommend appropriate 

foundation designs and connections to resist prevailing 

hazards and conditions in your area. 

3.2 Flood Hazard Siting 

and Elevation

A residential safe room should not be placed in any 

of the flood hazard areas listed in Section 3.2.1. 

Residential safe rooms located in a flood hazard area 

that is not listed in Section 3.2.1 should be elevated per 

the criteria listed in Section 3.2.2. 

The placement of a safe room in a new or existing 

home should be scrutinized with respect to flood 

hazards. The designer 

should also ensure 

that the safe room will 

withstand the forces 

of extreme winds and 

floodwaters in the event 

that the main homes is 

damaged or destroyed. 

If your residential tornado safe room is in an area that 

could become flooded during hurricanes, it should not 

be occupied during any hurricane. The installation of 

any safe room in the hurricane-prone region should 

be coordinated with local emergency management and 

law enforcement personnel to ensure its use during 

extreme wind events is not a violation of any local or 

State evacuation plan.

A residential safe room sited in the Special Flood 

Hazard Area (SFHA) should meet the flood-specific 

FEMA safe room design criteria listed in Section 

3.2.2. Consult your local building official or local 

floodplain manager to determine whether your home, 

small business, or proposed stand-alone safe room 

site, is susceptible to coastal, riverine, or surface water 

flooding. 

3.2.1 Flood Hazard Siting Criteria

A residential safe room should be located outside the 

following high hazard areas: 

• Flood hazard areas subject to high-velocity wave 

action (Zone V1) and Coastal A Zones (where 

mapped)

• Floodways

• Any areas subject to storm surge inundation 

associated with any modeled hurricane Category, 

including coastal wave effects (where applicable, 

these areas should be mapped areas studied by the 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NOAA, or other 

qualified agency)

1 For the purpose of this publication, Zone V refers to Zones V, VE, and 

V1-30.

Whenever a safe room 

is constructed using 

FEMA grant funds, the 

recommended criteria 

shown in Section 3.2 

become requirements.
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 17 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

3. Planning Your Safe Room

3.2.2 Flood Hazard Elevation Criteria

If it is not possible to place the residential safe room 

outside the SFHA, the residential safe room may be 

placed in an area that has been determined to be 

in Zone A,2 but still outside the high hazard areas 

identified in Section 3.2.1. In cases when a residential 

safe room is needed in these flood-prone areas, the 

safe room should be elevated to or above the highest 

elevation specified below (refer to the appropriate 

Flood Insurance Study or Flood Insurance Rate Map):

• The minimum elevation of the lowest floor 

required by the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) 

for the location where the shelter is installed

• The base flood elevation (i.e., the flood elevation 

having a 1-percent annual chance of being equaled 

or exceeded [100-year event])

• The flood elevation, including coastal wave effects, 

having a 0.2-percent annual chance of being 

equaled or exceeded (500-year event)

• The flood elevation corresponding to the highest 

recorded flood elevation if a flood hazard study has 

not been conducted for the area

2 For the purpose of this publication, Zone A refers to Zones A, AO, 

AH, A1–30, AE, A99, AR, AR/A1–30, AR/AE, AR/AH, and AR/A, but 

excludes Coastal A Zones.

The prescriptive designs presented in this publication 

can only be elevated a few feet above existing grade 

(see design drawings for specific details and elevation 

limitations) and, therefore, may not comply with flood 

design criteria for residential safe rooms. In such a 

situation, alternatives would be to: 1) have a structural 

engineer design a site-specific foundation for the safe 

room, or 2) in cases where flow velocity and erosion 

are not expected during design conditions, build an 

exterior weatherproof safe room on a slab-on-grade 

elevated on fill above the flood elevation specified 

above. Furthermore, the safe room should not be used 

if local emergency management officials call for the 

evacuation of an area prior to a hurricane event. 

3.3 New versus Existing 

Homes or Buildings

By constructing a safe room within your home or 

small business, you are protecting your family and/or 

employees from extreme wind events. A safe room may 

be installed during the initial construction of a home 

or retrofitted afterward. As long as the design and 

construction requirements and guidance are followed, 

the same level of protection is provided by either type 

of safe room. For this discussion, “retrofit” refers to the 

process of making changes to an existing building.

The safe room designs in this publication were 

developed primarily for use in new homes or buildings, 

but some can be used in existing buildings. When a 

RESIDENTIAL TORNADO SAFE ROOM 

EXCEPTION

Where a residential tornado safe room is designed, 

constructed, and used only as a tornado safe room, 

it does not have to be elevated to the flood elevation, 

including coastal wave effects, having a 0.2-percent 

annual chance to being equaled or exceeded in any 

given year (500-year event).

SOURCES OF FLOOD HAZARD MAPS

Flood hazard maps for your area can be obtained from 

multiple sources, including:

• FEMA Map Service Center (https://msc.fema.gov)

• Local or State Emergency Management Agencies

• Floodplain managers (http://www.floods.org)

• Local building or zoning department

Where the 1-percent and/or 0.2-percent annual 

chance flood elevations have not been determined 

by a flood hazard study, those elevations should be 

obtained from the authority having jurisdiction or 

calculated.

FLOOD CRITERIA FOR SAFE ROOMS 

IN SMALL BUSINESSES

The flood criteria provided in this publication applies 

to residential safe rooms. Community safe room designs, including safe rooms installed in residential 

buildings for more than 16 occupants, should reference the community safe room flood hazard siting and 

elevation criteria provided in FEMA P-361.
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 18 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

3. Planning Your Safe Room

new home is being built, the builder/contractor can 

construct walls, foundations, and other parts of the 

home to accommodate the safe room. Modifying the 

walls or foundation of an existing home as necessary 

for the construction of a safe room is more difficult. 

As a result, some of the safe room designs in this 

publication are not practical for existing homes. 

Adding a safe room when first building your home or 

small business is relatively easy and cost-effective. For 

example, when the home is constructed with exterior 

walls made from concrete masonry units (CMUs) (also 

commonly known as “concrete block”; see Figure 3-1), 

the protection level in FEMA P-320 can be achieved by 

slightly modifying the exterior walls at the safe room 

space with additional steel reinforcement and grout. 

The safe room is easily completed by adding interior 

walls constructed of reinforced CMU, a concrete roof 

deck over the safe room, and a special safe room door, 

as shown in Figure 3-2.

Building a safe room in an existing home typically costs 

more than building the same safe room in a new home 

under construction. When installing a safe room in 

an existing home, the adequacy of the foundation is a 

primary concern. The vast majority of slab-on-grade 

foundations in homes are not designed to transfer the 

loads from the safe room to the ground, even if they 

have some level of reinforcement. Retrofitting these 

slabs is often not feasible, and in many cases a portion 

of the slab must be cut out where the safe room will be, 

and a new, thicker, reinforced slab with footings must 

be poured for the safe room. Note that some safe rooms 

may be heavy enough that an existing slab may be used. 

Designers can take advantage of this if the dead load 

(weight) of the safe room, without the weight of the 

slab, is sufficient to resist the overturning forces on the 

safe room during a design event. This can frequently be 

accomplished when the walls of the safe room are CMU 

or concrete. If you plan on taking advantage of this 

circumstance, you should have a licensed professional 

engineer or architect verify that the safe room to be 

constructed does indeed meet these requirements. 

Figure 3-1: Exterior walls constructed of CMUs (New Smyrna Beach, FL, 2007)

CONCRETE SLAB-ON-GRADE 

REQUIREMENTS FOR SAFE ROOMS

In addition to requiring any slab used for a storm shelter to be designed and reinforced with steel, ICC 500 

also requires any storm shelter installed on an existing 

slab using post-installed anchors (anchors installed in 

concrete that has already hardened) to be subject to 

special inspections. 
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 19 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

3. Planning Your Safe Room

Figure 3-2: 

In-home safe room under 

construction; the CMU 

walls of the safe room are 

fully grouted and vertically 

reinforced with steel 

reinforcing bars from the 

foundation to the concrete 

roof deck (New Smyrna 

Beach, FL, 2007)

USABLE SPACE

Consult FEMA P-361 for guidelines on how to identify the net usable floor space and other requirements 

for a safe room design. Hard fixtures and furnishings 

reduce the square footage within a safe room that is 

available for protecting occupants.

3.4 Safe Room Size

The amount of floor area per person that your safe 

room must provide depends partly on the type of 

windstorm from which the safe room is intended to 

protect you. 

Tornadoes are not typically long-lasting storms, so if 

you are relying on your safe room only for tornado 

protection, you will not need to stay in the safe room 

for as long as you would for a hurricane. As a result, 
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 20 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

3. Planning Your Safe Room

comfort is not of a primary concern, and a safe room 

that provides at least 3 square feet of floor area per 

person for one- and two-family dwellings should be 

large enough (note that safe rooms in other residential 

host buildings, such as apartment buildings, should 

be afforded at least 5 square feet per person). This 

allocation of space per occupant also meets the 

minimum sizing requirements set forth in ICC 500 for 

residential tornado storm shelters. 

When the safe room is intended to provide protection 

from storms such as hurricanes, which can last for 24 

hours or more, the comfort of the occupants should 

be considered. For a residential hurricane safe room, 

the recommended amount of floor area per person 

varies from 7 to 10 square feet, depending on whether 

the residential hurricane safe room is located in a oneor two-family dwelling or another type of residential 

building such as an apartment building (as long as the 

maximum occupancy of the safe room does not exceed 

16 people). The minimum sizing requirement set forth 

in ICC 500 for residential hurricane shelters is 7 square 

feet per occupant, while for community shelters 20 

square feet per occupant is specified for standing or 

seated and wheelchair-bound occupants and 40 square 

feet per occupant for bed-ridden occupants. Necessities, 

such as water and toilet facilities, need to be provided 

in small business safe rooms to maintain compliance 

with FEMA P-361 criteria and ICC 500 requirements. 

The safe room designs in this publication have a 

gross area of at least 64 square feet and a minimum 

wall length of 8 feet (for both tornado and hurricane 

hazards). The maximum floor dimensions in the safe 

room designs provided in this publication are 14 feet 

× 14 feet square, providing 196 square feet of gross 

safe room space. As indicated in the Introduction, the 

occupant load for residential safe rooms must be no 

more than 16 occupants (regardless of dimensions). 

If you plan to build a residential safe room outside 

the dimensions of the drawings provided in this 

publication, or if you plan to have more than 16 

occupants in your residential safe room, consult a 

licensed professional engineer or architect. More 

information on the sizing of safe rooms in the design 

drawings is presented in Chapter 4.

3.5 Safe Room Locations

For tornado-prone areas, you should locate your safe 

room so that you can reach it as quickly as possible 

from all parts of your home or business, and it should 

be free of clutter. When determining the siting of 

a safe room, also consider the accessibility needs of 

potential occupants. For example, for occupants who 

use wheelchairs or crutches, the use of stairs in an inground safe room may make it difficult to access the 

safe room in a short amount of time.

3.5.1 Siting Your Safe Room: Inside or Outside?

While there are a number of potential locations 

to construct a safe room inside of a home or small 

business, a safe room can also be located outside of the 

building, either as a detached structure (i.e., away from 

the building) or adjacent to the building. Keep in mind 

that occupants will need to travel to the safe room 

from the building, which is why ICC 500 requires that 

residential safe rooms be located such that the travel 

distance from the access opening for the safe room to 

COMMUNITY SAFE ROOMS

Safe rooms for small businesses or residential use with 

more than 16 occupants are Community Safe Rooms 

that have additional requirements that the designs in 

this publication do not provide for, including, but not 

limited to, ventilation, sanitation, and fire separation.

IN-GROUND SAFE ROOMS

In-ground safe rooms referred to in this publication 

are slightly different from basement safe rooms because they are buried underground and surrounded 

by soils on all sides. Basement safe rooms are in a 

basement but are not surrounded by soil on all sides. 

In-ground safe rooms are not covered in the design drawings because prefabricated in-ground safe 

rooms are more common and easily constructed for 

residential applications than site-built in-ground safe 

rooms. For more information on prefabricated safe 

rooms, see Section 4.3.
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 21 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

3. Planning Your Safe Room

the nearest entrance of the residence does not exceed 

150 feet. Safe rooms located exterior to the home or 

business require early access to prevent injuries from 

wind and debris. Like interior safe rooms, exterior safe 

rooms can be either above- or in-ground. However, if 

you are located in a SFHA (as outlined in Section 3.2), 

siting the safe room below ground or below the design 

flood elevation is not recommended. 

While an interior safe room has the benefit of being 

closer to the building occupants, an exterior safe 

room may be easier to install for an existing home. 

An interior safe room constructed in an existing 

home would typically require substantial retrofitting. 

By contrast, a separate, detached safe room located 

outside a home would not require modifications to 

the home and can therefore be more affordable and 

feasible for existing buildings. These could even be 

added onto a new or existing covered porch or patio. 

Safe rooms located outside of a building also require 

exterior weather protection per minimum building 

code requirements. The protection required will 

depend on local code requirements as well as the type 

of material used for the exterior walls and roof. Per ICC 

500, hurricane safe rooms require weather protection 

against the design event for any areas of an exposed 

building envelope, but interior residential safe rooms 

that are fully enclosed by the host building (i.e., no 

portion of the safe room wall or roof is also an exterior 

wall or roof of the building in which the safe room is 

located) do not require exterior weather protection. 

Prefabricated versions for both indoor and outdoor safe 

rooms are available and can be more affordable than 

site-built versions.

Safe room entrance locations should be considered 

along with the location of the safe room itself. 

Entrances that are accessible without having to go 

outside and be exposed to potential wind and debris 

are preferable, though may not be feasible in all cases. 

Safe rooms placed adjacent to the main building could 

have an entrance directly into the safe room from the 

main building, or it could have an entrance from the 

outside as shown in Figure 3-3.

3.5.2 Siting a Safe Room Inside a 

Home or Small Business

There are several possible locations within your home 

or small business for a safe room. It can be either inside 

(within the building footprint) or outside (detached or 

adjacent to the existing building), and above-ground, 

in-ground, or in a basement. While in-ground safe 

rooms provide the inherent missile protection naturally 

afforded by the surrounding soil coverage, above-ground 

safe rooms are required to be rigorously tested to ensure 

that they can also provide missile impact protection. 

Therefore, all properly constructed safe rooms offer 

life safety protection when properly designed and 

constructed. This is an important alternative to be 

aware of if you are not able to install a safe room in 

your basement or in-ground because of issues such as 

flood hazards, naturally high groundwater tables, or the 

physical abilities of potential occupants at your site.

Researchers, emergency response personnel, and people 

cleaning up after tornadoes have often found small, 

interior rooms of a home or small business still standing 

when all other above-ground parts of the home or small 

business have been destroyed (see Figure 3-4). 

Figure 3-3: An above-ground safe room constructed 

as an addition to a slab-on-grade home in a way 

that matches the aesthetics of the home (outside 

Tuscaloosa, AL, 2011)
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 22 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

3. Planning Your Safe Room

Regardless of where in your home or small business 

you build your safe room, the walls and ceiling of the 

safe room must be built so that they will protect you, 

your family, or employees from wind-borne and falling 

debris, be anchored to an adequate foundation, and 

remain standing if your home or small business is 

severely damaged by extreme winds (see Figure 3-5). 

Closets, bathrooms, and small storage rooms offer the 

advantage of having a function other than providing 

occasional storm protection. Typically, these rooms 

have only one door and no windows, which makes them 

well suited to also be a safe room in addition to their 

regular function. Bathrooms have the added advantage 

of including a water supply and toilet. If sections of 

your home’s or small business’ walls are used as safe 

room walls, those wall sections must be designed for the 

wind pressure and debris impact resistance outlined 

in FEMA P-361. Similarly, if you construct a safe room 

on the first floor of a building above a basement, the 

structure below the safe room that carries the loads 

down to the foundation must be capable of resisting 

the same wind loads as the safe room. As outlined in 

ICC 500, any connections between the safe room and 

host building must be designed to resist higher loads 

than minimum building code requirements. This is to 

ensure the structural integrity of the safe room, should 

the rest of the structure fail or be compromised during 

an extreme wind event.

Figure 3-4: Core remnants of homes sometimes survive a tornado as shown in these photographs of site-built homes 

where a closet (red arrow in left photograph) and a bathroom behind a kitchen (red arrow in right photograph) 

remained standing after an EF4 tornado (Tuscaloosa, AL, 2011)

Figure 3-5: Above-ground residential safe room that was 

in the garage of a home hit by an EF5 tornado in Joplin, 

MO (2011)
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 23 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

3. Planning Your Safe Room

3.6 Floor Plans Showing Possible 

Safe Room Locations

This section shows four typical floor plans with possible 

locations for safe rooms. These are not floor plans 

developed specifically for homes with safe rooms; 

rather, they show how safe rooms can be added without 

changing the layout of rooms. Regardless of where the 

safe room is built, it must be equipped with a door that 

has been tested and certified to the appropriate criteria 

and will resist the wind pressure and impact of windborne debris. See Section 3.9 for more information on 

selecting a door for your safe room. 

3.6.1 Floor Plan 1: Basement

Possible safe room locations in a basement are shown in 

Figure 3-6 and include the following:

• A space using one or more exterior walls of the 

basement

• A freestanding structure within the basement (not 

using the basement walls)

A space that is to be used for a safe room must be kept 

free of clutter so that the safe room can be quickly and 

easily entered and so that the safe room occupants 

will not be injured by falling objects. For this reason, a 

bathroom is often a better choice for a safe room than 

a closet or other space used for storage. Basements are 

not suitable locations for safe rooms when there is a 

flood hazard risk present. For more information on 

flood hazards to consider, please see Section 3.2. 

3.6.2 Floor Plan 2: Safe Rooms on the Primary 

Level of a Home or Small Business

Possible safe room locations in a home on a slab-ongrade or crawlspace foundation are shown in Figure 3-7 

and include the following spaces on the first floor:

• Bathroom

• Closet

• Laundry room (provided the load-bearing wall 

between it and the garage, as shown in Figure 3-7, 

can be properly strengthened or separated from 

the structure of the home)

• Corner of the garage

• Outside within 150 feet travel distance from the 

home

3.6.3 Floor Plan 3: In-Ground Safe Rooms

Possible locations for an in-ground safe room are 

shown in Figure 3-8 and include the following:

• Below the home

• Below the floor of the garage

• Below ground within 150 feet travel distance from 

the home

Figure 3-6: Floor Plan 1: Possible safe room locations in 

a basement

Figure 3-7: Floor Plan 2: Home on a slab-on-grade or 

crawlspace foundation
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 24 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

3. Planning Your Safe Room

When deciding whether to choose an in-ground 

safe room, make sure the potential for flooding is 

considered (see Section 3.2 for more information). 

Also note that for safe rooms located in garages, any 

potential obstacles (such as a parked car) should be 

considered as well as the possible need to reinforce 

the garage floor in order to park a car. In the event of 

a tornado, the safe room user may be blocked from 

entering and exiting the safe room.

3.6.4 Floor Plan 4: Multipurpose Safe 

Rooms in a Small Business

Small businesses can use prescriptive safe room designs 

for multipurpose safe rooms. Figure 3-9 illustrates some 

potential locations for a safe room in a fire station. 

The area used for a conference room or other purpose 

can also be adapted for life-safety protection, provided 

the equipment and fixtures placed in the safe room 

can be removed quickly and efficiently. When placing 

safe rooms in buildings larger than typical residential 

structures, the layout should be designed so that the 

safe room is quickly accessible from other areas on the 

floor. FEMA P-361 and ICC 500 provide additional 

requirements that apply to community safe rooms, such 

as ventilation, fire protection, sanitation, and minimum 

usable area per occupant. Although an emergency 

escape opening is not required in FEMA P-361 or 

ICC 500 for safe rooms with less than 16 occupants, 

Section 501.2 of ICC 500 requires an emergency escape 

opening (an additional door or other opening) for 

storm shelters with more than 16 occupants, when the 

applicable building code only requires one exit door.

3.6.5 Selection of Safe Room Type and Location

Table 3-1 will help you decide what type of safe room 

is appropriate for your circumstances. The top section 

applies to the construction of safe rooms in new 

homes or buildings. The bottom section provides 

considerations for retrofit situations, in which a safe 

room is being added to an existing home or building.

Table 3-2 will also help you consider the options of 

connections to a home (or small business), exposure 

(above or below ground), construction type, 

applicability to new or existing buildings, and access 

(depending on whether the safe room is inside or 

outside of the building). The right-most column in the 

table also indicates whether this publication has a safe 

room prescriptive solution that applies to this type of 

safe room.

Figure 3-8: Floor Plan 3: Possible in-ground safe room 

locations in a home without a basement

Figure 3-9: Floor Plan 4: Multipurpose safe room 

locations in a fire station
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 25 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

3. Planning Your Safe Room

Table 3-2: Construction, Applicability, and Access for Safe Rooms 

CONNECTION 

TO HOME

1 This publication does not contain any designs for site-built in-ground safe rooms, as prefabricated in-ground safe rooms are typically more 

constructible and affordable. 

2 Per flood design criteria for FEMA safe rooms (see Section 3.2), elevation of a safe room is only permitted when specific 

flood design criteria have been met and when approved by the jurisdictional authority responsible for evacuations and 

NFIP compliance.

