New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 10 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › Chapter V - Medical Facilities › Subchapter C - State Hospital Code › Article 2 - Medical Facility Construction › Part 713 - Standards Of Construction For Nursing Home Facilities › Subpart 713-2 - Standards For Nursing Home Construction Projects Completed Or Approved Between August 25, 1975 And July 1, 1990 › Section 713-2.18 - Details and finishes

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
A high degree of safety for the occupants shall be
						  provided to minimize the incidence of accidents with special consideration for
						  ambulatory residents to enhance their ability to care for themselves. Hazards
						  such as sharp corners shall be avoided.
(a) Details shall comply with the following
						requirements:
(1) Compartmentation,
						corridors, widths, exits, automatic extinguishment systems, and other details
						relating to fire prevention and fire protection shall comply with requirements
						applicable to existing health care occupancies set forth in NFPA 101, Life
						Safety Code, 2000 edition. Further details concerning this referenced material
						are contained in section
						711.2(a) of this
						Title.
(2) Items such as drinking
						fountains, telephone booths, vending machines, and portable equipment shall be
						located so as not to restrict corridor traffic or reduce the corridor width
						below the required minimum.
(3) All
						rooms containing bathtubs, sitz baths, showers and water closets that are used
						or subject to occupancy by residents shall be equipped with doors and hardware
						that permit access from the outside in any emergency. When such rooms have only
						one opening or are small, the doors shall be capable of opening outwards or be
						otherwise designed to be opened without need to push against a resident who may
						have collapsed within the room.
(4)
						The minimum width of all doors to rooms needing access for beds or stretchers
						shall be three feet eight inches. Doors to resident toilet rooms and other
						rooms needing access for wheelchairs shall have a minimum width of 2 feet 10
						inches.
(5) Doors on all openings
						between corridors and rooms or spaces subject to occupancy, except elevator
						doors, shall be swing type. Openings to showers, baths, residents' toilets, and
						other small wet-type areas not subject to fire hazard are exempt from this
						requirement.
(6) Windows and other
						doors which may be frequently left in an open position shall be provided with
						insect screens.
(7) Windows shall
						be designed to prevent accidental falls when open, or shall be provided with
						security screens.
(8) Except for
						doors to spaces that are not subject to occupancy such as small closets, all
						doors shall not swing into corridors in a manner that might obstruct traffic
						flow or reduce the required corridor width. Large walk-in type closets are
						considered spaces subject to occupancy.
(9) Doors, sidelights, borrowed lights, and
						windows in which the glazing extends down to within 18 inches of the floor,
						thereby creating possibility of accidental breakage by pedestrian traffic,
						shall be glazed with safety glass, wire glass, or plastic glazing material that
						will resist breaking and will not create dangerous cutting edges when broken.
						Similar materials shall be used in wall openings of recreation rooms and
						exercise rooms unless required otherwise for fire safety. Glazing materials as
						noted above shall be used for shower doors and bath enclosures.
(10) Where labeled fire doors are required,
						these shall be certified by an independent testing laboratory as meeting the
						construction requirements equal to those for fire doors in NFPA 80, Standard
						for Fire Doors and Fire Windows, 1999 edition. Reference to a labeled door
						shall be construed to include labeled frame and hardware. Further details
						concerning the material referenced herein are contained in section
						711.2(a) of this
						Title.
(11) Elevator shaft openings
						shall have Class B 1-1/2-hour labeled fire doors.
(12) Linen and refuse chutes shall meet or
						exceed the following requirements:
(i)
						Service openings to chutes shall not be located in corridors or passageways but
						shall be located in a room of construction having a fire resistance of not less
						than two hours. Doors to such rooms shall be not less than Class B 1-1/2- hour
						labeled fire doors.
(ii) Service
						openings to chutes shall be approved self-closing Class B 1-1/2- hour labeled
						fire doors.
(iii) Minimum
						cross-sectional dimension of gravity chutes shall be not less than two
						feet.
(iv) Chutes shall discharge
						directly into collection rooms separate from incinerators, laundry, or other
						services. Separate collection rooms shall be provided for trash and for linen.
						The enclosure construction for such rooms shall have a fire resistance of not
						less than two hours, and the doors thereto shall be not less than Class B 1-1/2
						fire doors.
(v) Gravity chutes
						shall extend through the roof with provisions for continuous ventilation as
						well as for fire and smoke ventilation. Openings for fire and smoke ventilation
						shall have an effective area of not less than four feet above the roof and not
						less than six feet clear of other vertical surfaces. Fire and smoke ventilating
						openings may be covered with single strength sheet glass.
(13) Dumbwaiters, conveyors and material
						handling systems shall not open directly into a corridor or exit way but shall
						open into a room enclosed by construction having a fire resistance of not less
						than one hour and provided with Class C 3/4 labeled fire doors. Service
						entrance doors to vertical shafts containing dumbwaiters, conveyors, and
						material handling systems shall be not less than Class B 1-1/2-hour labeled
						fire doors. Where horizontal conveyors and material handling systems penetrate
						fire-rated walls or smoke partitions, such openings must be provided with Class
						B 1-1/2-hour labeled fire doors for two hour walls and Class C 3/4-hour labeled
						fire doors for one hour walls or partitions.
(14) Thresholds and expansion joint covers
						shall be made flush with the floor surface to facilitate use of wheelchairs and
						carts.
(15) Grab bars shall be
						provided at all residents' toilets, showers, tubs and sitz baths. The bars
						shall have one and one-half inch clearance to walls and shall have sufficient
						strength and anchorage to sustain a concentrated load of 250 pounds.
(16) Recessed soap dishes shall be provided
						in showers and bathrooms.
(17)
						Handrails for use by residents shall be provided on both sides of corridors. A
						clear distance of one and a half inches shall be provided between the handrail
						and the wall.
(18) Ends of
						handrails and grab bars shall be constructed to prevent snagging the clothes of
						residents.
(19) Location and
						arrangement of handwashing facilities shall permit their proper use and
						operation. Particular care should be given to the clearances required for
						blade-type operating handles. Lavatories intended for use by residents shall be
						installed to permit use by residents in wheelchairs.
(20) Mirrors shall be arranged for convenient
						use by residents in wheelchairs as well as by residents in a standing
						position.
(21) Paper towel
						dispensers and waste receptacles shall be provided at all handwashing
						fixtures.
(22) Ceiling heights
						shall be as follows:
(i) Boiler rooms shall
						have ceiling clearances not less than two feet six inches above the main boiler
						header and connecting piping.
(ii)
						Rooms containing ceiling-mounted equipment shall have height required to
						accommodate the equipment.
(iii)
						All other rooms shall have not less than eight foot ceilings except that
						corridors, storage rooms, toilet rooms, and other minor rooms may be not less
						than seven feet eight inches. Suspended tracks, rails and pipes located in path
						of normal traffic shall be not less than six feet eight inches above the
						floor.
(23) Recreation
						rooms, exercise rooms, and similar spaces where impact noises may be generated
						shall not be located directly over resident bed unless special provisions are
						made to minimize such noise.
(24)
						Rooms containing heat-producing equipment, such as boiler or heater rooms and
						laundries, shall be insulated and ventilated to prevent any floor surface above
						from exceeding a temperature 10° F above the ambient room
						temperature.