Michigan Administrative Code › Department - Health and Human Services › Childrens Services Agency › Licensing Rules for Child Caring Institutions › Part 5 - FIRE SAFETY FOR SMALL, LARGE, AND SECURE INSTITUTION FACILITIES › Section R. 400.4538 - Means of egress

Current through Vol. 24-12, July 15, 2024
Rule 538.
(1)
				  Means of egress shall be considered the entire way and method of passage to
				  free and safe ground outside a facility. All required means of egress shall be
				  maintained in an unobstructed, easily traveled condition at all
				  times.
(2) In an existing facility,
				  each resident-occupied room shall have access to not less than 2 independent,
				  properly separated, approved means of egress or have a doorway leading directly
				  to the outside at grade.
(3) In
				  existing licensed multistory secure and large facilities, at least 1 means of
				  egress from each floor shall be direct to the outside or shall be through an
				  enclosed stairway which is properly separated from exposure from floors below
				  and which exits direct to the outside at grade or a previously approved escape
				  window.
(4) In a small facility
				  where ambulatory residents use a floor above the street level, 1 of the 2
				  required means of egress may be an approved escape window from each
				  resident-occupied room which provides direct access to the ground and which has
				  a sill height not more than 5 feet above the ground below or which provides
				  access to an approved fire escape.
(5) In a newly constructed, remodeled, or
				  converted facility, each resident-occupied story, including a resident-occupied
				  basement, shall have not less than 2 independent approved means of egress
				  separated by not less than 50% of the longest dimension of the story. All
				  child-occupied rooms shall be situated between two approved exits unless the
				  child-occupied room has an exit leading directly to the outside at grade. One
				  adjacent intervening room shall be permitted between a sleeping room and an
				  approved exit access corridor that leads to two approved exits in opposite or
				  perpendicular directions.
(6) In a
				  newly constructed, remodeled, or converted large or secure facility, additional
				  means of egress, in addition to the minimum of 2 required from each story, are
				  required if the maximum possible occupancy exceeds 100 residents per story.
				  There shall be at least 1 additional means of egress for each 100 additional
				  residents per story. Means of egress shall be of such number and so arranged
				  that it is not necessary to travel more than 100 feet from the door of a
				  resident-occupied room to reach the nearest approved protected exit-way from
				  that story.
(7) An elevator shall
				  not be approved as a required means of egress.
(8) A means of egress shall not be used for
				  the housing of residents or storage of any kind and shall not be obstructed or
				  hidden from view by ornamentation, curtains, or other appurtenances.
(9) Each required means of egress from floors
				  where non-ambulatory residents are permitted shall discharge at grade or shall
				  be equipped with a ramp which terminates at grade level. Ramps shall not exceed
				  1 foot of rise in 12 feet of run and shall have sturdy handrails. Once at
				  grade, there shall be a surface sufficient to permit occupants to move a safe
				  distance from the facility.
(10) In
				  a small facility housing 1 or more non-ambulatory or wheelchair residents,
				  required exit-ways forming part of a required means of egress from portions of
				  the facility housing such residents shall be not less than 48 inches wide in a
				  new facility and not less than 44 inches wide in a converted facility, with
				  doors a minimum of 36 inches wide.