EXPOSURE

CONSTRUCTION APPLICABILITY ACCESS FEMA P-320 

SAFE ROOM 

PREFABRICATED APPLICATIONS

SITEBUILTNEW 

HOME

EXISTING 

HOME

INSIDE 

HOME

OUTSIDE 

HOME

Detached Above ground Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes

In ground Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No

Below In ground Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No

Inside

In basement Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Above ground Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Attached Above ground Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Table 3.1 Appropriate Types of Safe Rooms for New and Existing Homes and Buildings

APPROPRIATE SAFE ROOM TYPE

SAFE ROOM CONSIDERATIONS (NEW HOMES OR BUILDINGS) BASEMENT IN-GROUND1 ABOVE-GROUND

House or building located in a storm surge area

House or building located in a flood hazard area2

High water table

Low cost

Long-term safe room occupancy comfort

Least likely to be hit or impacted by wind-borne debris

Ease of accessibility (pre- and post-event)

APPROPRIATE SAFE ROOM TYPE

SAFE ROOM CONSIDERATIONS (EXISTING HOMES OR BUILDINGS) BASEMENT IN-GROUND1 ABOVE-GROUND

House or building located in a storm surge area

House or building located in a flood hazard area2

High water table

Low cost

Long-term safe room occupancy comfort

Least likely to be hit or impacted by wind-borne debris

Ease of separating safe room from structural framing of house 

or building

Minimal disruption to house or building

Ease of accessibility (pre- and post-event)

 Favorable Some concerns Unfavorable Not appropriate
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 26 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

3. Planning Your Safe Room

3.7 Foundation Type In a new home with a basement, the safe room is often 

built in the basement. You can build the safe room as 

Homes and other buildings vary in construction type an entirely separate structure with its own walls, or you 

as well as foundation type. Buildings may have heavy can use one or more of the basement walls as walls of 

wall systems, such as masonry or concrete, or they may the safe room (see Figure 3-10). Vertical and horizontal 

have light wall systems, such as wood framing, metal surfaces with sufficient soil cover do not have to be 

stud framing, or structural insulated panels. Regardless tested for resistance to debris impact (see Chapter B3 

of the structure type noted above, the following types of FEMA P-361 for more information), though they 

of foundations may be suitable for the installation of a still need to be able to resist the extreme wind loads. 

safe room: Typical reinforcement techniques used in existing 

• Basement residential basement walls will not provide sufficient 

resistance to extreme wind loads. For new construction, • Slab-on-grade with footings and reinforcement your builder/contractor can reinforce the walls used for 

• Crawlspace or pile (however, prescriptive solutions the safe room. For existing construction, reinforcing 

for pile foundations are not included in this the walls is often not feasible and where possible is 

publication) typically cost-prohibitive.

3.7.1 Basement Foundation Applications

A home on a basement foundation is usually built on 

a foundation constructed of cast-in-place concrete 

or CMUs. Existing foundation walls will likely not 

meet the requirements for a safe room. The framing 

for the floor above the basement is supported by the 

exterior foundation walls and sometimes by beams or 

interior walls.

The likelihood of wind-borne debris entering the 

basement is lower than for above-ground spaces; 

Figure 3-10: Cross section: Typical new construction 

basement foundation with safe room (reinforcement 

shown for illustrative purposes only)

EXISTING SPACES

When determining whether an existing wall, foundation, or roof can be used for a safe room, the specific 

existing configuration must be carefully evaluated 

to determine its capacity. The proposed safe room 

should be planned as a structurally separate space 

to prevent it from relying on existing components that 

were designed to provide much lower levels of performance. Any existing building elements that would be 

structurally relied upon by the safe room would likely 

need to be replaced.

BASEMENT WALLS

Reinforcement used in typical basement walls for normal use will not provide sufficient resistance for safe 

rooms. In order to economically utilize basement walls 

as part of a safe room, the safe room should be integrated into the design and construction process 

during the new construction phase.
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 27 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

3. Planning Your Safe Room

however, a basement safe room should still be designed 

to resist the extreme wind pressures that an aboveground safe room would need to resist. The safe room 

designs provided in this publication considered that 

loading from debris may be experienced by the safe 

rooms when a surrounding structure collapses during 

an extreme wind event. The roof decks of these safe 

rooms are designed to limit the damage that may be 

induced from these debris sources; therefore, the 

existing first floor of a home would not be adequate 

to also serve as the roof of the safe room unless it 

has been designed to the criteria in FEMA P-361. 

Although the building may collapse around the safe 

room, installing the safe room in the basement is still 

appropriate if it is designed and constructed to perform 

independently of the structure that surrounds it.

In addition to the roof and exterior walls, the 

foundation of a basement safe room should be 

adequate to resist the overturning and uplift forces 

of an extreme wind event. If the basement has an 

unreinforced or insufficiently reinforced slab of 

typical thickness (approximately 4 inches), there may 

not be enough dead load in the safe room to resist 

these forces. In general, adding a basement safe room 

during the construction of a new home is easier than 

retrofitting the basement of an existing home. If you 

plan to add a basement safe room as a retrofitting 

project, keep the following in mind:

• You must be able to clear out an area of the 

basement large enough for the safe room.

• Unless the exterior basement walls contain 

adequate reinforcement as shown on the design 

drawings provided with this publication, these walls 

cannot be used as safe room walls because they are 

not reinforced to resist damage from wind-borne 

debris and extreme winds uplifting the home’s 

floor structure above.

• Exterior basement walls that are used as safe room 

walls must not contain windows, doors, or other 

openings in the area providing protection unless 

they are protected with an appropriate protective 

device or are designed to resist the debris impact 

and pressure associated with safe room design.

• The roof of the safe room must be designed to 

resist the wind pressures and debris impact forces.

3.7.2 Slab-on-Grade Applications

A slab-on-grade home or commercial building 

(see Figure 3-11) is built on a concrete slab that 

is constructed on compacted or undisturbed soil. 

Figure 3-11: 

Cross section: Typical slabon-grade foundation

with safe room 

(reinforcement shown for 

illustrative purposes only)
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 28 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

3. Planning Your Safe Room

Concrete slabs require steel reinforcement (as required 

in ICC 500) to prevent cracking and to resist the 

tension resulting from extreme wind loads acting 

on the safe room. If you are building a new slab-ongrade home and want to install a safe room (of any 

material or type), FEMA recommends that the slab 

or foundation beneath the safe room be adequately 

reinforced and be thickened or have footings to ensure 

proper support and resistance to all loads (gravity and 

wind loads). A licensed design professional will help 

provide these details. The thickened slab will act as a 

footing beneath the walls of the safe room to provide 

structural support. It will also help anchor the safe 

room so that it will stay in place during an extreme 

wind event, even if the rest of the home is destroyed.

In an existing home, removing part of the slab and 

replacing it with a thickened section or footing to 

support a safe room would involve some disruption 

inside the home. Building a safe room, particularly 

with lightweight wood-framed walls, in an existing slabon-grade home may not be practical unless a new slab 

is poured or the existing slab can be shown to have 

reinforcement and thickness adequate to support the 

safe room. If steel reinforcement in an existing slab is 

present and documented, the designs provided in these 

plans may be retrofitted to certain reinforced slabs. 

In some cases, heavy safe rooms that do not require 

the dead load of the slab for resistance may be installed 

on existing slabs, as discussed in Section 3.3. Lighter 

safe rooms may require more dead load (weight of 

the structure and slab or foundation) to resist uplift, 

overturning, and sliding forces. This dead load can be 

attained by installing a thickened slab foundation or 

footings under the walls of the safe room. Whenever an 

existing slab is used as the foundation for a safe room, 

ICC 500 requires a Special Inspection be provided 

to review and verify the following: 1) engineering 

calculations proving the adequacy of the existing slab 

to resist the applicable loads, 2) the minimum required 

thickness of the slab, 3) the presence of required 

reinforcing steel, and 4) the installation and capacity of 

the safe room anchors. Where a thicker or reinforced 

foundation is needed, the existing slab should be cut 

out around the perimeter of the safe room, and a matslab or footings and slab should be installed.

You can also build a safe room as an addition to the 

outside of a slab-on-grade home (as shown in Figure 

3-3). This type of safe room must not only have proper 

footings, but also exterior weather protection (for more 

information on exterior safe rooms, see Section 3.5.1). 

In general, adding a safe room during the construction 

of a new slab-on-grade home is easier than retrofitting 

an existing slab-on-grade home. If you plan to add a 

safe room to a slab-on-grade home as a retrofitting 

project, keep the following in mind:

• The walls of the safe room must be completely 

separate from the structure of the home unless the 

existing walls have adequate reinforcement or are 

reinforced as part of the retrofit to meet the safe 

room criteria.

3.7.3 Crawlspace or Pile Applications

A home built on a crawlspace (see Figure 3-12) usually 

has a floor constructed of wood framing. Along its 

perimeter, the floor is supported by the exterior 

foundation walls. The interior part of the floor is 

supported by beams that rest on a foundation wall 

or individual piers. Crawlspace foundation walls may 

be concrete, but are usually constructed of CMU 

blocks. They are often unreinforced and provide little 

resistance to the stresses caused by extreme winds.

Building a safe room inside a home on an existing 

crawlspace foundation is very complicated. The main 

reason is that the entire safe room, including its floor, 

must be separate from the framing of the home or, 

alternatively, the entire floor system and foundation of 

the home must be constructed to support the extreme 

wind loads acting on the safe room. In Figure 3-12, 

a safe room is built inside the home or commercial 

building without using the floor system of the structure 

itself. In this option, the safe room has a separate 

SOIL CHARACTERISTICS

While heavier safe rooms, such as those constructed 

of concrete and CMU, are more likely to resist forces 

imparted by extreme wind pressures, a local design 

professional may need to verify that the soil will be 

able to carry the weight of the safe room. 
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 29 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

3. Planning Your Safe Room

Figure 3-12: 

Cross-section: Typical crawlspace 

foundation with safe room 

(reinforcement shown for illustrative 

purposes only)

concrete slab floor installed on top of compacted earth 

fill and must be supported by steel reinforced concrete 

or CMU foundation walls. The floor system may be 

designed as open and elevated, but that design option 

is difficult to develop a prescriptive solution for and, 

therefore, is not addressed in this publication. An 

alternative approach, which may be more economical, 

is to build an exterior safe room on a reinforced slabon-grade foundation adjacent to an outside wall of the 

home and provide access through a door installed in 

that wall.

Ventilation in the area below the floor of the home is 

also an important issue. The wood-framed floor of a 

home on a crawlspace foundation is typically held 18 to 

30 inches above the ground by the foundation walls for 

compliance with the building code. The space below 

the floor is designed to allow air to flow through so 

that the floor framing will not become too damp. This 

air flow must not be blocked by the installation of the 

safe room.

In general, building a safe room inside a new 

crawlspace home is easier than building a safe room in 

an existing crawlspace home. If you plan to add a safe 

room to an existing crawlspace home as a retrofitting 

project, keep the following in mind:

• The safe room must have a separate foundation. 

Building the foundation inside the home would 

require cutting out a section of the existing floor 

and installing new foundation members, fill dirt, 

and a new slab—a complicated and expensive 

operation that is often not practical.

• A more practical and more economical approach 

would be to build an exterior safe room, made of 

concrete or concrete masonry, on a slab-on-grade 

foundation adjacent to an outside wall of the home, 

as described above.

xtensive testing by wind engineering research facilities 

as shown that walls, ceilings, and doors commonly 

sed to meet minimum building code requirements 

or standard building construction cannot withstand 

xtreme wind pressures or the impact of debris carried 

y these extreme winds. The safe room designs in this 

ublication account for these findings by specifying 

uilding materials or combinations of building 

aterials that will resist wind forces and perforation by 

ebris in extreme winds.

3.8 Construction Materials

E

h

u

f

e

b

p

b

m

d
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 30 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

3. Planning Your Safe Room

SAFE ROOM MATERIALS

The materials your builder/contractor will need to 

build your safe room should be available from building 

material suppliers in your community. These materials 

have been carefully selected for their strength, durability, and/or ability to be readily combined in ways 

that enable them to withstand the forces of extreme 

winds and the impact of wind-borne debris. Your 

builder/contractor should not substitute any other material for those specified in the designs.

Since the first edition of FEMA P-320 was released in 

1998, many tornado events have occurred, highlighting 

the importance of installing safe rooms in homes or 

small businesses. Individuals and companies began 

designing safe rooms to provide alternatives to the 

prescriptive solutions presented here. As a result, a 

residential safe room industry has evolved.

Many of the safe room products are designed and 

constructed as prefabricated units. These prefabricated 

units are constructed from a variety of materials, 

such as metal panels, concrete, fiberglass shells, 

and many more. These other safe room types use 

common building materials or new innovations from 

the building industry. The design drawings in this 

publication provide prescriptive solutions for site-built 

safe rooms and specify the construction materials for 

the various safe room types. However, safe room doors 

are not included in the prescriptive designs and must 

also comply with the debris impact and pressure test 

criteria that are discussed further in Section 3.9. 

PREFABRICATED SAFE ROOMS

Additional information regarding prefabricated safe 

rooms is presented in the Consumer Guide in Chapter 

4 of this publication.

Remember that, as with site-built safe rooms and 

shelters, prefabricated shelters must be attached 

to an appropriate foundation. A structural engineer 

should always be consulted to ensure that the prefabricated shelter is being installed on an appropriate and 

adequate foundation. 

3.9 Safe Room Doors

Like any other room, safe rooms must be accessed 

through an opening or door. Just as the walls and roof 

of a safe room are designed and built to protect against 

extreme winds and wind-borne debris, so must the safe 

room door and assembly. The door assembly includes 

the door, hardware (locks and hinges), frame, and 

attachment devices used to anchor the door frame to 

the surrounding safe room wall. When careful selection 

and installation of the safe room door assembly is 

overlooked, a door failure can leave occupants at great 

risk of injury or death during a tornado or hurricane. 

Steel doors commonly used in residential and 

commercial construction cannot withstand the impact 

of the wind-borne debris or wind pressures. There is a 

common misconception that a steel “storm door” with 

three locks and three hinges can provide life-safety 

protection on a safe room, but it cannot. Only door 

assemblies designed and tested to resist debris impacts 

and wind pressures can provide near-absolute lifesafety protection. One way to ensure the product you 

purchase is certified to the appropriate criteria is to 

look for a label from an approved testing agency.3

Prospective safe room owners should understand that 

FEMA does not verify or certify design calculations for 

any product. FEMA does not endorse, approve, certify, 

or recommend any contractors, individuals, firms, or 

products. Contractors, individuals, or firms shall not 

claim they or their products are “FEMA approved” or 

“FEMA certified.” 

3.9.1 What Should You Look for in a Door?

The most important aspect when purchasing a door 

assembly for your safe room is that it has been tested to 

the missile impact and pressure test criteria as specified 

in FEMA P-361 and ICC 500. The residential safe room 

door criteria are described in Chapter B3 of FEMA 

P-361. These criteria require a missile impact test using 

a 15-pound 2-inch × 4-inch wood board traveling at 

100 mph for vertical surfaces (such as a door or wall) 

and 67 mph for horizontal surfaces (such as a roof). 

Pressure testing on door assemblies is also required; 

3 For more information on approved testing agencies, please contact 

your local building official or AHJ. 
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 31 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

3. Planning Your Safe Room

door assemblies used for tornado safe rooms must 

undergo a static pressure test, while door assemblies 

used for hurricane safe rooms must undergo both static 

and cyclical pressure tests. FEMA P-361 references ICC 

500 for test procedures. FEMA P-361 criteria maintain 

that residential safe rooms should be designed to 250 

mph. It is imperative to confirm that the hardware 

supplied with the door is identical to the hardware used 

during testing. If substitutions are made, the door may 

fail during a tornado.

Door assemblies are produced by manufacturers that 

subscribe to the standards of the Steel Door Institute, 

the Door and Hardware Institute, and/or the American 

Architectural Manufacturers Association. Being well 

informed is important when determining whether 

a door assembly has been tested to the appropriate 

criteria. Some door producers indicate their products 

are “storm doors”; safe room owners and builders 

should be aware that these products are not tested to 

the high level required for safe room doors. If you are 

unsure of the structural adequacy of a safe room door 

product, ask the producer to provide the listing or 

certification documentation for the product. Although 

listing or certification documents may be technical 

and difficult to read, being aware of the required 

missile size and speed, and the requirement for a 

pressure test, allows you to verify that the product has 

been appropriately tested. If you still have questions 

about a door product’s test status, speak with your 

local building official or AHJ to help verify that the 

requirements have been met. Tested door assemblies 

are typically not available off the shelf in most home 

improvement stores, but can be purchased through 

commercial building product supplies or safe room 

component suppliers.

Door testing is conducted by approved agencies. 

Tested product literature should bear the name of 

the laboratory and the test protocol to which the 

door assembly was tested. A door assembly includes 

the door, frame, locking hardware, and hinges, as 

well as the method of installation. Components of a 

tested assembly are not interchangeable with another 

door and frame without testing. One method of 

demonstrating compliance is through labeling by third 

parties, such as UL (Underwriters Laboratories). The 

label indicates the criteria to which the door has been 

designed and tested. While there is no universal format 

for safe room door labels, a representative example 

is shown in Figure 3-13. The information includes 

the standards to which the product was tested, the 

pressures, and the missile impact criteria. Regardless of 

the format, a label should disclose all of these criteria. 

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

When installing a safe room door, be sure to follow 

the manufacturer’s installation instructions precisely. 

The installation instructions should direct you to install 

the door and frame attachments the same way the assembly has been tested or evaluated by a building or 

engineering professional, based on representative test 

data. If the installation instructions are not followed, 

the safe room door may not perform as expected.

INWARD VERSUS OUTWARD DOOR SWING

A common misconception about safe room doors is 

that they must swing in a particular direction, inward 

or outward. Per ICC 500, the pressure testing on a 

door must be conducted away from the door stop, 

meaning that the door is tested in the weakest condition regardless of being in-swinging or out-swinging. 

Additionally, a door must undergo the impact resistance test in the same configuration as it will be 

installed. 

Beyond code requirements, both inward and outward 

swinging doors have benefits. For example, inward 

swinging doors are less likely to be blocked by debris, 

and outward swinging doors provide for more space 

within the safe room. 

WHERE TO BUY A TESTED SAFE ROOM DOOR

Tested door assemblies are typically not available 

off the shelf in most home improvement stores, but 

can be purchased through commercial building product suppliers or safe room/storm shelter component 

suppliers. Texas Tech University testing facility and 

Underwriters Laboratories maintain a list of safe room 

doors (product names and suppliers) that have passed 

testing. For more information, see the “Resources” 

section of the Fact Sheet in Appendix B. 
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 32 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

3. Planning Your Safe Room

Figure 3-13: Example door label for a product that has 

been tested to safe room criteria

FEMA recommends only windows and doors that 

have adequately passed the ICC 500 testing protocol 

and FEMA P-361 criteria to be used in a safe room. 

Products that meet this protocol to FEMA P-361 debris 

criteria will have a test report that can be requested 

from the builder, designer, or manufacturer.

In addition to sufficient testing, consider the following 

characteristics for a safe room door assembly:

• The door should be easily unlocked and opened to 

allow quick access into the safe room.

• The door should be easily locked with minimal 

effort from inside the safe room. 

• The door should also meet all applicable building 

code requirements.

Post-disaster assessments after past tornado events, 

such as FEMA P-908, Mitigation Assessment Team Report – 

Spring 2011 Tornadoes: April 25-28 and May 22 (2012), 

have indicated potential door issues with latching 

mechanisms (either non-compliant latches or bolts, or 

mechanisms that were easily damaged by debris) that 

trapped safe room occupants. Additionally, excessive 

door gaps, particularly below the door, have been 

observed in safe room doors, potentially allowing for 

smaller wind-borne debris to enter the space.

3.9.2 Why Does the Door Cost So Much?

Prospective safe room owners are often surprised at 

the high cost of properly designed and tested safe 

room door assemblies. Market research shows that 

properly tested residential safe room door assemblies 

can be significantly more expensive than regular 

doors. However, purchasing an inadequate door 

compromises the protection provided by the safe 

room. Openings in the safe room (e.g., doors, windows) 

are the most vulnerable portions of the safe room. 

Doors must provide the same level of protection as the 

walls and roof, but must also be operable. The strength 

of the safe room door hinges, the latch and handle 

assembly, and the connection of the door frame into 

the wall all require significant research and testing in 

order to develop a door system that will resist the wind 

pressures and wind-borne debris created by high wind 

events. Failure of the door can mean the failure of the 

entire safe room, particularly for small, single-room 

safe rooms, where occupants taking refuge are in close 

proximity to the door and would be at great risk if the 

door fails. A safe room that is otherwise designed to 

the life-safety criteria provided in FEMA P-361, but 

with a substandard door, will not offer the same level 

of protection to occupants, and could lead to serious 

injuries and even death. 

Prefabricated and tested safe rooms are often priced 

lower than site-built safe rooms and typically include 

a door. For more information on prefabricated safe 

rooms, please see Section 4.3.

3.10 Safe Room Cost

When designed and constructed per the specifications 

within these design plans, the residential safe rooms 

included in this publication meet or exceed the 

design requirements for tornadoes and hurricanes as 

identified in ICC 500. Prefabricated shelters are also 

available for installation by a builder/contractor, but 

are not addressed in the design drawings. 

The basic cost to design and construct a safe room 

as shown in the design drawings of this publication 

during the construction of a new home ranges from 

approximately $8,000 to $9,500 for an 8-foot × 8-foot 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON 

TORNADO SAFE ROOM DOORS

For more information and guidance on finding an adequate door for your tornado safe room, please see the 

Tornado Safe Room Door Fact Sheet in Appendix B of 

this publication. 
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 33 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

3. Planning Your Safe Room

safe room and between $14,000 and $17,000 for a 

14-foot × 14-foot safe room.4 In general, safe rooms 

installed in existing homes will be more expensive than 

those done during new construction. The cost of your 

safe room will vary accordingly depending on a variety 

of factors, including:

• Size of the safe room

• Type of safe room (CMU, concrete, wood, insulated 

concrete form [ICF], combination)

• Location of the safe room

• Number of exterior home walls used in the 

construction of the safe room

• Type of door used

• Type of foundation on which your home is built

• Your location within the United States (because of 

regional variations in labor and material costs)

• Whether you are building a safe room into a new 

home or retrofitting an existing home

• Any added amenities (e.g., bathroom fixtures)

4 These costs are estimated ranges for the designs as shown in the 

prescriptive solutions in this publication. Actual costs may vary as a 

result of regional variations in cost, changes in material or labor costs, 

or other factors. Estimates of safe room designs for each construction 

type were developed using industry-accepted cost-estimating 

guides and are provided in 2013 dollars. These values do not include 

amenities or any modifications or additional features not shown in the 

design drawings. 

Prefabricated Safe Rooms

Prefabricated safe rooms typically cost less than sitebuilt safe rooms and are available in smaller sizes 

than the sizes provided in the design drawings of 

this publication. A small, 10-square-foot, residential 

prefabricated safe room may cost as little as $3,000. 

Prefabricated safe rooms that are 8 feet × 8 feet 

are typically comparable to the site-built safe room 

approximate costs provided above. Installation costs 

for prefabricated safe rooms may vary depending on 

the distance that the installer has to travel to deliver 

the safe room and any foundation or geotechnical work 

that may be required to install the safe room on an 

adequate foundation.
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 35 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

CHAPTER 4

Building Your Safe Room

Y

our builder/contractor can use the design 

drawings provided in this publication to build a 

safe room for your home. The design drawings 

provided include the details for building four types 

of safe rooms: concrete, concrete masonry, woodframe, and insulated concrete form. If constructed 

according to the provided design drawings, each of 

these alternatives is expected to resist failures caused by 

extreme winds and wind-borne debris.

The materials and connections were chosen for their 

“ultimate strength,” which means that the materials are 

expected to resist the loads imposed on them until they 

or the connections between them fail. The intent of the 

designs is to enable the safe room occupants to survive 

an extreme windstorm with minor or no injuries, not 

for the safe room to remain completely undamaged. 

The safe room itself may need to be extensively 

repaired or completely replaced after an extreme wind 

event.

The safe room size and materials specified in the 

drawings are based on principles and practices used by 

structural engineering professionals and the results of 

extensive testing for effects of missile impacts and wind 

pressures. Typical and maximum dimensions have been 

provided on the drawings. The safe rooms have been 

evaluated for and comply with the design criteria in 

FEMA P-361 and the standard requirements set forth in 

ICC 500 for residential storm shelters. 

These designs may also serve as a starting point for 

safe rooms installed in small businesses, but those 

safe rooms would also have to meet requirements 

applicable to community storm shelters in ICC 500. 

See Section 4.2 for additional requirements that apply 

to community safe rooms and storm shelters. Any 

alterations to the sizes, material types, or spacing 

specified in the safe room drawings should be 

reviewed by a licensed design professional.

The attached Safe Room Construction Plans include:

• Design drawings and details 

• General design notes and fastener and hardware 

schedules

If you or your builder/contractor have questions 

about the design drawings in this publication, call the 

FEMA Safe Room helpline at 866-927-2104 or email 

saferoom@fema.dhs.gov for technical guidance.

4.1 Design Drawings 

Table 4-1 identifies the sheet number, drawing number, 

and title of safe room design drawings included in this 

publication.
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 36 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

4. Building Your Safe Room

Table 4‐1: Design Drawings Index

DRAWING NO. TITLE

SR0.0 Index Sheet 

SR0.1 General Notes

SR0.2 General Notes

SR0.3 Tables

SR1.0 CMU Safe Room Plans and Details

SR1.1 Concrete Safe Room Plans and Details

SR1.2 ICF Safe Room Plans and Details

SR1.3 Wood Frame Safe Room Plans and 

Details

SR1.4 Wood Frame Safe Room with CMU Infill 

SR1.5 Details for Safe Rooms That Use 

Basement Walls 

SR2.1 Sheathing Requirements

SR2.2 Exhaust/Ventilation Details

4.2 How to Use the Drawings

Follow the guidelines below in using the design 

drawings included in this publication:

• The prescriptive plans provided in this publication 

are not intended to be a substitute for the 

involvement of a licensed design professional. Due 

to the intended function of these structures and 

site-specific conditions that need to be addressed, it 

is FEMA’s recommendation that a licensed design 

professional be involved.

• When required for a grant or by your AHJ, the 

design drawings may need to bear the seal and 

signature of a licensed design professional.

• Consult a licensed design professional if 

modifications are made to these plans to verify that 

the modified plans still meet or exceed the design 

criteria of FEMA P-361.

• Decide the number of occupants and size of the 

safe room (see Section 3.4 for floor space per 

occupant). Using this information, determine the 

required ventilation at 4 inches per person for 

hurricane residential safe rooms, and 2 inches 

per person for tornado residential safe rooms 

(see SR2.2 in the design drawings for more 

information). The sizing of the safe room (for plan 

outer dimensions) may range from 8 feet × 8 feet 

to 14 feet × 14 feet, with any combination therein 

(the maximum ratio of width to length is 8 feet × 

14 feet). For wood-framed safe rooms of any size, 

the door should be located on the longest wall. 

Note that inner dimensions will differ based on the 

material type selected.

• Determine the flood siting and elevation 

requirements for your safe room (see Section 3.2 

for more information). 

• The safe room design drawings were developed for 

a maximum wall height of 8 feet.

• Drawings should not be scaled to determine 

dimensions.

• Before construction begins, all necessary building 

permits should be obtained. The homeowner 

or contractor (or licensed design professional if 

applicable) should meet with the local code official 

to discuss any concerns the building official may 

have regarding the safe room design.

• If the drawings conflict with local codes, the local 

codes should govern. If this occurs, a licensed 

design professional in the State in which the safe 

room is to be installed should analyze the conflict 

and design alterations if needed to ensure that the 

life-safety protection provided by the safe room is 

not reduced. The resistance of structural, wall, and 

roof systems should not be compromised for the 

design event because that would reduce the level 

of protection of the safe room. Note that these 

designs meet or exceed structural building code 

requirements found in the IRC and IBC.

• The plans do not take into account the different 

multi-use occupancies that a safe room space could 

also be used for. Particularly when a safe room is 
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 37 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

4. Building Your Safe Room

used in a non-residential application, there are a 

number of other uses regulated by the building 

code that could invoke higher non-structural 

requirements than are covered in this publication 

and FEMA P-361. For example, the amount of 

space afforded to each occupant may be higher 

depending on the non-safe room type of use 

that the area is intended for. In such instances, a 

licensed design professional should be contacted to 

interpret the requirements and modify the design 

as needed. 

• If you are installing your residential safe room for a 

type other than 1- and 2-family dwellings, ICC 500 

requires 1 toilet to be provided. 

• If there is a conflict among the general notes, 

specifications, and plans provided in this 

publication, the most stringent criteria should 

apply. 

• Whenever an existing slab is used as the foundation 

for a safe room, ICC 500 requires a Special 

Inspection be provided to review and verify the 

following: 1) engineering calculations proving the 

adequacy of the existing slab to resist the applicable 

loads, 2) the minimum required thickness of the 

slab, 3) the presence of required reinforcing steel, 

and 4) the installation and capacity of the safe 

room anchors.

• The safe room design drawings do not show the 

fixtures that may be incorporated into a multiuse 

safe room, such as the toilet or sink in a bathroom. 

Modifications to add these features should be 

designed and installed in a way that will not affect 

the ability of the safe room to resist the design wind 

pressure and debris impact. 

• Because not all contractors are familiar with 

the type of structural connectors shown in the 

drawings, the names of two companies that 

manufacture connectors have been included in the 

Connector Schedule on Sheet SR0.3 of the design 

drawings. The list of companies is not, however, 

exhaustive. Additionally, this list is not intended to 

express a preference for those manufacturers and/

or their products by the U.S. Government nor is it 

an endorsement of those manufacturers and/or 

their products. 

• Prospective owners of safe rooms may want to 

consider additional amenities that are not covered 

in the design drawings, but that would add 

measures of convenience to the safe room. These 

include power outlets (to keep phones charged or 

power clock radios, for example), installed lighting, 

phone jacks and wired phones, ceiling fan, or 

built-in bench seating, among other items. Some 

of these amenities would require the consultation 

of a licensed design professional, particularly any 

amenities that would require modification to the 

design drawings.

• When you have selected your safe room type and 

size, indicate on the floor plan where your Design 

Information Sign will be located. The sign should 

indicate the name of the manufacturer or builder, 

storm type(s) (hurricane, tornado, or combined), 

and design wind speed.

4.2.1 Additional Requirements for Community 

Safe Rooms (Serving Small Businesses 

or More Than 16 Residential Occupants)

For community applications (such as safe rooms serving 

more than 16 residential occupants, or serving small 

businesses), additional detailing and considerations 

must be made when using the drawings provided in 

this publication. A safe room installed within a small 

business must meet the criteria for community safe 

rooms, not residential. Additional requirements for 

community safe rooms can be found in both FEMA 

P-361 and ICC 500. Design criteria that have different 

requirements for community safe rooms include the 

following: 

Flood elevation and siting. Community safe 

rooms have different restrictions on siting, as well 

as different criteria for flood elevations. Please see 

FEMA P-361 for community safe room flood siting 

and elevation criteria.

Fire protection. ICC 500 requires that community 

storm shelters be provided with a 2-hour fire 

resistance rating.
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 38 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

4. Building Your Safe Room

Sanitation facilities. Both FEMA P-361 and ICC 

500 require sanitation facilities (i.e., toilets and 

hand-washing facilities) for community safe rooms. 

Emergency escape opening. An emergency escape 

opening, in addition to the normal egress, is 

sometimes required for community safe rooms.

Usable square footage. Both FEMA P-361 and ICC 

500 have requirements for usable square footage 

per occupant that are different compared to 

residential. More space per occupant is required for 

community safe rooms. 

Emergency lighting provisions. Emergency 

lighting is required for community safe rooms 

(tornado and hurricane). Also note that ICC 500 

requires standby lighting for community hurricane 

safe rooms. 

Signage criteria. Requirements for community safe 

room signage differ from residential criteria. 

Ventilation criteria. Community safe rooms have 

higher venting area per occupant requirements 

than residential safe rooms. 

Atmospheric pressure change. FEMA P-361 

recommends the partially enclosed classification 

for residential, but community safe rooms may 

use ASCE 7 (ASCE, 2010) to determine enclosure 

classification using the guidance provided in both 

FEMA P-361 and ICC 500.

Building code. Residential and community safe 

rooms will have different underlying building 

codes. In locations that have adopted the model 

International Codes, the IBC would govern 

community safe rooms while the IRC would govern 

residential safe rooms. 

Seismic risk. For community safe rooms located 

in a region of high seismicity in the map shown 

in Figure 4-1, a licensed design professional 

may need to be consulted on seismic loads and 

any required detailing on the plans. Further, 

builders of community safe rooms located in 

buildings considered high risk (Risk Category III 

or IV per the 2012 IBC) and in regions of high 

or moderate seismicity should contact a licensed 

design professional for seismic load and detailing 

considerations. This would include essential 

facilities such as fire, rescue, and police stations. 

4.2.2 Seismic Risks

In some locations around the United States, the risk 

of seismic events may be substantial enough that the 

building code may require seismic detailing to be on 

the plans, and may even create a situation where the 

code-required seismic loads would be greater than 

the wind loads applied to the safe room. This could 

trigger additional requirements for wall reinforcement, 

connection details, and foundations, and the need 

to prepare a geotechnical report. For residential safe 

rooms, if your location is in a region of High seismicity 

on the map shown in Figure 4-1, you should consult 

a licensed design professional about seismic loads 

and any required detailing on the plans. The design 

professional should be licensed in the State where you 

are located and, if necessary, make any modifications 

to ensure that the safe room meets or exceeds the wind 

and flood design criteria in FEMA P-361, as well as the 

seismic requirements for the location. 

Please keep in mind as you consider your risk to 

seismic activity that locally adopted codes may 

have varying requirements. As with all design and 

construction matters, please work with your local 

building department and all other authorities 

having jurisdiction to ensure that all State and local 

requirements are being met, even when using FEMA 

publication and guidance recommendations.

4.3 Consumer Guide

Although this publication presents FEMA’s guidance on 

the design and construction of residential safe rooms, 

FEMA does not verify or certify design calculations 

for any product. The licensed design professional 

who signs the certification attests that the product 

in question will meet the requirements specified on 

the certification. The design professional should be 

licensed in the State in which the product will be used. 

Note that any product must be properly installed for its 

intended use(s) only. FEMA does not endorse, approve, 
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 39 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

Figure 4-1: Seismic risk map* SOURCE: FEMA P-750, NEHRP-RECOMMENDED SEISMIC PROVISIONS FOR NEW BUILDINGS AND OTHER STRUCTURES, 2009* This map is based on Site Class D soil. Seismic Design Categories have been adapted into ranges of risk for the purpose of verifying the seismic risk for safe Seismic Design Categories D and E, “moderate” corresponds to Seismic Design Category C, and “low” corresponds to Seismic Design Categories A and B. TSeismic Design Categories and ground acceleration values), see FEMA P-750 or the 2012 IRC.
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 40 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

4. Building Your Safe Room

certify, or recommend any contractors, individuals, 

firms, or products. Contractors, individuals, or firms 

shall not claim they are, or produce products that are 

“FEMA approved” or “FEMA certified.” Vendor claims 

of compliance with FEMA and ICC criteria should be 

verified through independent testing or engineering 

analysis. Industry or trade organizations can also 

provide oversight and engineering evaluation programs 

for their members, which include safe room producers, 

installers, and other associated professionals. 

Producers, contractors, or firms that wish to indicate 

that their safe room products have been properly 

designed should notify consumers whether the product 

meets or exceeds the safe room criteria found in FEMA 

P-361, and be transparent with records such as test 

certification documents. 

As an alternative to site-built safe rooms, such as the 

prescriptive solutions provided in this publication, a 

variety of prefabricated safe rooms are commercially 

available. The prefabricated safe room industry has 

grown tremendously in the past decade, particularly 

for residential applications. A prefabricated safe 

room is a safe room that has been assembled off-site, 

typically in a manufacturing facility, and transported 

to the site where it will be installed. Typically, 

prefabricated safe room units include the entire safe 

room with the exception of the foundation. Therefore 

even if the prefabricated safe room has been tested 

and certified for missile impact and wind pressure, 

the safe room must be installed on an adequate 

foundation. Many consumers are unaware of this, and 

have prefabricated safe rooms installed on existing, 

unreinforced (or insufficiently reinforced) slabs, 

compromising the ability of the safe room to meet the 

life-safety protection standard. ICC 500 requires the 

minimum foundation capacity requirements, locations, 

and specifications for the anchors to be used to be 

provided on the construction plans for the safe room. 

Consumers should be aware of the necessity of a strong 

foundation and anchorage when choosing a safe room 

to avoid purchasing a safe room that is inadequate for 

occupant protection. 

Consumers may contact their local building official 

for assistance if they are unsure whether a safe room 

product is being properly installed on an adequate 

foundation, as well as for assistance in verifying whether 

a safe room product complies with the appropriate 

criteria. ICC 500 requires that anchors post-installed 

in hardened concrete (e.g., an existing slab) for storm 

shelter anchorage be subject to special inspection 

to verify the anchor installation, capacity, and 

foundation adequacy according to the manufacturer’s 

requirements. 

4.4 Emergency Planning and 

Emergency Supply Kit

Whether or not you decide that you need a safe room 

in your home or small business, you can take two 

important steps to provide protection for you, your 

family, or employees during a hurricane or tornado: 

prepare an emergency plan and put an emergency 

supply kit together. If you decide to build a safe room, 

your emergency plan should include notifying local 

emergency managers, first responders (local fire 

stations), and family members or others outside the 

immediate area that you have a safe room. This should 

be done by registering the precise coordinates (latitude 

and longitude) of the entrance to the safe room with 

your local officials (note that this should be done once 

the safe room is constructed, rather than waiting until 

an extreme wind event is imminent). This will allow 

emergency personnel to find and quickly free you after 

the storm if the exit from your safe room becomes 

blocked by debris. 

You should also prepare an emergency supply kit 

and either keep it in your safe room or be ready to 

bring it with you if you need to evacuate your home. 

Additionally, remember that, after an extreme wind 

event, the egress from a safe room may be blocked. 

Therefore, tools to open or dismantle the door from 

the inside and an alternate means of communication 

should be kept in the safe room. A checklist of some 

suggested items to include in an emergency supply kit is 

provided on the following page.
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 41 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

4. Building Your Safe Room

EMERGENCY SUPPLY KIT

FOOD:

• An adequate supply of water for each person in your 

home or small business (1 gallon per person per day)

• 3-day supply of non-perishable foods that do not have 

to be prepared or cooked (if these include canned 

goods, remember to include a manual can opener)

• Disposable eating utensils, plates, cups, paper 

towels, etc.

MEDICAL:

• First-aid kit

• Necessary prescription medicines

• Bandages

• Antibiotic ointment

TOOLS:

• Flashlight (one per person)

• Battery-operated radio or television and NOAA* 

Weather Radio

• Cellular phone or Citizens Band radio

• Extra batteries for these tools 

• Wrench or pliers (to turn off gas and water) 

• Tools to open damaged doors (e.g., a crowbar, jack, 

spreader) 

• Insect repellent and sunscreen

PERSONAL:

• Personal hygiene items such as hand wipes and toilet 

paper

• Portable chemical-type toilet receptacle

• Extra change of clothing per person (store in plastic 

trash bags to keep clean and dry)

• Appropriate outer wear (e.g., sunglasses, ponchos, 

jackets, gloves, headwear, boots, etc.)

• Bedding materials such as pillows and blankets or 

sleeping bags for each person 

SPECIAL ITEMS:

• Babies – formula, diapers, bottles, powdered milk

• Children – entertainment items such as books, games, 

or toys

• Adults – contact lenses and supplies, extra glasses, 

and a sufficient supply of prescription medications

• Pets – appropriate supplies such as water (1/2 gallon 

per day), food, leash, ID tag, carrying container, etc.

ADDITIONAL ITEMS:

• Important documents such as insurance documents, 

a list of all your important contacts (e.g., family, 

doctors, insurance agents), banking information, 

leases/ mortgage, proof of occupancy (such as a 

utility bill), and a waterproof container in which to keep 

these documents

• Paper and pencil

• Electronic device chargers 

• ABC-rated** fire extinguisher

• Dust masks to help filter contaminated air

• Roofing tarps or plastic sheeting and duct tape to 

shelter-in-place

• Roll of large heavy-duty trash bags and ties 

• Money (cash)

• An audible sounding device that continuously charges 

or operates without a power source (e.g., canned air 

horn or whistle) to signal rescue workers if safe room 

egress is blocked, and hearing protection (e.g., ear 

plugs or ear mufflers) for each occupant 

• Household chlorine bleach and medicine dropper – 

when diluted, nine parts water to one part bleach, 

bleach can be used as a disinfectant. Or in an 

emergency, you can use it to treat water by using 16 

drops of regular household liquid bleach per gallon 

of water

• Matches in a waterproof container

• Local maps

* The NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly from a 

nearby NWS office. NWR broadcasts NWS warnings, watches, forecasts, and other hazard information 24 hours a day, as well as post-event 

information for all types of hazards, both natural and technological. NWRs are available at electronics stores across the country and range in 

cost from $25 up to $100 or more, depending on the quality of the receiver and number of features. The NWS does not endorse any particular 

make or model of receiver. For more information on what to look for in a weather radio, please see Recovery Advisory 5, “Critical Facilities 

Located in Tornado-Prone Regions: Recommendations for Facility Owners,” of FEMA P-908.

** ABC refers to fires originating from three types of sources: A – paper, wood, or fabric; B – gasoline or oil; or C – electrical.
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 42 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

4. Building Your Safe Room

4.5 Additional Resources

You can get more information about safe rooms from 

FEMA publications, which you can obtain free of 

charge by visiting the FEMA Library online at fema.

gov/resource-document-library, calling FEMA at 

1-800-480-2520, by faxing your request to FEMA at 240-

699-0525, or by writing to FEMA Distribution Center, 

4440 Buckeystown Pike, Frederick, MD 21704. These 

publications include the following:

• Safe Rooms for Tornadoes and Hurricanes: Guidance for 

Community and Residential Safe Rooms, FEMA P-361 

• Safe Room Resources DVD, FEMA 388 

• Tornado Protection – Selecting Refuge Areas in Buildings, 

FEMA P-431

You can also find helpful resources at http://www.

ready.gov/, a website dedicated to preparedness 

maintained by the 

Department of 

Homeland Security. 

Hurricane- and 

tornado-specific 

documents on 

READY.gov include 

suggested emergency supply kits, food and water 

suggestions, being informed about alerts, and making a 

plan to protect your family, among many other topics. 

Additional material has been developed in recent years 

and will likely continue to be propagated, such as the 

Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) outreach 

efforts that can be found on www.FLASH.org. These 

materials include promotional videos, animations, 

online courses, and additional outreach material.
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 43 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

CHAPTER 5

Safe Rooms Save Lives

S

ince the original launch of FEMA P-320, there 

have been many instances of safe rooms saving 

the lives of residents around the country. In 

some cases, safe rooms are purchased using private 

funds entirely, while in others FEMA grant funds are 

used to pay for part of the safe room. For example, the 

Oklahoma Safe Room Initiative and rebate program 

helped fund 6,016 safe rooms after an EF5 tornado 

struck Moore, OK in 1999. In 2003, another major 

tornado impacted much of the same area, and there 

were no deaths. This success is directly attributable to 

people using safe rooms. Moreover, knowing that their 

families had a safe place to go was a great relief for 

beneficiaries. As of January 2014, this and other FEMA 

grant programs have provided over $928,000,000 in 

Federal funds to design and construct nearly 25,000 

residential and over 2,300 community safe rooms in 25 

States and territories.

Below are a few examples of how safe rooms have saved 

lives. With proper installation, storm shelters and 

safe rooms protect people from the dangerous forces 

of extreme winds. They can also relieve some of the 

anxiety created by the threat of an oncoming tornado 

or hurricane. For additional information on these and 

other safe room success stories, see the FEMA website.

Cullman, AL

In 2004, Keith, Deborah, and Matthew Crumbley were 

granted funding for a safe room. Seven years later, 

on April 27, 2011, an EF5 tornado shattered the rural 

community of Cullman, causing mass destruction and 

the death of the Crumbleys’ next door neighbor. As the 

tornado raged over their community, Deborah, her son 

Matthew, both of her parents, and her cats were safely 

tucked inside the above-ground safe room.

“Matthew and I had been in the shelter earlier that 

morning. We kept hearing the weatherman say, ‘It’s 

going to be bad. It’s going to be bad.’ So we got in,” 

said Deborah. “Around lunch time, my parents came 

over ...”

After huddling in the safe room for a while, Deborah 

stated the time and suggested that they could get out. 

“By the time she got the words out of her mouth, I 

felt the pressure. My ears popped and I thought I’d 

seriously gone deaf,” said Matthew. “Then something 

started hitting against the front of the shelter. This was 

followed by 2 to 3 minutes of calmness. Then things 

were hitting against the back of the shelter.”

Deborah said, “While we were in the eye of the storm, 

we could hear everything hitting the shelter. It sounded 

like a train ... Then we heard one final loud bang. We 

knew, before we opened the door, that the garage was 

gone. We had no idea when we came out that the entire 

house was gone.”

Meanwhile, Deborah’s husband, Keith, had ridden out 

the storm in a shelter at work. After the storm, he left 

his job to race home to his family. As he approached 

the area, he noted the devastation. “I couldn’t see my 
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 44 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

5. Safe Rooms Save Lives

house or the safe room. So I jumped out of my truck 

and started running. I just knew everyone was dead. 

I was running and calling out to them. Then I heard 

Debbie say, ‘Here I am,’” said Keith. “That’s about 

the sweetest sound you could hear when you think 

somebody’s gone.” “As grant recipients, we had to go 

through a process. We also had to choose a contractor 

from a list that the local emergency manager had given 

us. Then, we had to make certain that the safe room 

was certified,” said Deborah. “The April 27th storm 

proved that the shelter was able to withstand the test,” 

added Keith.

The total cost of the safe room was $4,800; however, 

as eligible applicants for the State’s grant program, 

the Crumbleys were reimbursed 75 percent of the cost 

through FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program 

(HMGP). Administered by the State, HMGP funds 

projects after a declared disaster, reimbursing up to 75 

percent of the project cost, with the remainder coming 

from local sources.

Joplin, MO

In May 2008, Tom Cook and his teenage daughter 

Ryanne survived a catastrophic tornado in Racine, MO, 

that leveled their home. They had taken refuge in the 

bathroom, but were forced out of their home once the 

roof came off. While Tom and his daughter survived, 

Tom’s wife of 19 years and Ryanne’s mother did not. 

She was one of the 36 people killed by the tornado. 

Following this tragic event, Tom vowed to be prepared 

for disasters in the future. “I wasn’t going to take the 

chance of going through anything like that again 

without protection,” Tom said during an interview. Tom 

and Ryanne moved to nearby Joplin, MO, to rebuild—

this time with a safe room in their garage. He started to 

research safe rooms and decided on an above-ground, 

indoor steel safe room bolted to the floor of his garage.

This decision proved fortuitous when an EF5 tornado 

touched down 3 years later on May 22, 2011. The 

storm leveled their home, but Tom and Ryanne were 

unharmed. According to Tom, after emerging from 

their safe room, “there was nothing there, except the 

safe [room], us, and rubble as far as you can see.”

Tom and Ryanne moved into a new house and had their 

safe room fixed and reinstalled in their new home’s 

garage. “At least I have some safety, in case I need to 

go in there again,” said Ryanne of their safe room. “... 

you have to give yourself a chance...” says Tom. “Pay 

attention.”

Lafayette County, MS

Ever since he narrowly survived a tornado as a young 

boy, Robert Clemons has had a healthy respect for these 

destructive and often deadly phenomena. So he was 

prepared for the twister that tore through his property 

along County Road 469 south of Oxford in late April 

2011. Clemons, his wife Patsy, her sister Betty, and their 

little dog rode out the tornado in a concrete safe room 

that he had installed in 2006. 

That early brush with a tornado convinced Robert 

Clemons that “everybody who lives in a tornado-prone 

area should have a safe place to go during tornadoes 

and strong thunderstorms. I’ve always had some kind 

of a storm shelter,” said Clemons, now 74 and a lifelong resident of northern Mississippi. In one of his 

homes, a basement offered a relatively safe refuge from 

tornadoes.51 Before he had a safe room at his home on 

County Road (CR) 469, he had a “hole in the ground” 

dug into a hillside and covered by a heavy tree trunk. 

The 2011 tornado season started early in Mississippi, 

when seven twisters touched down in the State in the 

first 3 hours of January 1. Tornado activity waxed and 

waned throughout the South during the next 3 months, 

but April brought 2 days of the costliest and deadliest 

outbreaks in U.S. history. The tornado that struck 

south of Oxford on April 27 brought winds estimated 

at 140 mph (rated an EF3 storm), which caused 

extensive damage to homes along CR 469, including 

the Clemons’ home.

The Clemons had sat out a few thunderstorms in their 

safe room since they had it built, and even got in a 

practice run during the morning of April 27 as several 

storm warnings were issued. In early afternoon, Mr. 

5 For more information on refuge areas in the home, see Recovery 

Advisory 4, Safe Rooms and Refuge Areas in the Home, of FEMA 

P-908. 
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 45 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

5. Safe Rooms Save Lives

Clemons “figured it was time to get an update on the 

tornado situation,” only to learn that one was fast 

approaching their area. He and his family made their 

way to the safe room just minutes before the tornado 

reached them at about 1:30 p.m. 

The Clemons didn’t feel any vibrations or ground 

shaking while inside their safe room as the tornado 

roared by, although the winds moved a nearby storage 

shed about 6 feet. Clemons got his safe room through 

the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency’s “A 

Safe Place to Go” program, which reimburses eligible 

homeowners 75 percent (to a maximum of $4,000) of 

the cost of a safe room. 

As Mr. Clemons emerged from the safe room, he was 

saddened to see damage to the roof and foundation of 

their home, the shattered storage shed and its contents, 

and the destruction to the canopy covering his large 

recreational vehicle. As he looked around, Robert was 

most disheartened by what the tornado had done to his 

land. He admits to “being almost sick to think that I’ll 

never again see 100-year old trees around my house.” 

The tornado uprooted most of the large trees and 

virtually mowed down all the smaller trees and other 

vegetation on the Clemons’ property, as well as that of 

their neighbors.

“A safe room is good insurance and a good investment,” 

concluded Robert Clemons. “After this tornado, I 

wouldn’t be without a safe room, and I hope everybody 

in this part of the country is soon able to get one of 

their own.”

Moore/Newcastle, OK

One year after Ronda and Billy Johnson installed a safe 

room in their garage, their home was totally destroyed 

by a tornado. It proved a wise investment because that 

safe room saved their lives that day. A powerful EF5 

tornado ripped through Newcastle, OK, and nearby 

communities on May 20, 2013, destroying homes and 

taking 24 lives. Ronda and her daughters, Kylie and 

Raylee, plus two family dogs, took shelter from the 

storm in the safe room (Figure 5-1). “We had always 

wanted a safe room and when my husband built an 

unattached garage on the property we decided that 

this was the perfect place and time to purchase a safe 

room,” said Ronda. The garage was just a few feet from 

the house and the safe room would be easy to access 

in an emergency. Rather than build underground, the 

Johnsons decided to purchase an above-ground safe 

room—a 6-foot × 8-foot concrete box anchored to the 

garage slab and accessed via a steel door with a triple 

latch system. The room is equipped with electricity and 

supplies, including a flashlight in case the electricity 

goes out. After installation, the Johnsons registered 

their safe room with the local fire department in case 

they needed to be rescued following a storm.

By the time the 2013 tornado hit, they had already 

utilized the $3,500 unit four or five times, but they 

were not directly impacted by the tornadoes. And that’s 

what they expected when the warning was issued again 

on May 20. “My daughters and I were getting ready for 

graduation night at Newcastle High School,” Ronda 

recalled. ”The sirens began sounding and we received 

a call from my brother, who lives in Edmond, OK, 

that we needed to get into the shelter. We hurriedly 

gathered the dogs and we all got into the shelter.” 

About 3 minutes later the tornado hit. “It was the 

loudest sound I have ever heard,” said Kylie. “I had to 

cover my ears.” “I could hear flying debris hitting the 

safe room,” added Ronda. “After it was over, neighbors 

came to see if we were all right and to help us out of the 

Figure 5-1: Safe room that remained standing after an 

EF5 tornado (Newcastle, OK, 2013). The photo shows 

the safe room after the event, after debris had been 

cleared away.
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 46 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

5. Safe Rooms Save Lives

shelter because debris was partially blocking the door. 

Everything was gone and we did not anticipate that. 

There were no walls left standing on the house or the 

garage. We did not have a wall left. We walked out to 

nothing.” 

Ronda is no stranger to the destruction and dangers 

that accompany tornadoes. In 1999, her father’s house 

in Moore, OK, was destroyed by a tornado. Ronda 

lived nearby at the time, and she and Kylie rode out 

that storm in a closet. “During this recent storm, if 

there had been no safe room, we would have probably 

gotten in the bath tub,” said Ronda. “That would not 

have been good. After the tornado, the bathtub was 

gone and we don’t know where it went. No signs of 

it anywhere.” “Living in Oklahoma, tornadoes are 

something you just have to live with, but you don’t 

really think it’s going to happen to you,” said Kylie. 

“You think it is only going to happen to other people.” 

“We’re going to build back in the same place and we’re 

not afraid because we have a safe room,” said Ronda. 

“Now the way I look at it, everyone needs to have a safe 

room.” 

Monroe County, MS

In 1999, Dan Chism installed a safe room to protect 

his family from tornadoes. That shelter saved his life 

and the lives of nine others when an EF5 tornado 

ripped through the small town of Smithville on April 

27, 2011, destroying almost everything in its path. 

Three quarters of the town was destroyed. The storm 

destroyed the majority of the homes and businesses, the 

police station, the town hall, the post office, and four 

out of six churches. Seventeen people in this tight-knit 

community lost their lives. 

“Through the years the town has been plagued by 

the threat of storms, but I never imagined the town 

would be hit by something as strong as this one,” said 

Dan Chism. One past storm brought 28 neighbors and 

friends to his safe room for protection. “Everyone in the 

neighborhood always knew they were welcome to...take 

cover in the safe room,” Chism said. The in-ground safe 

room is about 20 feet from where his house once stood.

Dan Chism and his wife Peggy built their home 38 years 

ago. “It took us 3 years to build it,” said Dan. “It’s hard 

to believe that everything we had worked so hard for 

was lost in 20 seconds. However, I am grateful my life 

was spared that day. Everyone in our neighborhood 

who went into a safe room that day lived, and everyone 

who stayed inside their house died.” Emergency 

warning sirens sounded early that morning across the 

town. Radio and television stations also gave warnings, 

so Dan, Peggy, his son, grandson, and mother-in-law 

headed into the safe room. That storm went around 

them, and Chism thought that the threats were over for 

the day. 

Later that afternoon, he heard screams from the street, 

and neighbors and family members began running to 

the closest safe room. He could not see the tornado, 

but he heard something like a jet airplane with high 

frequency getting louder and louder and he knew that 

a tornado was on the way. Nine family members and 

neighbors ranging from ages one to 91 quickly took 

cover in his safe room. He stood outside the safe room, 

waiting as long as he could for anyone else seeking 

refuge. Reluctantly, when he realized he could wait no 

longer, he closed the door saying, “It’s going to get us 

this time.” They were hit about 20 seconds later. 

Inside the safe room, they could hear the sound of 

flying debris, and the entire ground was shaking. “I 

could hear the roaring and my ears were popping,” said 

Peggy Chism. After everything was over, Chism opened 

the safe room door and looked outside. “Nothing was 

left,” said Chism, “... there was so much debris and I 

could not see the street. All the houses and trees were 

gone, and I did not know where I was ... We put a metal 

roof on ... last year and there was no sign of even a 

piece of it. I could not believe that we went into a hole 

and came out 60 seconds later and everything was 

gone. The destruction was unbelievable.” 

“People began coming from another part of town, and 

they helped me get a sense of direction as I worked 

my way to where my nephew’s house once stood,” said 

Chism. “I looked for him and his wife and others who 

did not take cover in a storm shelter. They did not 

survive the storm.” Dan and Peggy Chism decided, 

after losing their home, that whether they purchase 
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 47 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

5. Safe Rooms Save Lives

an existing home or have one built, a safe room is a 

necessity. Dan Chism says, “I am positive that we will 

build a safe room.”

Moore, OK

On the afternoon of May 20, 2013, an EF5 tornado 

struck Moore, OK, and surrounding areas. The peak 

winds of the storm have been estimated at 210 mph. 

The tornado initially touched down in Newcastle, OK, 

and followed a track very similar to the 1999 and 2003 

tornadoes that also devastated Moore. The tornado 

resulted in 24 deaths, 377 injuries, 1,150 destroyed 

homes, and an estimated $2 billion in damages.

Although the tornado traveled directly through densely 

populated areas of Moore, part of the Oklahoma 

City metropolitan area, the lives of a large number of 

people affected by the storm were saved. The tornado 

represented a tragic loss of life and devastation to the 

community, but many residents of Moore knew from 

the past tornadoes that they needed to have a safe place 

to take refuge. 

Thanks to the Oklahoma SoonerSafe Safe Room 

program, as well as previous State and Federal 

initiatives to promote safe rooms, many of the 

residents of Moore either had a safe room or were able 

to travel to a nearby safe room to take refuge from 

the storm. The program was the third such statewide 

initiative implemented by the Oklahoma Department of 

Emergency Management (OEM). 

Previously, the department worked with FEMA 

following the 1999 and 2003 tornado outbreaks to 

help fund nearly 10,000 residential safe rooms that 

meet or exceed FEMA P-361 design criteria. Although 

the predominant safe room type observed after the 

tornado was in-ground, above-ground safe rooms 

were observed as well (Figure 5-2) that successfully 

protected occupants from a direct impact. SoonerSafe 

has been funded through FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation 

Grant Program and Pre-disaster Mitigation. Two years 

after the launch, the SoonerSafe program had already 

provided funding for more than 1,200 safe rooms for 

Oklahoma homeowners.

In order to minimize administrative costs, OEM opted 

for an online registration process, which allows users to 

manually update their address or contact information 

if they move or have other changes. The program uses 

a random selection process to select names so that each 

person who registers will have an equal chance to be 

selected for a safe room grant. In 2012, funding priority 

was given to residents whose homes were destroyed 

in the April 14, 2011, Tushka tornado and May 22–25, 

2011, tornadoes in central and northeastern Oklahoma, 

which garnered Presidential disaster declarations for 

Individual Assistance.

The SoonerSafe Safe Room Program was developed 

by OEM in partnership with FEMA and Oklahoma 

Interactive, the State’s web portal to provide grant 

funding for the purchase and installation of safe rooms 

for Oklahoma homeowners. More than 30,000 people 

have registered for the program since its launch.

For more information about the program, visit www.

soonersafe.ok.gov.

Figure 5-2: Site-built safe room that withstood the 

impact of the Moore tornado (Moore, OK, 2013)
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 49 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

CHAPTER 6

References

ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers). 2010. Minimum Design Loads For Buildings and Other 

Structures (ASCE 7-10). Structural Engineering Institute. Available at http://www.asce.org/Product.

aspx?ID=2147487569&ProductID=194395836. Accessed June 12, 2014.

ASCE 2014. Flood Resistant Design and Construction (ASCE 24-14). Available at http://ascelibrary.org/.

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). 2009. NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions for New Buildings 

and Other Structures (FEMA P-750). Available at http://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/18152. 

Accessed June 12, 2014.

FEMA. 2011. Coastal Construction Manual (FEMA P-55). Available at http://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/

documents/3293?id=1671. Accessed June 12, 2014.

FEMA. 2012. Mitigation Assessment Team Report – Spring 2011 Tornadoes: April 25-28 and May 22 (FEMA P-908). 

Available at http://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/25810?id=5633. Accessed June 12, 2014.

FEMA. 2015. Safe Rooms for Tornadoes and Hurricanes: Guidance for Community and Residential Safe Rooms (FEMA 

P-361). Available at http://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/3140. 

ICC/NSSA (International Code Council/National Storm Shelter Association). 2014. ICC/NSSA Standard for the 

Design and Construction of Storm Shelters (ICC 500). Available at http://shop.iccsafe.org/standards/icc-standards.

html.

IRC (International Residential Code). 2012. International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings. Available 

at http://shop.iccsafe.org/codes/2012-international-codes.html. 

NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). 2014. Final Report, National Institute of Standards and 

Technology Investigation of the May 22, 2011, Tornado in Joplin, Missouri. Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/

NIST.NCSTAR.3 . Accessed September 18, 2014.

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), National Severe Weather Database. Undated. http://

www.ncdc.noaa.gov. Accessed June 12, 2014. 

NOAA National Weather Service, National Hurricane Center. 2013. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshws.php. 

Accessed September 18, 2014.

NOAA National Weather Service, Storm Prediction Center. Undated. http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/efscale.html. Accessed September 18, 2014.

NOAA National Weather Service, Storm Prediction Center. 2014a. http://www.spc.noaa.gov/gis/svrgis/. Accessed 

September 29, 2014. 

NOAA National Climatic Data Center, 2014. http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/. Accessed September 29, 2014.
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 51 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

APPENDIX A

Acknowledgments

The Federal Emergency Management Agency would 

like to acknowledge the significant contributions made 

by following individuals in developing the fourth 

edition of this publication. 

Steering Committee Members

Daniel Bass, RA, CFM, FEMA Headquarters

William Coulbourne, PE, URS

Robert Franke, FEMA Region VII

Andrew Herseth, PE, SE, FEMA Headquarters

John Ingargiola, EI, CFM, CBO, FEMA Headquarters

Omar Kapur, PE, URS

Edward Laatsch, PE, FEMA Headquarters

Brian Orr, PE, Toth & Associates

Glenn Overcash, PE, URS 

John Plisich, FEMA Region IV 

Tom Reynolds, PE, URS

Corey Schultz, AIA, PBA Architects

Larry J. Tanner, PE, RA, Texas Tech University

Scott Tezak, PE, TRC Solutions

Ronald Wanhanen, PE, FEMA Region VI

Brian Willsey, FEMA Headquarters

Writing, Design, Graphics, and Editorial

Brett Garret, Toth & Associates

Laura Ghorbi, PE, CFM, URS

Omar Kapur, PE, URS 

Lee-Ann Lyons, URS

Brian Orr, PE, Toth & Associates

Glenn Overcash, PE, URS 

Samantha Passman, URS

Susan Patton, URS

Ivy Porpotage, URS

Billy Ruppert, URS

Pataya Scott, URS

Amy Siegel, URS

Review Committee Members

John Bourdeau Jr., FEMA Region VI 

Jim Collins, Ph.D., PE, USP Structural Connectors, 

MiTek USA

Daniel Dolan, Ph.D., PE, Washington State University

Gary Ehrlich, PE, National Association of Home 

Builders

Yuriy Farber, NSSA

Dennis Graber, PE, National Concrete Masonry 

Association

Danny Kilcollins, FPEM, Florida Department of 

Emergency Management

David Javier, FEMA Headquarters

Christopher Jones, PE

Lionel Lemay, PE, SE, LEED AP, National Ready-Mix 

Concrete Association 

Marc Levitan, PE, Ph.D., National Institute of 

Standards and Technology (NIST)

Philip Line, PE, American Wood Council

Michael Mahoney, FEMA Headquarters

Brad Milanowski, PE, B+T Engineering 

Tom Pickering, PE, FEMA Headquarters 

David Prevatt, Ph.D., PE, University of Florida

Tim Reinhold, PE, Ph.D., Insurance Institute for 

Business & Home Safety 

John Robinson, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration, (NOAA)

Kurt Roeper, Assa Abloy

Randy Shackelford, PE, Simpson Strong-Tie

Matthew Shuman, Underwriters Laboratories

Timothy Smail, Federal Alliance for Safe Homes

Thomas Smith, AIA, RRC, F.SEI, TLSmith Consulting

Donn Thompson, AIA, CGP, LEED AP BD+C, 

Portland Cement Association

Mai Tong, FEMA Headquarters
TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM 53 Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business

APPENDIX B

Tornado Safe Room Door Fact Sheet
Fact Sheet

Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration September 2014

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, 

sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Page1 of 2

Residential Tornado Safe Room Doors

Residential safe rooms are becoming more popular as families 

seek protection from violent tornadoes. Like any other room, 

safe rooms must be accessed through an opening or door. Just 

as the walls and roof of a safe room are designed and built 

to protect against extreme winds and wind-borne debris, so 

must the safe room door.

When careful selection and installation of the safe room door 

assembly is overlooked, the safe room door opening can leave 

occupants at great risk of injury or death during tornadoes.

Not all doors are the same

Steel doors commonly used in residential and commercial 

construction cannot withstand the impact of the wind-borne 

debris, or “missiles,” that a tornado can propel, and their 

failure has resulted in serious injury and even death during 

tornadoes. There is a common 

misconception that a steel “storm 

door” with three locks and three 

hinges can provide tornado lifesafety protection: it cannot. Only 

door assemblies designed and 

tested to resist tornadoes can 

provide life-safety protection for 

you and your family.

Consumers need to be sure 

the door they are buying is 

part of a tested tornado safe 

room door assembly, as some 

door suppliers offer non-tested 

“storm door” assemblies for use 

in safe rooms. Sometimes door 

suppliers market levels of safety 

with corresponding pricing 

(“good,” “better,” “best”). Such 

terminology can give consumers 

a false sense of security that the less expensive doors 

provide an adequate level of tornado protection. In reality, 

there is no substitute for a tested tornado safe room door 

assembly!

The good news is these door assemblies are readily 

available today. 

What is different about a tested safe room 

door versus a standard door?

For safe room doors to reliably provide life-safety 

protection during a tornado, they must be rigorously 

designed, constructed, and tested. FEMA does not certify 

products, but the 

manufacturer(s) of safe 

room door assemblies 

must certify their 

products have passed 

ICC 500 testing to 

meet or exceed FEMA 

safe room criteria. 

Consumers should 

request documentation 

from the supplier and/

or installer to verify 

the door assembly’s 

compliance with the most current versions of FEMA’s safe 

room publications1 (FEMA P-361 and FEMA P-320) or ICC 

5002 for a tornado wind speed of 250 mph. One method 

of demonstrating compliance is through labeling by third 

parties, such as UL (Underwriters Laboratories).

In addition to having passed required testing for tornado 

missile impact and pressure, the door assembly should be 

easily locked and unlocked so that access to and from the 

safe room is quick and easy.

1 FEMA P-361, Safe Rooms for Tornadoes and Hurricanes: Guidance 

for Community and Residential Safe Rooms and FEMA P-320, Taking 

Shelter from the Storm: Building a Safe Room for Your Home or 

Small Business. FEMA Publications provide criteria based on code 

recommendations and post-disaster field observations, but do not 

regulate or set standards in building codes. The most current versions 

can be found at links provided under “Resources” section at end of 

Fact Sheet. 

2 ICC 500, ICC/NSSA Standard for the Design and Construction of Storm 

Shelters. The most current version can be found at link provided under 

“Resources” section at end of Fact Sheet.

FEMA does not endorse, 

approve, certify, 

or recommend any 

contractors, individuals, 

firms, or products. 

Contractors, individuals, or 

firms shall not claim they 

are, or produce products 

that are, “FEMA approved” 

or “FEMA certified.”

Residential safe room 

door (Moore, OK, 2013)

UL tornado safe room door label
Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration

Residential Tornado Safe Room Doors September 2014

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, 

sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Page2 of 2

Why is installing the complete tested door assembly in its entirety so important?

Tornado safe room impact 

test results: Door assembly 

failed at latch/lock

Tornado safe room impact 

test results: Door assembly 

failed when perforated

Tornado safe room impact 

test results: Door assembly 

passed; no perforation or 

latch/lock failure

The door assembly includes the door, hardware (locks and hinges), frame, and attachment 

devices used to anchor the door frame to the surrounding safe room wall. Installation 

instructions should be specific to the actual safe room wall type (e.g., wood-frame, concrete 

masonry units (CMUs)) of the home or small business. The entire safe room door assembly 

must have passed the required testing exactly as it is to be installed in the safe room to make 

sure it will withstand the required tornado wind pressures and debris impacts.

Some suppliers may offer the door and frame without the tested hardware; if substitutions are 

made, the door may fail during a tornado.

Where can you buy a tested safe room door?

Tested door assemblies are typically not available off the shelf in most home improvement 

stores, but can be purchased through commercial building product suppliers or safe room/

storm shelter component suppliers. Texas Tech University testing facility and UL maintain a 

list of safe room doors (product names and suppliers) that have passed testing. Refer to the 

“Resources” below for information.

What should you request when selecting your safe room door?

• The test certification document or UL label that shows the product passed ICC 500 testing 

to meet or exceed FEMA safe room criteria

• Confirmation that the hardware supplied with your door is identical to the hardware used 

during testing

When it is time to install your safe room, make sure to contact your local building department 

for permitting and inspection guidelines. 

Resources

• More information on testing protocol and a list of safe room products that have passed 

testing at Texas Tech University may be found at http://www.depts.ttu.edu/nwi/research/

DebrisImpact/index.php.

• The UL Online Certification Directory may be found at http://database.ul.com/cgi-bin/

XYV/template/LISEXT/1FRAME/index.html.

− After linking, enter ‘zhla’ in the UL Category field and ‘ICC 500’ in the Keyword field 

for safe room-tested products. 

• A free copy of FEMA P-361 can be downloaded or ordered from http://www.fema.gov/

media-library/assets/documents/3140. 

• A free copy of FEMA P-320 can be downloaded or ordered from http://www.fema.gov/

media-library/assets/documents/2009.

• A copy of ICC 500 can be purchased and subsequently downloaded from http://shop.

iccsafe.org/standards/icc-standards.html?p=1.

• If you have additional questions pertaining to FEMA safe room guidance publications, you 

may contact the Safe Room Helpline at Saferoom@fema.dhs.gov.
FEMA P-320

Catalog No: 08289-3
SAFE ROOM CONSTRUCTION PLANS

Taking Shelter from the Storm:

Building a Safe Room for Your 

Home or Small Business

FEMA P-320, Fourth Edition, December 2014
LIMIT OF LIABILITY

THE DESIGNS IN THIS BOOKLET ARE BASED ON EXTENSIVE RESEARCH OF THE

CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF WINDSTORM DAMAGE TO BUILDINGS. SAFE ROOMS

DESIGNED AND BUILT TO THESE STANDARDS SHOULD PROVIDE A HIGH DEGREE

OF OCCUPANT PROTECTION DURING EXTREME WINDSTORMS (TORNADOES

AND HURRICANES). ANY SUBSTITUTION OF EITHER MATERIALS OR DESIGN

CONCEPTS MAY DECREASE THE LEVEL OF OCCUPANT PROTECTION AND/OR

INCREASE THE POSSIBILITY OF PERSONAL INJURY DURING A SEVERE WIND

EVENT.

BECAUSE IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO PREDICT OR TEST ALL CONDITIONS THAT MAY

OCCUR DURING SEVERE WINDSTORMS OR CONTROL THE QUALITY OF

CONSTRUCTION AMONG OTHER THINGS, THE DESIGNER DOES NOT WARRANT

THE DESIGN.

THE DESIGNER NEITHER MANUFACTURES NOR SELLS SAFE ROOMS BUILT FROM

THESE DESIGNS. THE DESIGNERS HAVE NOT MADE AND DO NOT MAKE ANY

REPRESENTATION, WARRANTY, OR COVENANT, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WITH

RESPECT TO THE DESIGN, CONDITION, QUALITY, DURABILITY, OPERATION,

FITNESS FOR USE, OR SUITABILITY OF THE SAFE ROOM IN ANY RESPECT

WHATSOEVER. THE DESIGNERS SHALL NOT BE OBLIGATED OR LIABLE FOR

ACTUAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHER DAMAGES OF OR TO USERS

OF THE SAFE ROOM, OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY ARISING OUT OF OR IN

CONNECTION WITH THE USE, CONDITION, AND/OR PERFORMANCE OF THE SAFE

ROOM BUILT FROM THIS DESIGN OR FROM THE MAINTENANCE THEREOF.

Copyright 2014

SHEET TITLE:

©

DRAWING NO:

DATE:

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FEMA P-320 (2014)

SR0.0

INDEX SHEET

DECEMBER 2014

1

FEMA P-320 SAFE ROOM CONSTRUCTION PLANS

TAKING SHELTER FROM THE STORM:

BUILDING A SAFE ROOM IN YOUR HOME

OR SMALL BUSINESS *

DRAWING # SHEET TITLE

SR0.0 INDEX SHEET

SR0.1 GENERAL NOTES

SR0.2 GENERAL NOTES

SR0.3 TABLES

SR1.0 CMU SAFE ROOM PLANS AND DETAILS

SR1.1 CONCRETE SAFE ROOM PLANS AND DETAILS

SR1.2 ICF SAFE ROOM PLANS AND DETAILS

SR1.3 WOOD FRAME SAFE ROOM PLANS AND DETAILS

SR1.4 WOOD / CMU INFILL FRAME SAFE ROOM AND

DETAILS

SR1.5 DETAILS FOR SAFE ROOMS THAT USE BASEMENT

WALLS

SR2.1 SHEATHING REQUIREMENTS & WOOD FRAME

SAFE ROOM WITH STEEL SHEATHING

SR2.2 EXHAUST / VENTILATION DETAILS

REVISIONS

* SAFE ROOMS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES OR RESIDENTIAL USE

WITH MORE THAN 16 OCCUPANTS ARE COMMUNITY SAFE

ROOMS THAT HAVE ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS THAT THESE

CONSTRUCTION PLANS DO NOT PROVIDE FOR. SEE SECTION

4.2 OF FEMA P-320 FOR FURTHER DETAILS.
Copyright 2014

SHEET TITLE:

©

DRAWING NO:

DATE:

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FEMA P-320 (2014)

SR0.1

GENERAL NOTES

DECEMBER 2014

2

GENERAL NOTES

1. THE CONSTRUCTION DRAWINGS REPRESENT THE FINISHED STRUCTURE. THEY DO NOT INCLUDE

CONSTRUCTION MEANS AND METHODS. CONTRACTOR SHALL PROVIDE ALL MEASURES

NECESSARY TO PROTECT THE STRUCTURE DURING CONSTRUCTION. SUCH MEASURES SHALL

INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO BRACING, SHORING FOR CONSTRUCTION LOADS, TEMPORARY

STRUCTURES, AND PARTIALLY COMPLETED WORK.

2. IF THERE IS A CONFLICT AMONG THE GENERAL NOTES, SPECIFICATIONS, AND PLANS, THE MORE

STRINGENT CRITERIA SHALL APPLY.

3. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL EXCAVATION PROCEDURES INCLUDING

SHORING AND PROTECTION OF ADJACENT PROPERTY, STRUCTURES, STREETS, AND UTILITIES IN

ACCORDANCE WITH THE LOCAL BUILDING DEPARTMENT. ALL WORK OR CONSTRUCTION SHALL

COMPLY WITH ALL APPLICABLE BUILDING CODES, REGULATIONS, AND SAFETY REQUIREMENTS.

4. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR VERIFICATION AND COORDINATION OF ALL

DIMENSIONS, CONDITIONS AND ELEVATIONS.

5. OPTIONS ARE FOR CONTRACTORS CONVENIENCE. IF AN OPTION IS USED, THE CONTRACTOR

SHALL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL NECESSARY CHANGES AND SHALL COORDINATE ALL DETAILS.

6. DETAILS AND NOTES SHALL APPLY, THOUGH NOT NECESSARILY AT A SPECIFIC LOCATION ON

PLANS. WHERE NO DETAILS ARE SHOWN, CONSTRUCTION SHALL CONFORM TO SIMILAR WORK

ON THE PROJECT. DETAILS MAY ONLY SHOW ONE SIDE OF CONNECTION OR MAY OMIT

INFORMATION FOR CLARITY. WHERE DISCREPANCIES OCCUR IN THESE DRAWINGS, NOTES AND

DETAILS ON DRAWINGS SHALL TAKE PRECEDENCE OVER GENERAL STRUCTURAL NOTES AND

TYPICAL DETAILS.

7. NOT ALL OPENINGS ARE SHOWN IN THESE DRAWINGS. ESTABLISH AND VERIFY ALL OPENINGS

AND INSERTS FOR MECHANICAL, PLUMBING, AND ELECTRICAL WITH APPROPRIATE TRADES,

DRAWINGS, AND SUBCONTRACTORS PRIOR TO CONSTRUCTION. OPENINGS MAY REQUIRE

ADDITIONAL REINFORCING OR SUPPORTS AS SHOWN ON TYPICAL DETAILS. OPENINGS NEED TO

BE PROTECTED PER ICC 500 SECTIONS 310.1 AND 306.3.

8. COMPLETE INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS SHALL BE AS DIRECTED BY THE LOCAL BUILDING

DEPARTMENT.

9. THE CONSTRUCTION DRAWINGS SHOULD NOT BE SCALED. DIMENSIONS APPLY.

10. FOLLOW MANUFACTURER’S RECOMMENDATIONS FOR INSTALLING OF UPLIFT/SHEAR

RESISTANCE CONNECTORS.

11. TO ENSURE THE SAFE ROOM PROVIDES THE DESIRED LEVEL OF PROTECTION, A PROFESSIONAL

ENGINEER OR ARCHITECT SHOULD BE CONSULTED FOR ANY DESIGN CONDITION FOUND TO BE

DIFFERENT FROM THOSE REPRESENTED BY THESE PLANS.

12. TO OBTAIN AN EQUIVALENT LEVEL OF PROTECTION, SAFE ROOM DESIGNS NOT MEETING THE

SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS OF THE DESIGNS IN THESE PLANS SHOULD BE DESIGNED TO MEET

THE FEMA SAFE ROOM CRITERIA SET FORTH IN THE 2015 FEMA P-361 “DESIGN AND

CONSTRUCTION GUIDANCE FOR COMMUNITY SAFE ROOMS.”

13. FOR ALL CONSTRUCTION, USE ONLY SCREWS AND HARDWARE THAT HAVE BEEN EVALUATED

THROUGH AN ANSI-APPROVED PRODUCT CERTIFICATION BODY SUCH AS IAPMO-OES OR ICC-ES.

14. VENTILATION IS TO BE PROVIDED PER PLAN DETAILS. VERIFY SIZE REQUIREMENTS BASED ON

SAFE ROOM SIZE AND ICC 500.

15. MAXIMUM WALL HEIGHT FOR SAFE ROOM SHALL BE 8’-0”.

16. REFER TO LOCALLY ADOPTED BUILDING CODE FOR EXTERIOR SAFE ROOM WEATHER

PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS.

17. FOR COMMUNITY SAFE ROOMS SEE 2014 ICC 500 AND 2015 FEMA P-361 FOR ADDITIONAL DESIGN

REQUIREMENTS.

CONCRETE NOTES

1. REINFORCING BAR DETAILING, FABRICATING, AND PLACING SHALL CONFORM TO THE "ACI

STANDARD: DETAILS AND DETAILING OF CONCRETE REINFORCEMENT" (ACI 315) AND THE

"MANUAL OF ENGINEERING AND PLACING DRAWINGS FOR REINFORCED CONCRETE

STRUCTURES" (ACI 315R) BY THE AMERICAN CONCRETE INSTITUTE. THE MOST CURRENT

EDITIONS OF CONCRETE REINFORCING STEEL INSTITUTE'S "REINFORCING BAR

DETAILING" AND "PLACING REINFORCING BARS" MAY ALSO BE USED.

2. REINFORCING STEEL SHALL CONFORM TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF ASTM A615.

REINFORCING SHALL BE GRADE 60 (FY=60 KSI) DEFORMED BARS FOR ALL BARS UNLESS

NOTED OTHERWISE ON PLANS OR DETAILS. ALL REINFORCING TO BE WELDED SHALL BE

ASTM A706, GRADE 60 LOW ALLOY WELDABLE STEEL.

3. WELDING OF REINFORCING BARS, METAL INSERTS, AND CONNECTIONS SHALL CONFORM

TO AMERICAN WELDING SOCIETY’S AWS D1.4 – STRUCTURAL WELDING CODE, AND SHALL

BE MADE ONLY AT LOCATIONS SHOWN ON PLANS OR DETAILS.

4. ALL REINFORCING SHALL BE BENT COLD. BARS SHALL NOT BE STRAIGHTENED AND REBENT. FIELD BENDING OF REBAR SHALL NOT BE ALLOWED UNLESS SPECIFICALLY NOTED

OTHERWISE.

5. REINFORCING BAR SPACING SHOWN ON PLANS ARE AT MAXIMUM ON CENTERS. ALL BARS

SHALL BE DETAILED AND PLACED WITHIN 1/2” TOLERANCE IN ANY DIRECTION. SECURELY

TIE ALL BARS IN LOCATION BEFORE PLACING CONCRETE.

6. REINFORCING BAR CLEAR COVER REQUIREMENTS:

a. CONCRETE PLACED AGAINST EARTH – 3”

b. CONCRETE PLACED IN FORMS – 1.5”

7. WELDED WIRE REINFORCING SHALL CONFORM TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF ASTM A1064.

LAPS IN WELDED WIRE REINFORCING SHALL BE MADE SUCH THAT THE OVERLAP,

MEASURED BETWEEN OUTERMOST CROSS WIRE OF EACH SHEET, IS NOT LESS THAN THE

SPACING OF CROSS WIRES PLUS 2 INCHES.

8. MECHANICAL SPLICE COUPLERS, FLANGE COUPLERS, THREADED COUPLERS, ETC. SHALL

HAVE CURRENT ANSI-APPROVED PRODUCT CERTIFICATION BODY SUCH AS IAPMO-OES OR

ICC-ES APPROVAL AND SHALL BE CAPABLE OF DEVELOPING 125% OF THE STRENGTH OF

THE BAR.

9. PROVIDE BAR SUPPORTS: BOLSTERS, CHAIRS, SPACERS, AND OTHER DEVICES FOR

SPACING, SUPPORTING, AND FASTENING REINFORCING BARS AND WELDED WIRE

REINFORCEMENT IN PLACE. MANUFACTURE BAR SUPPORTS FROM STEEL WIRE, PLASTIC,

OR PRECAST CONCRETE ACCORDING TO CRSI's "MANUAL OF STANDARD PRACTICE."

10. PROVIDE TEMPORARY SHORING AND BRACING OF ALL STRUCTURAL AND MISCELLANEOUS

ELEMENTS UNTIL CONCRETE HAS OBTAINED 80% OF DESIGN STRENGTH.

11. WHEN PLACING CONCRETE IN HOT WEATHER, REFER TO ACI 305R. WHEN PLACING

CONCRETE IN COLD WEATHER, REFER TO ACI 306.1.

12. ALL BELOW GRADE CONSTRUCTION JOINTS SHALL HAVE A CONTINUOUS WATERSTOP

CAST INTEGRALLY INTO THE JOINT.

13. WHERE FOOTINGS, WALLS, OR OTHER STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS INTERSECT, CORNER, OR

TEE, PROVIDE CORNER BARS WITH REQUIRED LAP LENGTHS TO PROVIDE CONTINUITY OF

HORIZONTAL STEEL REINFORCING UNO.

14. PROVIDE MINIMUM 3” COVER FOR ANCHOR BOLTS AND LOCATE HORIZONTAL

REINFORCEMENT TO THE OUTSIDE FOR ANCHOR BOLT CONTAINMENT UNO.

15. FOLLOW ALL MANUFACTURER’S INSTALLATION RECOMMENDATIONS WHERE DOWELS,

BOLTS, OR INSERTS ARE CALLED TO BE ANCHORED TO CAST IN PLACE CONCRETE

ELEMENTS USING EPOXY ADHESIVES OR MECHANICAL ANCHORAGE.

16. FLY ASH MAY BE USED AS A ONE TO ONE REPLACEMENT UP TO 20% FOR THE TOTAL

CEMENT CONTENT AS LONG AS THE AMBIENT TEMPERATURE IS ABOVE 50 DEGREES

FAHRENHEIT. FLY ASH SHALL BE CLASS C CONFORMING TO ASTM C 618.

17. ALL CONCRETE EXPOSED TO FREEZING SHALL BE AIR ENTRAINED. AIR CONTENT OF

FRESH CONCRETE SHALL BE 5-7%.

18. NO LIME SAND FINE AGGREGATE MAY BE USED IN CONCRETE EXPOSED TO WEATHER,

VIEW, OR IN HORIZONTAL APPLICATIONS.

19. DO NOT USE AIR ENTRAINED CONCRETE FOR FLOORS WITH A TROWELED FINISH. AT SUCH

LOCATIONS ENTRAPPED AIR CONTENT SHALL NOT EXCEED 3%.

20. CONCRETE FOR FOUNDATION WALLS, FOOTINGS, AND INTERIOR SLABS ON GRADE SHALL

HAVE A 28-DAY COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF 3,000 PSI WITH A SLUMP OF 4" ± 1". THE

MAXIMUM WATER TO CEMENT RATIO SHALL BE 0.45 BY WEIGHT.

21. CONCRETE FOR CAST-IN-PLACE WALL SHALL HAVE A 28-DAY COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF

4,000 PSI WITH A SLUMP OF 4" ± 1". THE MAXIMUM WATER TO CEMENT RATIO SHALL BE 0.45

BY WEIGHT.

22. IF ADDITIONAL FLOWABILITY IS REQUIRED FOR PLACEMENT OF ANY CONCRETE MIX, A

WATER-REDUCING ADDITIVE CONFORMING TO ASTM C494, TYPE A, D, E, OR F SHALL BE

USED. NO ADDITIONAL WATER MAY BE ADDED TO THE MIX AT THE SITE. SLUMP FOR

CONCRETE CONTAINING WATER-REDUCING OR HIGH-RANGE WATER-REDUCING

ADMIXTURE SHALL NOT EXCEED 8" AFTER ADMIXTURE IS INCORPORATED INTO CONCRETE

WITH A 2"-4" SLUMP.

ABBREVIATION LEGEND

AB ANCHOR BOLT 

ACI AMERICAN CONCRETE INSTITUTE 

AISC AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF STEEL CONSTRUCTION

AISI AMERICAN IRON AND STEEL INSTITUTE 

AWS AMERICAN WELDING SOCIETY 

BO BOTTOM OF 

BRG BEARING 

BTM BOTTOM

CIP CAST IN PLACE CONCRETE WALL

CMU CONCRETE MASONRY UNIT 

CONC CONCRETE 

CONN CONNECTION 

CONT CONTINUOUS 

DIA DIAMETER 

DBL DOUBLE

EL ELEVATION 

EQ EQUAL 

EW EACH WAY 

FND FOUNDATION 

FF FINISHED FLOOR 

FTG FOOTING 

GA GAGE 

GYP GYPSUM

HORIZ HORIZONTAL 

ICF INSULATED CONCRETE FORMS

INFO INFORMATION 

KSI KIPS PER SQUARE INCH 

L LENGTH 

LB POUNDS 

LONG LONGITUDINAL 

MAX MAXIMUM 

MEP MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL, PLUMBING

MFR MANUFACTURER 

MIN MINIMUM 

MISC MISCELLANEOUS 

ML MASONRY LINTEL

MTL METAL 

NTS NOT TO SCALE 

OC ON CENTER 

PCF POUNDS PER CUBIC FOOT 

PLF POUNDS PER LINEAR FOOT 

PSF POUNDS PER SQUARE FOOT

PSI POUNDS PER SQUARE INCH 

PT PRESSURE TREATED

RE REFER TO 

REINF REINFORCING 

SIM SIMILAR 

SF SQUARE FOOT

SFRM SAFE ROOM

SOG SLAB ON GRADE

SPEC SPECIFICATIONS

T THICKNESS

T&B TOP AND BOTTOM 

TO TOP OF 

TOC TOP OF CONCRETE ELEVATION

TOF TOP OF FOOTING ELEVATION

TOW TOP OF WALL ELEVATION

TYP TYPICAL 

UNO UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE

W WIDTH

W/ WITH

WWR WELDED WIRE REINFORCING

SLAB ON GRADE GENERAL NOTES:

1. 4” (MINIMUM) SLAB ON GRADE REINFORCED WITH WWR 6X6 W2.9XW2.9 (IN SHEETS) OR #4 BARS AT

12" OC EACH WAY. LOCATE REINFORCING IN TOP THIRD OF SLAB. PROVIDE BOLSTERS, CHAIRS, OR

OTHER MEANS APPROVED IN WRITING BY THE ENGINEER TO PROPERLY LOCATE REINFORCING.

2. SLAB ON GRADE INSIDE THE BUILDING STRUCTURE SHALL BE SUPPORTED ON A 6" DRAINAGE

COURSE. DRAINAGE COURSE SHALL BE AS FOLLOWS: COURSE OF CLEAN WASHED GRANULAR

MATERIAL PLACED TO CUT OFF UPWARD CAPILLARY FLOW OF GROUND WATER, OR TO PROVIDE A

STABLE BASE FOR PIPES OR OTHER STRUCTURES. MATERIAL SHALL BE WASHED, EVENLY

GRADED MIXTURE OF CLEAN CRUSHED STONE, OR CRUSHED OR UNCRUSHED GRAVEL, ASTM D

448, COARSE AGGREGATE GRADING SIZE 57, WITH 100 PERCENT PASSING A 1-1/2 INCH SIEVE AND

NOT MORE THAN 5 PERCENT PASSING A NO. 8 SIEVE.

3. CONSULT WITH LOCAL CODE OFFICIAL FOR VAPOR RETARDER RECOMMENDATIONS.

4. PROVIDE JOINT FILLER AT THE INTERFACE OF ALL WALL AND SLAB JOINTS.

5. ALL EXPANSIVE CLAYS WITHIN 24” OF FLOOR SLABS SHALL BE REMOVED. ALL FILL BELOW FLOOR

SLABS SHALL BE PROPERLY COMPACTED AND SUBGRADE BROUGHT TO A TRUE AND LEVEL PLANE

BEFORE PLACEMENT OF ANY CONCRETE.

REVISIONS
Copyright 2014

SHEET TITLE:

©

DRAWING NO:

DATE:

Sheet: of 12

FEMA P-320 (2014)

SR0.2

GENERAL NOTES

DECEMBER 2014

3

FOUNDATION NOTES

1. ALL FOOTINGS SHALL BEAR ON AND BE FORMED BY CLEAN, UNDISTURBED, VIRGIN,

NON-ORGANIC SOIL OR CONTROLLED ENGINEERED FILL WITH A MINIMUM NET BEARING

CAPACITY OF 1500 PSF.

2. EXTERIOR FOOTINGS SHALL BEAR AT OR BELOW MINIMUM BEARING DEPTH PER THE

LOCAL BUILDING OFFICIAL. MINIMUM BEARING DEPTH IS 30" BELOW ADJACENT

FINISHED GRADE.

3. STANDARD PROCEDURES OF FROST PROTECTION FOR FOUNDATIONS AND

EXCAVATIONS SHALL BE EMPLOYED FOR WINTER CONSTRUCTION. BACKFILLING OF

EXCAVATIONS SHALL BE DONE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO PROTECT FOUNDATIONS

FROM FROST.

4. ALL SOIL BELOW SLABS AND FOOTINGS SHALL BE PROPERLY COMPACTED AND

SUBGRADE BROUGHT TO A TRUE AND LEVEL PLANE BEFORE PLACING CONCRETE.

5. FOUNDATION WALLS SHALL HAVE TEMPORARY BRACING BEFORE BACKFILL IS PLACED

AGAINST THEM. TEMPORARY BRACING SHALL NOT BE REMOVED UNTIL WALL IS

PERMANENTLY BRACED.

6. FOUNDATION PENETRATIONS SHALL BE SUBJECT TO APPROVAL BY A PROFESSIONAL

ENGINEER OR ARCHITECT. PENETRATIONS SHALL BE THROUGH THE FOUNDATION

STEMWALL OR WITH A MINIMUM OF 6" COVER BELOW FOOTING.

7. IN AREA OF THE BUILDING, EXISTING ORGANIC MATERIAL, UNSUITABLE SOIL,

ABANDONED FOOTINGS, AND ANY OTHER EXISTING UNSUITABLE MATERIALS SHALL BE

REMOVED.

8. DRAINAGE FILL SHALL BE A FREE-DRAINING GRANULAR MATERIAL. USE #57 STONE OR

APPROVED EQUAL. REFER TO ASTM D448 FOR GRADATION.

9. EXCAVATION FOR FOOTINGS SHALL BE CUT TO ACCURATE SIZE AND DIMENSIONS AS

SHOWN ON PLANS. ALL LOOSE MATERIAL BELOW FOOTINGS SHALL BE REMOVED AND

THE SURFACE BROUGHT TO A REASONABLE TRUE AND LEVEL PLANE BEFORE PLACING

CONCRETE.

10. WHEN INSTALLATION AND FOUNDATION REQUIREMENTS ARE ADDRESSED BY A LOCAL

DESIGN PROFESSIONAL, THESE DESIGNS SHALL EXCEED THE DESIGN REQUIREMENTS

SET FORTH IN THE ICC-500 FOR RESIDENTIAL SHELTERS FOR BOTH TORNADO AND

HURRICANE HAZARDS.

MASONRY GENERAL NOTES

1. COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF CONCRETE MASONRY CONSTRUCTION (CMU) SHALL BE AS

FOLLOWS: MASONRY STRENGTH NOT SPECIFICALLY NOTED IN PLAN SHALL BE f’m = 1500

PSI MINIMUM.

2. CONCRETE MASONRY SHALL BE HOLLOW LOAD-BEARING CONCRETE MASONRY UNITS

CONFORMING TO ASTM C90,. ALL UNITS SHALL BE PLACED IN RUNNING BOND

CONSTRUCTION WITH ALL VERTICAL CELLS IN ALIGNMENT EXCEPT AT DRY STACKED INFILL

LOCATIONS.

3. MORTAR SHALL CONFORM TO REQUIREMENTS OF TYPE M OR S.

4. REINFORCING STEEL SHALL CONFORM TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF ASTM A615.

REINFORCING SHALL BE GRADE 60 (FY=60 KSI) DEFORMED BARS FOR ALL BARS UNLESS

NOTED OTHERWISE ON PLANS OR DETAILS. ALL REINFORCING TO BE WELDED SHALL BE

ASTM A706, GRADE 60 LOW ALLOY WELDABLE STEEL.

5. WELDING OF REINFORCING BARS, METAL INSERTS, AND CONNECTIONS SHALL CONFORM

TO AMERICAN WELDING SOCIETY’S AWS D1.4 – STRUCTURAL WELDING CODE, AND SHALL

BE MADE ONLY AT LOCATIONS SHOWN ON PLANS OR DETAILS.

6. ALL REINFORCING SHALL BE BENT COLD. BARS SHALL NOT BE STRAIGHTENED AND REBENT. FIELD BENDING OF REBAR SHALL NOT BE ALLOWED UNLESS SPECIFICALLY NOTED

OTHERWISE.

7. REINFORCING BAR SPACING SHOWN ON PLANS ARE AT MAXIMUM ON CENTERS. ALL BARS

SHALL BE DETAILED AND PLACED WITHIN 1/2” TOLERANCE PERPENDICULAR TO THE WALL

AND WITHIN 2” TOLERANCE PARALLEL TO THE WALL. SUPPORT ALL REINFORCEMENT TO

PREVENT DISPLACEMENT CAUSED BY CONSTRUCTION LOADS OR BY PLACEMENT OF

GROUT AND MORTAR BEYOND ALLOWABLE TOLERANCES.

8. MASONRY GROUT SHALL BE IN ACCORDANCE WITH ASTM C476. GROUT EXCEPT FOR SELFCONSOLIDATING GROUT SHALL HAVE A SLUMP BETWEEN 8 AND 11” WHEN MEASURED IN

ACCORDANCE WITH ASTM C143. ALL CELLS IN CONCRETE MASONRY UNITS SHALL BE

SOLID GROUTED. EXCEPTION: DRY-STACKED MASONRY FOR WOOD-FRAME INFILL OPTION.

9. REFERENCE MASONRY DEVELOPMENT AND SPLICE TABLE FOR REINFORCING BAR LAP

LENGTHS IN MASONRY CONSTRUCTION.

10. MINIMUM VERTICAL WALL REINFORCING SHALL BE AS INDICATED IN THE PLANS AND SHALL

BE FULL HEIGHT IN CENTER OF GROUTED CELL AT WALL INTERSECTIONS, CORNERS AND

DOOR JAMBS.

11. MINIMUM HORIZONTAL WALL REINFORCING SHALL INCLUDE A BOND BEAM AT THE TOP OF

THE WALL WITH A MINIMUM OF 1 NO.4 BAR CONTINUOUS AROUND PERIMETER FOR 6”

MASONRY WALLS AND 1 NO. 5 CONTINUOUS AROUND THE PERIMETER FOR 8” MASONRY

WALLS. PROVIDE BENT BARS PER TYPICAL DETAILS TO MATCH AND LAP WITH HORIZONTAL

BOND BEAM REINFORCING AT CORNERS AND WALL INTERSECTIONS TO MAINTAIN

CONTINUITY OF BOND BEAM REINFORCEMENT.

12. MINIMUM MASONRY LINTEL SHALL BE AS INDICATED IN THE PLANS. ALL LINTEL

REINFORCING SHALL EXTEND 2 FEET PAST JAMBS UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE ON PLANS

OR DETAILS.

13. MASONRY VENEER SHALL BE ATTACHED TO SUPPORTING WALL FRAMING WITH 3/16" DIA.

WALL TIES OR DOVETAIL-TYPE METAL TIES OF EQUIVALENT STIFFNESS EMBEDDED INTO

HORIZONTAL MORTAR JOINTS. MAXIMUM VERTICAL SPACING OF TIES SHALL BE 16". MAX

HORIZONTAL SPACING SHALL BE 24". TIES IN ALTERNATE COURSES SHALL BE STAGGERED.

PROVIDE 9 GA. WIRE REINFORCING IN HORIZONTAL MORTAR JOINTS AT 16" O.C. ENGAGE 9

GA. WIRE WITH WALL ANCHOR TIES.

14. LOOSE ANGLE BRICK LINTELS SHALL BE SPECIFIED BY OTHERS.

15. RETAINING WALLS, BASEMENT WALLS, ETC., SHALL BE ADEQUATELY WATERPROOFED AND

DRAINED AS SPECIFIED BY OTHERS.

16. WHERE VERTICAL REINFORCING INTERSECTS HORIZONTAL REINFORCING, BOTH SHALL BE

CONTINUOUS.

17. MAXIMUM HEIGHT FOR GROUT POUR SHALL NOT EXCEED 64” UNLESS A CLEANOUT IS

PROVIDED AT THE BOTTOM OF EACH CELL CONTAINING REINFORCEMENT OR AT A

MAXIMUM HORIZONTAL SPACING OF 32” WHICHEVER IS LESS.

18. FOLLOW ALL MANUFACTURER’S INSTALLATION RECOMMENDATIONS WHERE DOWELS,

BOLTS, OR INSERTS ARE CALLED TO BE ANCHORED TO CAST IN PLACE CONCRETE

ELEMENTS USING EPOXY ADHESIVES OR MECHANICAL ANCHORAGE.

GENERAL WOOD FRAMING NOTES

1. WOOD FRAMING LUMBER TO HAVE MODULUS OF ELASTICITY = 1,200,000 PSI MIN.

AND Fb = 850 PSI. MIN. FOR NORMAL DURATION LOADING. EXAMPLES OF

ACCEPTABLE GRADE AND SPECIES OF FRAMING LUMBER INCLUDE #2 AND

BETTER SOUTHERN PINE, DOUGLAS FIR, HEM-FIR, AND SPRUCE-PINE-FIR.

2. PLYWOOD SHOULD BE RATED SHEATHING SPAN RATING 32/16, MIN. 23/32

THICKNESS.

3. NAILS SHALL BE COMMON WIRE NAILS AS SPECIFIED ON THE PLANS.

4. FOLLOW MANUFACTURER’S RECOMMENDATIONS FOR INSTALLATION OF

UPLIFT/SHEAR RESISTANCE CONNECTORS.

5. ALL PLYWOOD JOINTS SHOULD BE SOLIDLY BLOCKED w/ 2x6.

6. WALL AND CEILING PENETRATIONS THROUGH THE MISSILE PROTECTION

SHEATHING SHALL BE MINIMIZED.

7. DO NOT DRILL THROUGH WALL STUDS OR TOP AND BOTTOM PLATES FOR MEP

SUPPLY LINES OR VENTS. INSTALL MEP SUPPLY LINES AND VENTS IN PLUMBING

CHASE.

8. ALL WOOD FRAMING SHALL BE FREE OF LARGE KNOTS, WARPS, SPLITS, OR

DEFECTS.

9. WHERE CALLED FOR ON THE PLANS TO USE FRAMING ANCHORS USE GALVANIZED

OR CORROSION-RESISTANT EQUIVALENT STEEL FRAMING ANCHORS.

10. ALL LUMBER IN CONTACT WITH CONCRETE OR MASONRY SHALL BE TREATED AND

SHALL COMPLY WITH APPLICABLE REQUIREMENTS OF AWPA STANDARD U1, USE

CATEGORY UC3B.

11. AT OPENINGS PROVIDE FOUR (4) 2X TRIMMER STUDS AT EACH SIDE OF OPENING.

12. SHEATHING MAY BE INSTALLED ON INSIDE OR OUTSIDE FACE. SINGLE LAYER TO

BE INSTALLED ON OPPOSITE FACE.

COLD-FORM (LIGHT GAUGE) SHEATHING NOTES

1. YIELD STRENGTH FOR METAL IS 36 KSI MINIMUM

2. IN HURRICANE-PRONE REGIONS, ALL METAL SHOULD BE G60 GALVANIZED BY THE

MANUFACTURER.

3. SAFE ROOM W/ STEEL SHEATHING COVERED W/ GYP. BOARD FINISH OR OTHERWISE

SEPARATED FROM CONTACT BY SAFE ROOM OCCUPANTS NEED NOT BE GROUNDED.

4. SAFE ROOM W/ STEEL SHEATHING UNCOVERED AND AVAILABLE FOR CONTACT BY

SAFE ROOM OCCUPANTS MUST BE GROUNDED AT A SINGLE LOCATION W/ COPPER

WIRE AND GROUND ROD TO MEET NATIONAL ELECTRIC CODE AND LOCAL

REQUIREMENTS.

DESIGN CRITERIA FEMA P-320

1. DESIGN CODES IRC 2012 / IBC 2012 / FEMA P-361 3RD,2015 /ICC 500-2014

· RISK CATEGORY IV

2. GRAVITY LOADS

A. TYPICAL ROOF DEAD LOAD SELF WEIGHT

COLLATERAL LOAD 5 PSF

B. LIVE LOADS

TYPICAL ROOF LIVE LOAD (LR) 100 PSF MIN

C. ROOF SNOW LOAD

- CONSULT LOCAL PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER FOR THE DESIGN OF SNOW 

LOADS WHEN SNOW LOADS COULD EXCEED THE SPECIFIED ROOF LIVE 

LOAD.

3. LATERAL LOADS

A. WIND LOADS

WIND SPEED 250 MPH

WIND IMPORTANCE FACTOR (I) 1.0

EXPOSURE CATEGORY C

DIRECTIONALITY FACTOR (Kd) 1.0

TOPOGRAPHIC FACTOR (Kzt) 1.0

INTERNAL PRESSURE (GCpi) ±0.55

B. SEISMIC LOADS

- IN AREAS OF HIGH OR MODERATE SEISMIC DESIGN, CONSULT A LOCAL DESIGN

PROFESSIONAL. SEE SECTION 4.2 OF P-320 FOR MORE INFORMATION.

4. MISSILE IMPACT CRITERIA

· VERTICAL SURFACES 15 POUND 2x4 AT 100MPH

· HORIZONTAL SURFACES 15 POUND 2x4 AT 67MPH

DOOR NOTES

1. THE SELECTED DOOR SHALL MEET THE DESIGN CRITERIA OF 2015 FEMA P-361

AND 2014 ICC-500. ALL DOORS SHALL BE A TESTED ASSEMBLY AND INSTALLED

PER MANUFACTURES RECOMMENDATIONS.

2. FOR WOOD FRAMED SAFE ROOM, DOOR MUST BE PLACED ON LONGEST WALL.

3. FOR SMALL BUSINESS APPLICATIONS, DOORS ARE REQUIRED TO BE ADA

ACCESSIBLE WITH A MINIMUM WIDTH OF 3’-0”.

INSULATED CONCRETE FORMS GENERAL NOTES

1. ICF SYSTEM UTILIZED SHALL BE FLAT PANEL SYSTEM PROVIDING CONSISTENT WALL

THICKNESS ACROSS THE ENTIRE WALL. DO NOT USE WAFFLE, SCREEN, POST AND BEAM

ETC. ICF SYSTEMS.

2. EXTREME CARE SHOULD BE TAKEN WHEN VIBRATING THE CONCRETE INSIDE THE

PERMANENT ICF FORMS TO ASSURE CONSOLIDATION OF CONCRETE AND TO ELIMINATE

VOIDS IN THE WALL. LIKEWISE, CARE SHOULD BE TAKEN NOT TO OVER-VIBRATE

CONCRETE THUS SEGREGATING AGGREGATE.

3. REFERENCE ICF MANUFACTURE FOR MAXIMUM POUR HEIGHTS.

4. CONCRETE FOR ICF WALLS SHALL HAVE A 28-DAY COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF 4,000 PSI

WITH A SLUMP OF 6"+/-1" PER MANUFACTURE RECOMMENDATIONS. THE MAXIMUM WATER

TO CEMENT RATIO SHALL BE 0.45 BY WEIGHT.

REVISIONS
LAP SPLICE LENGTHS (INCHES)

TENSION (CLASS B SPLICE)

BAR f'c=3000 psi SIZE

TOP OTHER TOP OTHER

3 21 16 21 16 12

4 23 17 21 16 15

5 28 21 24 18 19

6 34 26 29 22 23

7 52 40 45 34 26

COMPRESSION

f'c=4000 psi f'c=5000 psi 3000, 4000 & 5000 psi

TOP OTHER

21 16

21 16

23 17

26 20

41 31

8 62 47 54 41 49 37 30

DEVELOPMENT LENGTHS (INCHES)

TENSION (CLASS B SPLICE)

BAR f'c=3000 psi SIZE

TOP OTHER TOP OTHER

3 25 17 15 19 8

4 33 22 19 26 11

5 42 28 24 32 14

6 50 33 29 39 16

7 72 48 42 56 19

COMPRESSION

f'c=4000 psi f'c=5000 psi 3000, 4000 & 5000 psi

TOP OTHER

13

17

22

26

37

8 82 55 47 64 42 22

NOTES:

1. TOP BARS ARE HORIZONTAL REINFORCEMENT PLACED SO THAT MORE THAN

12" OF FRESH CONCRETE IS CAST BELOW THE REINFORCEMENT.

2. LAP SPLICE LENGTHS ARE BASED ON BARS SPACED AT 4 BAR DIAMETERS

OR MORE ON CENTER. NOTIFY ENGINEER IF SPACING IS LESS THAN 4 BAR

DIAMETERS.

CONCRETE DEVELOPMENT AND SPLICE

22

29

36

43

63

71

MASONRY DEVELOPMENT AND SPLICE LENGTHS

BAR TENSION / COMPRESSION

SIZE

3 12

4 15

5 23

6 43

6" MASONRY 8" MASONRY

12

20

32

54

CONCRETE

ROOF DESIGN OPTIONS

MATERIAL SPAN 8 FT 10 FT 12 FT 14 FT

CONCRETE THICKNESS

REINFORCEMENT

4"

#4 BAR EW AT 10" OC

6"

#5 BAR EW AT 12" OC

6"

#5 BAR EW AT 6" OC

6"

#5 BAR EW AT 6" OC

WOOD JOIST(S) (2) 2x6 AT 12" OC (2) 2x8 AT 12" OC (2) 2x10 AT 12" OC (2) 2x10 AT 12" OC

NOTES:

1. WOOD FRAMED SAFE ROOMS CAN ONLY USE WOOD FRAMED ROOF DESIGNS

2. WHEN USING WOOD ROOF WITH CONCRETE, CMU, OR ICF WALLS, SHEATHING MUST BE INSTALLED ON INTERIOR OF CEILING AS

SHOWN ON DETAIL 9/SR1.0

≤ ≤ ≤

CONCRETE

FOOTING SCHEDULE

WALL TYPE ROOF TYPE FOOTING SIZE REINFORCEMENT

WOOD

CONCRETE

WOOD FRAME WOOD 4'-0" x 1'-6" x CONT (5) #5 BAR x CONT LONG. AND #5 BAR x 3'-6" TRANS AT 12" OC

6" CMU WOOD OR CONCRETE

WOOD / CMU INFILL WOOD

ICF WOOD

CONCRETE

3'-0" x 1'-3" x CONT

2'-3" x 1'-0" x CONT

2'-3" x 1'-3" x CONT

2'-0" x 1'-0" x CONT

2'-3" x 1'-3" x CONT

2'-0" x 1'-0" x CONT

(4) #5 BAR x CONT LONG. AND #5 BAR x 2'-6" TRANS AT 12" OC

(4) #5 BAR x CONT LONG. AND #5 BAR x 1'-9" TRANS AT 12" OC

(4) #5 BAR x CONT LONG. AND #5 BAR x 1'-9" TRANS AT 12" OC

(3) #5 BAR x CONT LONG. AND #5 BAR x 1'-6" TRANS AT 12" OC

(4) #5 BAR x CONT LONG. AND #5 BAR x 1'-9" TRANS AT 12" OC

(3) #5 BAR x CONT LONG. AND #5 BAR x 1'-6" TRANS AT 12" OC

8" CMU WOOD OR CONCRETE 2'-0" x 1'-0" x CONT (3) #5 BAR x CONT LONG. AND #5 BAR x 1'-6" TRANS AT 12" OC

LOCATION

A

REQUIRED UPLIFT

CAPACITY (LBS)

SIMPSON

STRONG-TIE

UNITED STEEL

PRODUCTS

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

800

1,850

1,500

1,500

800

1,500

1,700

1,700

HGA10

SSTB16 AND BPS 5/8-6*

2-MTS12

HETA16

HGAM10

LGT2

2-SP6

HETA 16 OR PAI23

HGA10

2-MTW12

HTA16

HGAM10

LUGT2

2-SPT6

2-HTA12

WOOD CONSTRUCTION CONNECTOR SCHEDULE

NOTES:

* THE PLATE WASHER SHALL BE CENTERED ON THE BOTTOM

PLATE WITH A STANDARD CUT WASHER BETWEEN THE PLATE

WASHER AND NUT. WHEN IN CONTACT WITH PRESERVATIVE

TREATED PLATE, IT IS RECOMMENDED TO INSTALL HOT-DIPPED

GALVANIZED (HDG) FINISH.

** AT TIME OF PUBLICATION, NO EQUIVALENT USP CONNECTOR

AVAILABLE. PLATE WASHER MAY BE FABRICATED FROM 3 GAGE

STEEL: 3" LONG x 4 1/2" WIDE

BECAUSE NOT ALL CONTRACTORS ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE TYPE

OF STRUCTURAL CONNECTORS SHOWN IN THESE DRAWINGS,

THE NAMES OF TWO COMPANIES THAT MANUFACTURE

CONNECTORS HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN THIS TABLE. THE LIST OF

COMPANIES IS NOT, HOWEVER, EXHAUSTIVE. ADDITIONALLY, THIS

LIST IS NOT INTENDED TO EXPRESS A PREFERENCE FOR THOSE

MANUFACTURERS AND / OR THEIR PRODUCTS BY THE UNITED

STATES GOVERNMENT NOR IS IT AN ENDORSEMENT OF THOSE

MANUFACTURERS AND / OR THEIR PRODUCTS.

USE ONLY HARDWARE THAT HAVE BEEN EVALUATED THROUGH

AN ANSI-APPROVED PRODUCT CERTIFICATION BODY SUCH AS

IAPMO-OES OR ICC-ES.

J 4,500 HDU8-SDS2.5 PHD8

STB16 **

WALL REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULE

WALL TYPE

WALL REINFORCEMENT OPENING REINFORCEMENT

NOTES

8" CMU (1) #5 BAR AT 40" OC 2

6" ICF

6" CONCRETE 2

1,2

VERTICAL HORIZONTAL VERTICAL (JAMB) HORIZONTAL (HEADER)

#4 BAR AT 12" OC

#4 BAR AT 12" OC

#4 BAR AT 12" OC

#4 BAR AT 12" OC

REINFORCEMENT PER GENERAL NOTES

(3) #5 BAR AT 6" OC *

(1) #5 BAR PER CELL OVER 2'-0" *

(3) #5 BAR AT 6" OC *

16" BOND BEAM w/ (1) #5 BAR TOP AND BTM

(1) #5 BAR TOP AND BTM

(1) #5 BAR TOP AND BTM

NOTES:

1. ICF WALL THICKNESS REFERS TO THE CONCRETE THICKNESS OF THE ICF WALL, NOT THE TOTAL THICKNESS OF THE WALL.

2. REFERENCE SPLICE TABLE FOR EXTENSION OF HEADER REINFORCEMENT PAST OPENING.

3. 6" CMU WALLS CAN ONLY BE USED ON SAFE ROOMS 8'-0"x8'-0" OR SMALLER

4" ICF #4 BAR AT 12" OC #4 BAR AT 12" OC (3) #5 BAR AT 6" OC * (1) #5 BAR TOP AND BTM 1,2

6" CMU (1) #5 BAR AT 16" OC REINFORCEMENT PER GENERAL NOTES (1) #5 BAR PER CELL OVER 2'-0" * 16" BOND BEAM w/ (1) #5 BAR TOP AND BTM 3

* AT 1'-4" WALL END, THIRD BAR MAY BE SET IN ADJACENT WALL

Copyright 2014

SHEET TITLE:

©

DRAWING NO:

DATE:

Sheet: of 12

FEMA P-320 (2014)

SR0.3

TABLES

DECEMBER 2014

4

FOOTING SCHEDULE

1 WALL REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULE

WOOD CONSTRUCTION CONNECTOR SCHEDULE

ROOF DESIGN OPTIONS

CONCRETE DEVELOPMENT AND SPLICE TABLE MASONRY DEVELOPMENT & SPLICE LENGTHS

REVISIONS

SR0.3

3

SR0.3

2

SR0.3

4

SR0.3

5

SR0.3

6

SR0.3
14' - 0" MAX

 8' - 0" MIN

14' - 0" M

A

X

 8' - 0" MIN

(TYP)

5 5/8" OR 

7 5/8" CMU

3

SR1.0

(TYP)

5 5/8" OR 

7 5/8" CMU

PROVIDE (1) #5 VERTICAL

BAR AT EVERY CORNER

AND ADJACENT CELL,

TYP

SEE SCHEDULE 1/SR0.3

FOR REINF

REQUIREMENTS

GROUT ALL

CELLS SOLID,

TYP

FOR JAMB REINF

SEE SCHEDULE 1/SR0.3

FOOTING BELOW

1' - 4" 3' - 4"

FINISH FLOOR

0' - 0"

TO WALL

8' - 0"

SR1.0

5 SR1.0

4

SR1.0

SR1.0 7

8

MAX

REINFORCEMENT NOT

SHOWN FOR CLARITY

14' - 0" MAX

 8' - 0" MIN

14' - 0" MAX

 8' - 0" MIN

SAFE ROOM

DOOR BY

OTHERS

DOOR CONNECTION

REQUIREMENTS IN

ACCORDANCE w/

DOOR MANUFACTURE

REINFORCEMENT NOT

SHOWN FOR CLARITY

TO SLAB

 #5 BAR CONTINUOUS

CONCRETE SLAB ON GRADE

PER GENERAL NOTES

FINISH GRADE

GROUT ALL CELLS

SOLID

1/2" CONCRETE ISOLATION JOINT 8"

TO FOOTING

#5 VERT BARS AT EACH VERT

BAR LOCATION, ALTERNATE

DIRECTION OF EVERY OTHER

BENT BAR

.

.

CONTINUOUS

REINFORCEMENT IN SAFE

ROOM WALLS, PER PLAN

CLR

3"

SEE SCHEDULE 2/SR0.3

FOR FOOTING SIZE AND

REINFORCING PER CODE MIN FROST DEPTH

#4 DOWEL AT 24" OC

TO SLAB

 #5 BAR CONTINUOUS

CONCRETE SOG

PER GENERAL NOTES

CMU WALLSEE PLAN

FINISH GRADE

8"

CMU WALL BEYOND

BOND BEAM W/ (1) #5

CONT. (USE #4 BAR IF

USING 6" MASONRY UNITS)

TO FOOTING

GROUT ALL CELLS

BELOW GRADE SOLID

#5 VERT BARS AT EACH

VERT BAR LOCATION,

ALTERNATE DIRECTION

OF EVERY OTHER BENT

. BAR

.

CONTINUOUS

REINFORCEMENT IN

SAFE ROOM WALLS,

PER PLAN

CLR

3"

SEE SCHEDULE 2/SR0.3 FOR

FOOTING SIZE AND REINFORCINGPER CODE MIN FROST DEPTH

#4 DOWEL AT 24" OC

SEE SCHEDULE 2/SR0.3

FOR FOOTING SIZE AND

REINFORCING

.

CONCRETE SLAB ON GRADE

PER GENERAL NOTES

CONTINUOUS

REINFORCEMENT IN SAFE

ROOM WALLS, PER PLAN

3" CLR TYP

.

#5 VERT BARS AT EACH VERT

BAR LOCATION, ALTERNATE

DIRECTION OF EVERY OTHER

BENT BAR

TO SLAB

8" 8"

CONCRETE ROOF, SEE

SCHEDULE 3/SR0.3 FOR

THICKNESS & REINFORCING

#4 BAR AT 16" OC (SEE GENERAL

NOTES FOR SPLICE LENGTHS) MIN.

TURN DOWN INTO WALL IS 24"

(LONG) FROM BOTTOM OF SLAB

CMU WALL PER PLAN

BOND BEAM PER GENERAL NOTES #4 BAR AT 16" OC (SEE GENERAL

NOTES FOR SPLICE LENGTHS)

MIN. TURN DOWN INTO WALL IS

14" (LONG) FROM BOTTOM OF

SLAB

CONCRETE ROOF, SEE

SCHEDULE 3/SR0.3 FOR

THICKNESS & REINFORCING

16" BOND BEAM w/ (1) #5 BAR TOP

AND BOTTOM (USE #4 BAR IF

USING 6" MASONRY UNITS)

BOND BEAM w/ (1) #5

(USE #4 BAR IF USING 6"

MASONRY UNITS)

CMU, ICF OR CONCRETE

WALL PER PLAN

CONNECTOR "D" SEE

SCHEDULE 4/SR0.3

CEILING PER DETAIL 8

SHEET SR1.3

CEILING JOIST, SEE

SCHEDULE 3/SR0.3 FOR

SIZING AND SPACING

DO NOT ATTACH SHELTER

CEILING TO FLOOR OR

CEILING ABOVE

CONNECTOR "E" TYP,

SEE SCHEDULE 4/SR0.3

2xPT RIM BOARD

NOTE:

1. FINISHED FLOOR ELEVATION SHALL BE

LESS THAN 5 FT ABOVE LOWEST

FINISHED ADJACENT GRADE ELEVATION

2. SEE SR0.3 FOR SCHEDULES

1' - 0" 4' - 0"

3" CLR

3" CLR

STANDARD 90 DEG

HOOK, TYP

#5 NOSING BAR, TYP

#5 DOWEL AT 12" OC

CENTERLINE OF STEP

DOWELS TO MATCH

FOOTING REINF SIZE

AND QUANTITY

LAP

SPLICE

LAP

SPLICE AS

REQ'D

NOTE: SPLICE TOP REINFORCING THE SAME AS BOTTOM WHERE TOP AND

BOTTOM REINFORCING IS INDICATED. SEE SCHEDULE 6/SR0.3 3" CLR 3" MIN.

TO FOOTING

TO FOOTING

SEE SCHEDULE 2/SR0.3 FOR SIZE AND REINFORCING

3" CLR

SEE SCHEDULE

2/SR0.3 FOR SIZE AND

REINFORCING

 NOTE

 NOTE

Copyright 2014

SHEET TITLE:

©

DRAWING NO:

DATE:

Sheet: of 12

FEMA P-320 (2014)

SR1.0

CMU SAFE ROOM PLANS AND DETAILS

DECEMBER 2014

5

SR1.0 Scale: 1/4" = 1'-0"

1 CMU FOUNDATION PLAN

SR1.0 Scale: 1/4" = 1'-0"

3 CMU CROSS SECTION

SR1.0 Scale: 1/4" = 1'-0"

2 CMU FLOOR PLAN

SR1.0 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

4 CMU EXTERIOR WALL FOUNDATION

SR1.0 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

5 CMU EXTERIOR WALL FOUNDATION AT DOOR

SR1.0 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

6 ALT CMU INTERIOR WALL THICKENED SLAB

SR1.0 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

7 CMU SECTION AT TOP

SR1.0 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

8 CMU SECTION AT DOOR BEAM

SR1.0 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

9 ALT WALL/CEILING CONNECTION

SR1.0 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

10 TYPICAL FOOTING STEP

REVISIONS
3

SR1.1

14' - 0" MAX

 8' - 0" MIN

14' - 0" MAX

 8' - 0" MIN

1' - 4" 3' - 4"

SEE SCHEDULE 1/SR0.3

FOR REINF REQUIREMENTS

SR1.1

9

FOOTING BELOW

FOR JAMB REINF

SEE SCHEDULE 1/SR0.3

6" TYP

14' - 0" MAX

 8' - 0" MIN

14' - 0" MAX

8' - 0" MIN

SAFE ROOM DOOR BY

OTHERS

DOOR CONNECTION

REQUIREMENTS IN

ACCORDANCE w/ DOOR

MANUFACTURE

REINFORCEMENT NOT

SHOWN FOR CLARITY

FINISH FLOOR

0' - 0"

TO WALL

8' - 0"

SR1.1

4

SR1.1

5

SR1.1

8

SR1.1

7

CIP WALL

PER PLAN

REINFORCEMENT NOT

SHOWN FOR CLARITY

REINFORCEMENT NOT

SHOWN FOR CLARITY

MAX

TO SLAB

CONCRETE SLAB ON GRADE PER

GENERAL NOTES

FINISHED GRADE

TO FOOTING

#5 BARS CONT

1/2" CONCRETE ISOLATION JOINT

CIP WALL PER

PLAN

.

MIN

3" TYP

.

#5 BARS AT EACH VERT LOCATION,

ALTERNATE DIRECTION OF EVERY

OTHER BENT BAR

SEE SCHEDULE 2/SR0.3 FOR

FOOTING SIZE AND REINFORCING

PER CODE

MIN FROST DEPTH

CONT REINF IN SAFE ROOM

WALL PER PLAN

#4 DOWEL AT 24" OC

8"

FINISHED GRADE TO SLAB

TO FOOTING

.

PER CODE

MIN FROST DEPTH

MIN

3" TYP

#5 BARS CONT

CIP WALL PER

PLAN

.

WALL BEYOND

CONCRETE SLAB ON GRADE PER

GENERAL NOTES

#5 BARS AT EACH VERT LOCATION,

ALTERNATE DIRECTION OF EVERY

OTHER BENT BAR

SEE SCHEDULE 2/SR0.3

FOR FOOTING SIZE AND

REINFORCING

CONT REINF IN SAFE ROOM

WALL PER PLAN

#4 DOWEL AT 24" OC 8"

CIP WALL PER

PLAN

SEE SCHEDULE

2/SR0.3 FOR FOOTING

SIZE AND

REINFORCING

.

CONCRETE SLAB ON GRADE

PER GENERAL NOTES

3" CLR TYP

.

TO SLAB

8" 8"

#4 BAR AT 16" OC (SEE GENERAL

NOTES FOR SPLICE LENGTHS) MIN.

TURN DOWN INTO WALL IS 24"

(LONG) FROM BOTTOM OF SLAB

CIP WALL

PER PLAN VARIES

CONCRETE ROOF, SEE SCHEDULE

3/SR0.3 FOR THICKNESS &

REINFORCING. SEE 9/SR1.0 FOR ALT

WOOD ROOF CONNECTION

#4 BAR AT 16" OC (SEE GENERAL

NOTES FOR SPLICE LENGTHS) MIN.

TURN DOWN INTO WALL IS 14"

(LONG) FROM BOTTOM OF SLAB

VARIES

1' - 4" MIN

CIP WALL

PER PLAN

CONCRETE ROOF, SEE SCHEUDLE

3/SR0.3 FOR THICKNESS &

REINFORCING. SEE 9/SR1.0 FOR ALT

WOOD ROOF CONNECTION

LAP SPLICE PER

TABLE ON

CONCRETE OPTION

CIP WALL PER PLAN

NOTE:

1. FINISHED FLOOR ELEVATION SHALL BE

LESS THAN 5 FT ABOVE LOWEST

FINISHED ADJACENT GRADE ELEVATION

2. SEE SR0.3 FOR SCHEDULES

Copyright 2014

SHEET TITLE:

©

DRAWING NO:

DATE:

Sheet: of 12

FEMA P-320 (2014)

SR1.1

CONCRETE SAFE ROOM PLANS AND DETAILS

DECEMBER 2014

6

SR1.1 Scale: 1/4" = 1'-0"

1 CONCRETE FOUNDATION PLAN

SR1.1 Scale: 1/4" = 1'-0"

2 CONCRETE FLOOR PLAN

SR1.1 Scale: 1/4" = 1'-0"

3 CONCRETE CROSS SECTION

SR1.1 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

4 CONC EXTERIOR WALL FOUNDATION

SR1.1 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

5 CONC EXTERIOR WALL FOUNDATION AT DOOR

SR1.1 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

6 ALT CONC INTERIOR WALL THICKENED SLAB

SR1.1 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

7 CONC SECTION AT TOP

SR1.1 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

8 CONC SECTION AT DOOR BEAM

SR1.1 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

9 CONC SECTION AT CORNER

REVISIONS
14' - 0" MAX

 8' - 0" MIN

14' - 0" MAX

 8' - 0" MIN

3

SR1.2

SR1.2

9

SEE SCHEDULE 1/SR0.3

FOR REINF REQUIREMENTS

FOOTING BELOW 1' - 4" 3' - 4"

FOR JAMB REINF

SEE SCHEDULE 1/SR0.3

SEE 9/SR1.2

4" OR 6" TYP

14' - 0" MAX

 8' - 0" MIN

SAFE ROOM DOOR BY

OTHERS

14' - 0" MAX

 8' - 0" MIN

DOOR CONNECTION

REQUIREMENTS IN

ACCORDANCE w/ DOOR

MANUFACTURE

REINFORCEMENT NOT

SHOWN FOR CLARITY

FINISH FLOOR

0' - 0"

TO WALL

8' - 0"

ICF WALL PER PLAN

SR1.2

5

SR1.2

4

SR1.2

7

SR1.2

8

REINFORCEMENT NOT

SHOWN FOR CLARITY

REINFORCEMENT NOT

SHOWN FOR CLARITY

MAX

TO SLAB FINISHED GRADE

TO FOOTING

#5 BARS CONT

1/2" CONCRETE ISOLATION JOINT ICF WALL PER

PLAN

.

MIN

3" TYP

.

PER CODE

MIN FROST DEPTH

CONCRETE SLAB ON GRADE PER

GENERAL NOTES

CONT REINF IN SAFE ROOM

WALL PER PLAN

#5 BARS AT EACH VERT LOCATION,

ALTERNATE DIRECTION OF EVERY

OTHER BENT BAR

SEE SCHEDULE 2/SR0.3 FOR

FOOTING SIZE AND REINFORCING

#4 DOWEL AT 24" OC

8"

TO SLAB

CONCRETE SLAB ON GRADE PER

FINISHED GRADE GENERAL NOTES

CONT REINF IN SAFE ROOM WALL PER PLAN

TO FOOTING

.

PER CODE

MIN FROST DEPTH

MIN

3" TYP

#5 BARS CONT

ICF WALL PER

PLAN

.

#5 BARS AT EACH VERT LOCATION, ALTERNATE

DIRECTION OF EVERY OTHER BENT BAR

SEE SCHEDULE 2/SR0.3

FOR FOOTING SIZE AND

REINFORCING

WALL BEYOND #4 DOWEL AT 24" OC 8"

#4 BAR AT 16" OC (SEE GENERAL

NOTES FOR SPLICE LENGTHS) MIN.

TURN DOWN INTO WALL IS 24"

(LONG) FROM BOTTOM OF SLAB

ICF WALL PER

PLAN VARIES

CONCRETE ROOF, SEE SCHEDULE

3/SR0.3 FOR THICKNESS &

REINFORCING.SEE 9/SR1.0 FOR

ALT WOOD ROOF CONNECTION

LAP SPLICE PER

TABLE ON

CONCRETE OPTION

ICF WALL PER PLAN

THICKNESS

SEE SCHEDULE 1/SR0.3

ON SR0.3 FOR CONC

#4 BAR AT 16" OC (SEE GENERAL

NOTES FOR SPLICE LENGTHS) MIN.

TURN DOWN INTO WALL IS 14"

(LONG) FROM BOTTOM OF SLAB

VARIES

ICF WALL PER

PLAN

1' - 4"

CONCRETE ROOF, SEE SCHEUDLE

3/SR0.3 FOR THICKNESS &

REINFORCING. SEE 9/SR1.0 FOR

ALT WOOD ROOF CONNECTION

SEE SCHEDULE 2/SR0.3

FOR FOOTING SIZE AND

REINFORCING .

CONCRETE SLAB ON GRADE

PER GENERAL NOTES

3" CLR TYP

.

TO SLAB

ICF WALL PER

PLAN

CONT REINF IN SAFE ROOM

WALL PER PLAN

#5 BARS AT EACH VERT

LOCATION, ALTERNATE

DIRECTION OF EVERY OTHER

BENT BAR

8" 8"

NOTE:

1. FINISHED FLOOR ELEVATION SHALL BE

LESS THAN 5 FT ABOVE LOWEST

FINISHED ADJACENT GRADE ELEVATION

2. SEE SR0.3 FOR SCHEDULES

Copyright 2014

SHEET TITLE:

©

DRAWING NO:

DATE:

Sheet: of 12

FEMA P-320 (2014)

SR1.2

ICF SAFE ROOM PLANS AND DETAILS

DECEMBER 2014

7

SR1.2 Scale: 1/4" = 1'-0"

1 ICF FOUNDATION PLAN

SR1.2 Scale: 1/4" = 1'-0"

2 ICF FLOOR PLAN

SR1.2 Scale: 1/4" = 1'-0"

3 ICF CROSS SECTION

SR1.2 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

4 ICF EXTERIOR WALL FOUNDATION

SR1.2 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

5 ICF EXTERIOR WALL FOUNDATION AT DOOR

SR1.2 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

7 ICF SECTION AT TOP

SR1.2 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

9 ICF CORNER DETAIL

SR1.2 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

8 ICF SECTION AT DOOR BEAM

SR1.2 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

6 ALT ICF INTERIOR WALL THICKENED SLAB

REVISIONS
14' - 0" MAX

8' - 0" MIN

3

SR1.3

14' - 0" MAX

8' - 0" MIN

SR1.3

6

SR1.3

7

(4) 2x6 STUDS

EACH SIDE OF

DOOR 1' - 0"

3' - 4"

FOOTING BELOW

14' - 0" MAX

8' - 0" MIN

14' - 0" MAX

8' - 0" MIN

SAFE ROOM DOOR BY OTHERS

LOCATE DOOR

ALONG LONGEST

WALL

DOOR CONNECTION

REQUIREMENTS IN

ACCORDANCE w/ DOOR

MANUFACTURE

FINISH FLOOR

0' - 0"

SR1.3

SR1.3 4

5

SR1.3

8

BLOCKING AT

SHEATHING JOINT

LOCATIONS, REFER TO

SHEATHING

REQUIREMENTS SHEET

BLOCKING AT

QUARTER

POINTS

SR1.4

8 SIM

REINFORCEMENT

NOT SHOWN FOR

CLARITY

MAX

TO WALL

8' - 0"

CONCRETE SLAB ON GRADE

PER GENERAL NOTES

FINISHED GRADE

#5 BARS AT 18" OC

#5 BARS CONT

8" CONCRETE

WALL

SHEATHING SEE SR2.1

STUD WALL PER PLAN

#5 BARS AT 18" OC, ALTERNATE

DIRECTION OF EVERY OTHER BENT BAR

SEE SCHEDULE 2/SR0.3

FOR FOOTING SIZE AND

REINFORCING

#4 DOWEL AT 24" OC

SEE WOOD WALL BASE PLAN

FOR WALL REQUIREMENTS

TO SLAB

TO FOOTING

.

MIN

3" TYP

.

2' - 6" MIN

8"

TO SLAB

CONCRETE SLAB ON GRADE PER

GENERAL NOTES

FINISHED GRADE

#5 BARS AT 18" OC

TO FOOTING

#5 BARS CONT

8" CONCRETE

WALL

.

MIN

3" TYP

. #5 BARS AT 18" OC, ALTERNATE

DIRECTION OF EVERY OTHER BENT BAR

SEE SCHEDULE 2/SR0.3

FOR FOOTING SIZE AND

REINFORCING

2' - 6" MIN

WALL BEYOND

#4 DOWEL AT 24" OC

8"

DBL 2"x6" STUDS AT

12" OC, NAILED AT

6" OC, STAGGERED

ON EACH SIDE w/

16d NAILS

14 GA STEEL

SHEATHING

CONTINUOUS

SEE SR2.1

(2) LAYERS 3/4"

PLYWOOD

SEE SR2.1

STUD TO SILLPLATE

CONNECTOR "G" (TYP) SEE

SCHEDULE 4/SR0.3

CONNECTOR "B" TYP AT

24" OC AND W/IN 12" OF

DOOR OPENING, SEE

4/SR0.3

(1) LAYER 3/4" PLYWOOD

CONNECTOR "A" TYP AT

EACH STUD, SEE

SCHEDULE 4/SR0.3

SEE WOOD WALL BASE

PLAN FOR WALL

REQUIREMENTS

14 GA STEEL SHEATHING

CONTINUOUS TO INSIDE

CORNER

(2) LAYERS 3/4" PLYWOOD

CONTINUOUS TO INSIDE

CORNER

DO NOT ATTACH SAFE

ROOM CEILING TO FLOOR

OR CEILING ABOVE

WOOD JOIST, SEE SCHEDULE

3/SR0.3 FOR MEMBER SIZE

AND SPACING

DBL 2"x6" TOP PLATE, NO

SPLICING PERMITTED

CONNECTOR "F" SEE

SCHEDULE 4/SR0.3

2x RIM JOIST BLOCKING AT QUARTER

POINTS

CONNECTOR "A" TYP,

SEE SCHEDULE 4/SR0.3

SPLICE SECOND LAYER

OF SHEATHING HERE IF

NEEDED

14 GA STEEL SHEATHING

CONTINUOUS TO INSIDE

CORNER

(2) LAYERS 3/4" PLYWOOD

CONTINUOUS TO INSIDE

CORNER

DO NOT ATTACH SAFE ROOM

CEILING TO FLOOR OR CEILING

ABOVE

WOOD JOIST, SEE SCHEDULE

3/SR0.3 FOR MEMBER SIZE

AND SPACING

BLOCKING AT QUARTER

POINTS

NOTE:

WOOD ROOF WITH EXTERIOR SHEATHING NOT TO BE USED ON CONCRETE, CMU, OR ICF WALL TYPES INTERIOR

OF SAFE

ROOM

2"x6" NAILER CONNECTED

w/ 16d NAILS AT 12" OC

2"x6" NAILER

CONNECTED w/ 16d

NAILS AT 12" OC

QUAD 2"x6" CORNER

STUDS

CONNECTOR B (TYP) AT 24"

OC AND W/IN 12" OF DOOR

OPENING, SEE SCHEDULE

4/SR0.3

CONNECTOR "J" SEE

SCHEDULE 4/SR0.3

CONNECTOR B (TYP)

AT 24" OC AND WITHIN

12" OF CONNECTOR

"J" AND W/IN 12" OF

DOOR OPENING

NOTE:

1. FINISHED FLOOR ELEVATION SHALL BE

LESS THAN 5 FT ABOVE LOWEST

FINISHED ADJACENT GRADE ELEVATION

2. SEE SR0.3 FOR SCHEDULES

Copyright 2014

SHEET TITLE:

©

DRAWING NO:

DATE:

Sheet: of 12

FEMA P-320 (2014)

SR1.3

WOOD FRAME SAFE ROOM PLANS AND DETAILS

DECEMBER 2014

8

SR1.3 Scale: 1/4" = 1'-0"

1 WOOD FRAME FOUNDATION PLAN

SR1.3 Scale: 1/4" = 1'-0"

2 WOOD FLOOR PLAN

SR1.3 Scale: 1/4" = 1'-0"

3 WOOD CROSS SECTION

SR1.3 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

4 WOOD EXTERIOR WALL FOUNDATION

SR1.3 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

5 WOOD EXTERIOR WALL FOUNDATION AT DOOR

SR1.3 Scale: 3/4" = 1'-0"

6 WOOD WALL BASE PLAN VIEW

SR1.3 Scale: 3/4" = 1'-0"

8 WOOD CEILING ATTACHMENT

SR1.3 Scale: 3/4" = 1'-0"

9 WOOD CEILING ALTERNATE (WOOD FRAME SAFE ROOM ONLY)

SR1.3 Scale: 3/4" = 1'-0"

7 WOOD WALL CORNER PLAN

REVISIONS
14' - 0" MAX

8' - 0" MIN

14' - 0" MAX

8' - 0" MIN

3

SR1.4

SR1.4

9

SR1.4

6 (4) 2x6 STUDS

EACH SIDE OF

DOOR

1' - 0"

3' - 4"

FOOTING BELOW

14' - 0" MAX

8' - 0" MIN

14' - 0" MAX

8' - 0" MIN

SAFE ROOM DOOR BY

OTHERS

LOCATE DOOR

ALONG LONGEST

WALL

DOOR CONNECTION

REQUIREMENTS IN

ACCORDANCE w/

DOOR MANUFACTURE

FINISH FLOOR

0' - 0"

SR1.4

4

SR1.4

5

SR1.4

SR1.4 7

8

BLOCKING AT

QUARTER

POINTS

REINFORCEMENT NOT

SHOWN FOR CLARITY

MAX

TO WALL

8' - 0"

WALL FINISH

DBL 2"x6" STUDS AT 12" OC,

NAILED AT 6" OC, STAGGERED

ON EACH SIDE w/ 16d NAILS

(1) LAYER 3/4"

PLYWOOD

STUD TO SILLPLATE

CONNECTOR "G" (TYP)

SEE SCHEDULE 4/SR0.3

CONNECTOR "B" TYP AT

24" OC, AND W/IN 12" OF

DOOR OPENINGS, SEE

SCHEDULE 4/SR0.3

(2) LAYERS 3/4"

PLYWOOD SEE S2.1

NOTE:

USE EXPANSION FOAM TO FILL

ALL SPACES AROUND CMU

6" SOLID MASONRY

DRY STACKED

VERTICALLY

DBL 2x6 SILL PLATE

BELOW BLOCK

1' - 0" O.C.

1/8" FURRING STRIP

ATTACH TO FACE OF

DBL 2x6

CONNECTOR "A" TYP, SEE

SCHEDULE 4/SR0.3

INTERIOR

OF SAFE

ROOM

2"x6" NAILER CONNECTED

w/ 16d NAILS AT 12" OC

2"x6" NAILER

CONNECTED w/ 16d

NAILS AT 12" OC

QUAD 2"x6" CORNER

STUDS

SEE WOOD / CMU

INFILL WALL BASE

PLAN FOR WALL

REQUIREMENTS

1/8" FURRING STRIP

CONNECTOR B (TYP)

CONNECTOR "J" SEE AT 24" OC

SCHEDULE 4/SR0.3

CONNECTOR "B" (TYP)

AT 24" OC AND WITHIN

12" OF CONNECTOR

"J" SEE SCHEDULE

4/SR0.3

TO SLAB

CONCRETE SLAB ON GRADE PER

GENERAL NOTES

FINISHED GRADE

#5 BARS AT 18" OC

TO FOOTING

#5 BARS CONT

8" CONCRETE

WALL

.

MIN

3" TYP

.

#5 BARS AT 18" OC, ALTERNATE

DIRECTION OF EVERY OTHER BENT

BAR

SEE SCHEDULE 2/SR0.3

FOR SIZE AND

REINFORCING

2' - 6" MIN

#4 DOWEL AT 24" OC

SHEATHING SEE

SR2.1

6" SOLID MASONRY DRY

STACKED VERTICALLY

SEE WOOD / CMU INFILL

WALL BASE PLAN FOR

WALL REQUIREMENTS

8"

TO SLAB

CONCRETE SLAB ON GRADE PER

GENERAL NOTES

FINISHED GRADE

#5 BARS AT 18" OC

TO FOOTING

#5 BARS CONT

8" CONCRETE

WALL

.

MIN

3" TYP

. #5 BARS AT 18" OC, ALTERNATE

DIRECTION OF EVERY OTHER BENT BAR

SEE SCHEDULE

2/SR0.3 FOR SIZE

AND REINFORCING

2' - 6" MIN

WALL BEYOND

#4 DOWEL AT 24" OC

8"

SEE WOOD / CMU INFILL

WALL BASE PLAN FOR

WALL REQUIREMENTS

14 GA STEEL SHEATHING

CONTINUOUS TO INSIDE

CORNER

(2) LAYERS 3/4" PLYWOOD

CONTINUOUS TO INSIDE

CORNER

DO NOT ATTACH SAFE ROOM CEILING

TO FLOOR OR CEILING ABOVE

WOOD JOIST, SEE SCHEDULE 3/SR0.3

FOR MEMBER SIZE AND SPACING

CONNECTOR "F" SEE

SCHEDULE 4/SR0.3

DBL 2"x6" TOP PLATE, NO

SPLICING PERMITTED

BLOCKING AT QUARTER

POINTS

2x RIM JOIST

CONNECTOR "A" SEE

SCHEDULE 4/SR0.3

SPLICE SECOND LAYER

OF SHEATHING HERE IF

NEEDED

INTERIOR

OF SAFE

ROOM

CMU FILLER,

NOT AT SIM

(3) 2x6 HEADER w/ (2) 1/2"

LAYERS OF PLYWOOD

NOTE:

1. FINISHED FLOOR ELEVATION SHALL BE

LESS THAN 5 FT ABOVE LOWEST

FINISHED ADJACENT GRADE ELEVATION

2. SEE SR0.3 FOR SCHEDULES

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FEMA P-320 (2014)

SR1.4

WOOD / CMU INFILL FRAME SAFE ROOM AND

DETAILS

DECEMBER 2014

9

SR1.4 Scale: 1/4" = 1'-0"

1 WOOD / CMU INFILL FOUNDATION PLAN

SR1.4 Scale: 1/4" = 1'-0"

2 WOOD / CMU INFILL FLOOR PLAN

SR1.4 Scale: 1/4" = 1'-0"

3 WOOD / CMU INFILL CROSS SECTION

SR1.4 Scale: 3/4" = 1'-0"

6 WOOD / CMU INFILL BASE PLAN

SR1.4 Scale: 3/4" = 1'-0"

9 WOOD / CMU INFILL CORNER PLAN

SR1.4 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

4 WOOD / CMU INFILL EXTERIOR WALL FND

SR1.4 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

5 WOOD / CMU INFILL EXTERIOR WALL FND AT DOOR

SR1.4 Scale: 3/4" = 1'-0"

7 WOOD / CMU INFILL CEILING ATTACHMENT

SR1.4 Scale: 3/4" = 1'-0"

8 WOOD / CMU INFILL DOOR HEAD

REVISIONS
1' - 0" MIN

1' - 0" MIN

SEE SR1.1 AND SR1.4

FOR SAFE ROOM WALL,

FOUNDATION, AND

CEILING DETAILS

REINFORCED

CMU AND

CONCRETE

WALLS

3

SR1.5

2

SR1.5

SR1.5

4

SR1.5

5

CONNECT WOOD SAFE ROOM WALL

TO FND WALL w/ 1/2" DIA ANCHOR

BOLTS AT 24" OC, MIN 2 1/8"

EMBEDMENT (EXPANSION OR EPOXY

SET)

WOOD SAFE ROOM WALL

REINFORCE WALL A

1' - 0"

MINIMUM OF 1'-0" BEYOND

SAFE ROOM INTERIOR WALL

REINFORCE INTERSECTION

VERTICALLY w/ #5 BARS AT 16" OC,

INSERT INTO EACH WALL MIN 24"

CMU, ICF, OR

CONCRETE SAFE ROOM

WALL

REINFORCE WALL A MINIMUM

OF 1'-0" BEYOND SAFE ROOM

INTERIOR WALL

1' - 0"

VERTICAL REINFORCEMENT

CONTINUOUS TO FOOTING

AND PROPERLY INTEGRATED

w/ FOOTING REINFORCEMENT

CONNECTOR "C" SEE

SCHEDULE 4/SR0.3

2"x12" PT LEDGER BOARD ATTACHED

TO FOUNDATION WALLS WITH 1/2"

EXPANSION OR EPOXY A.B. TO

RESIST 1,300 LBS INSTALL AT 16" OC

MINIMUM REINF SHALL BE #5 BARS AT 24"

OC VERTICALLY. INSTALL HORIZONTAL

REINFORCING PER GENERAL NOTES.

GROUT WALLS SOLID FULL HEIGHT PER

GENERAL NOTES, CONSULT w/ LOCAL

PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER FOR

ADDITIONAL REINFORCEMENT CRITERIA

FOR NON SAFE ROOM LOADS

CONNECTOR "H" EACH

JOIST PAIR SEE SCHEDULE

4/SR0.3

SAFE ROOM CEILING

SYSTEM PER PLAN

SHEETS

BOND BEAM BY OTHERS

8" BOND BEAM w/ (1) #5 BAR

AT BEARING ELEVATION

CMU WALL (8" MIN) AND

FOOTING BY OTHERS

VERTICAL REINFORCEMENT

CONTINUOUS TO FOOTING

AND PROPERLY INTEGRATED

w/ FOOTING REINFORCEMENT

CONNECTOR "C" SEE

SCHEDULE 4/SR0.3

CAST IN PLACE CONCRETE

WALL AND FOOTING BY OTHERS

2"x12" PT LEDGER BOARD

ATTACHED TO FOUNDATION

WALLS WITH 1/2" EXPANSION OR

EPOXY A.B. TO RESIST 1,300 LBS,

INSTALL AT 16" OC

MINIMUM REINF SHALL BE #4

BARS AT 12" OC, EW, FULL

HEIGHT, CONSULT w/ LOCAL

PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER FOR

ADDITIONAL REINFORCEMENT

CRITERIA FOR NON SAFE ROOM

LOADS

CONNECTOR EACH JOIST

PAIR "H" SEE SCHEDULE

4/SR0.3

SAFE ROOM CEILING

SYSTEM PER PLAN

SHEETS

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FEMA P-320 (2014)

SR1.5

DETAILS FOR SAFE ROOMS THAT USE

BASEMENT WALLS

DECEMBER 2014

10

SR1.5 Scale: 1/4" = 1'-0"

1 CORNER SAFEROOM PARTIAL PLAN

SR1.5 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

4 ALTERNATIVE WOOD SAFE ROOM TO FOUNDATION WALL

SR1.5 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

5 ALTERNATIVE CMU SAFE ROOM TO FOUNDATION WALL

SR1.5 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

2 ALTERNATIVE CMU FOUNDATION ELEVATION

SR1.5 Scale: 1/2" = 1'-0"

3 ALTERNATIVE CIP FOUNDATION ELEVATION

REVISIONS
8' - 0" MAX

WALL HEIGHT VARIES

14' - 0" MAX

8' - 0" MIN

DBL 2x6 TOP PLATE

2x6 SOLID WOOD BLOCKING AT

PLYWOOD JOINTS

DBL 2x6 BOTTOM PLATE

1ST LAYER = 14 GAGE STEEL

SHEATHING, MINIMALLY

SECURED w/ 1/4" x 1" SELFTAPPING SCREWS OR DRILL

AND SECURE w/ #6 x 1 1/2"

WOOD DECK SCREWS OR 8d

NAILS TO HOLD IN PLACE.

DBL 2x6 STUDS SPACED

PER PLANS

2ND LAYER = 3/4" PLYWOOD,

MINIMALLY SECURED w/ 1/4" x

1 1/2" SELF-TAPPING SCREWS

OR DRILL AND SECURE w/ #6 x

1 1/2" WOOD DECK SCREWS

OR 8d NAILS TO HOLD IN

PLACE.

3RD LAYER = 3/4" PLYWOOD,

SECURED w/ 1/4" x 3" SELFTAPPING SCREWS OR DRILL

AND SECURE w/ #8 x 3"

WOOD DECK SCREWS OR

16d NAILS, SPACED PER

SHEATHING ATTACHMENT

SCHEDULE

3RD LAYER 2ND LAYER 1ST LAYER

RIM JOIST

NOTE:

1. SHEATHING ATTACHMENT VARIES BASED ON WALL LENGTH, SEE

ATTACHMENT SCHEDULE FOR PROPER SPACING.

2. PROTECTION LAYERS ARE TO BE INSTALLED ALTERNATING THE

LONG AXIS OF THE MATERIAL FROM HORIZONTAL TO VERTICAL.

3. MINIMUM UNBROKEN WALL LENGTH IS 3' - 6".

4. WITH CMU INFILL OPTION, OMIT STEEL LAYER AND INSTALL 2ND

LAYER PER ATTACHMENT OF FINAL LAYER REQUIREMENTS

5. MINIMUM SHEATHING PIECE WIDTH OF 1' - 0". EXCEPTION:

SECOND LAYER OF DETAIL 1/SR2.1 MAY REQUIRE UPPER

SHEATHING PIECE WIDTH TO BE 7", 8-3/4", OR 10-3/4" DEPENDING

ON JOIST DEPTH.

6. SHEATHING MAY BE INSTALLED ON INSIDE OR OUTSIDE FACE.

SINGLE LAYER TO BE INSTALLED ON OPPOSITE FACE.

WALL LENGTH

3'-6" TO 5'-0"

5'-1" TO 7'-0"

7'-1" TO 14'-0"

16d NAILS

2" OC AT EDGES

6" OC IN FIELD

3" OC AT EDGES

6" OC IN FIELD

4" OC AT EDGES

6" OC IN FIELD

#8x3" WOOD DECK

SCREWS

2" OC AT EDGES

6" OC IN FIELD

3" OC AT EDGES

6" OC IN FIELD

4" OC AT EDGES

6" OC IN FIELD

1/4"x3" SELF

TAPPING SCREWS

3" OC AT EDGES

6" OC IN FIELD

4" OC AT EDGES

6" OC IN FIELD

6" OC AT EDGES

6" OC IN FIELD

SHEATHING ATTACHMENT SCHEDULE

NOTE:

FOR PRE-DRILLED OPTION, ONLY PRE-DRILL THROUGH SHEATHING,

DO NOT PRE-DRILL BASE MATERIAL

8' - 0" MAX

WALL HEIGHT VARIES

14' - 0" MAX

8' - 0" MIN

DBL 2x6 TOP PLATE

2x6 SOLID WOOD BLOCKING AT

PLYWOOD JOINTS

DBL 2x6 BOTTOM PLATE

1ST LAYER = 3/4" PLYWOOD,

MINIMALLY SECURED w/ 1/4"

x 3" SELF-TAPPING SCREWS

OR DRILL AND SECURE w/ #8

x 3" WOOD DECK SCREWS

OR 8d NAILS TO HOLD IN

PLACE.

DBL 2x6 STUDS SPACED

PER PLANS

2ND LAYER = 3/4" PLYWOOD,

MINIMALLY SECURED w/ 1/4" x

1 1/2" SELF-TAPPING SCREWS

OR DRILL AND SECURE w/ #6 x

1 1/2" WOOD DECK SCREWS

OR 8d NAILS TO HOLD IN

PLACE.

3RD LAYER = 14 GAGE STEEL

SHEATHING, PRE-DRILL AND

SECURE w/ #8 x 3" WOOD DECK

SCREWS OR 16d NAILS,

SPACED PER SHEATHING

ATTACHMENT SCHEDULE

3RD LAYER 2ND LAYER 1ST LAYER

RIM JOIST

SHEATHING LEGEND

- 1st LAYER INTERIOR PLYWOOD SHEATHING

 3rd LAYER EXTERIOR PLYWOOD SHEATHING

- 2nd LAYER PLYWOOD SHEATHING

- 3rd LAYER INTERIOR STEEL SHEATHING

 1st LAYER EXTERIOR STEEL SHEATHING

Copyright 2014

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FEMA P-320 (2014)

SR2.1

SHEATHING REQUIREMENTS & WOOD FRAME

SAFE ROOM WITH STEEL SHEATHING

DECEMBER 2014

11

SR2.1 Scale: 3/8" = 1'-0"

1 PLYWOOD SHEATHING ATTACHMENT PATTERN FOR PROTECTION LAYERS ON EXTERIOR OF SAFE ROOM

SR2.1 Scale: 3/8" = 1'-0"

2 PLYWOOD SHEATHING ATTACHMENT PATTERN FOR PROTECTION LAYERS ON INTERIOR OF SAFE ROOM

REVISIONS
TORNADO RESIDENTIAL SAFE ROOM PASSIVE VENTILATION

TORNADO SAFE ROOM OCCUPANCY PASSIVE VENTILATION AREA REQUIRED

(INCHES SQUARED)

MINIMUM NUMBER OF PIPE VENTS

PER DETAIL 1

1 4* 2

2 4** 2

3 6** 2

4 8** 3

5 10** 4

6 12** 4

7 14** 5

8 16** 6

9 18** 6

10 20** 7

11 22** 8

12 24** 8

13 26** 9

14 28** 9

15 30** 10

16 32** 11

*PER ICC 500 SECTION 702.1 EXCEPTION, AIR INTAKE OPENING(S) MUST BE INSTALLED A MINIMUM OF 72" ABOVE SAFE ROOM

FLOOR. WHEN INSTALLED ONLY IN UPPER PORTION, EXCEPTION REQUIRES 4 SQUARE INCHES PER OCCUPANT

**PASSIVE VENTILATION AREA PER ICC 500 SECTION 702.1 AND ASSUMES AIR INTAKE OPENINGS ARE DISTRIBUTED BETWEEN

THE UPPER AND LOWER PORTIONS OF SAFE ROOM AS SPECIFIED THEREIN; AREA AND RESULTING NUMBER OF VENTS

REQUIRED MUST BE DOUBLED WHEN AIR INTAKE OPENINGS ARE INSTALLED EXCLUSIVELY IN THE UPPER PORTION AS

PROVIDED PER EXCEPTION IN SECTION 702.1.

CONSULT W/ LOCAL BUILDING OFFICIAL AND REFER TO ICC 500 SECTION 306.3 AND 306.4 FOR OPENING PROTECTIVE

REQUIREMENTS

SAFE ROOM WALL

PLACE PIPE FLUSH

WITH INSIDE WALL

SURFACE

INTERIOR

OF SAFE

ROOM

2" DIA PIPE VENTILATED

OUTSIDE SAFE ROOM

SPACE WITH ELBOW

FACING DOWN

Copyright 2014

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FEMA P-320 (2014)

SR2.2

EXHAUST / VENTILATION DETAILS

DECEMBER 2014

12

SR2.2 Scale: 3/4" = 1'-0"

1 PASSIVE VENTILATION DETAIL FOR EXTERIOR WALL REVISIONS