Washington Administrative Code › Title 51 - Enterprise Services, Department of (Building Code Council) › Chapter 51-54A - State Building Code adoption and amendment of the 2021 edition of the International Fire Code › Section 51-54A-0202 - General definitions

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
SECTION 202
GENERAL DEFINITIONS
ADULT FAMILY HOME.
A dwelling, licensed by the
				state of Washington department of social and health services, in which a person
				or persons provide personal care, special care, room and board to more than one
				but not more than six adults who are not related by blood or marriage to the
				person or persons providing the services. An existing adult family home may
				provide services to up to eight adults upon approval from the department of
				social and health services under
				RCW
				  70.128.066 and in accordance with Section
				903.
ALERT SIGNAL.
A distinctive signal indicating the
				need for trained personnel and occupants to initiate a specific action, such as
				shelter-in-place.
ALERT SYSTEM.
Approved devices, equipment and
				systems or combinations of systems used to transmit or broadcast an alert
				signal.
ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY.
A home or other
				institution, licensed by the state of Washington, providing housing, basic
				services and assuming general responsibility for the safety and well-being of
				residents under chapters 18.20 RCW and 388-78A WAC. These facilities may
				provide care to residents with symptoms consistent with dementia requiring
				additional security measures.
CHILD CARE.
For the purposes of these regulations,
				child care is the care of children during any period of a 24-hour day.
CHILD CARE, FAMILY HOME.
A child care facility,
				licensed by Washington state, located in the dwelling of the person or persons
				under whose direct care and supervision the child is placed, for the care of 12
				or fewer children, including children who reside at the home.
CLUSTER.
Clusters are multiple
portable
				school classrooms
separated by less than the requirements of the
				building code for separate buildings.
COVERED BOAT MOORAGE.
A pier or system of floating
				or fixed access ways to which vessels on water may be secured and any portion
				of which are covered by a roof.
CUSTODIAL CARE.
Assistance with day-to-day living
				tasks; such as assistance with cooking, taking medication, bathing, using
				toilet facilities, and other tasks of daily living. Custodial care includes
				persons receiving care who have the ability to respond to emergency situations
				and may receive limited verbal or physical assistance. These care recipients
				may evacuate at a slower rate and/or who have mental and psychiatric
				complications.
ELECTRICAL CODE.
The National Electrical Code,
				promulgated by the National Fire Protection Association, as adopted by rule or
				local ordinance under the authority of chapter 19.28 RCW.
EMERGENCY RESPONDER COMMUNICATIONS ENHANCEMENT SYSTEM
				(ERCES).
An infrastructure solution installed within a building to
				enhance the communications capabilities for first responders that utilizes
				solutions such as a signal booster, voting receiver, base station, or other
				technology capable of enhancing the radio frequency (RF) to ensure effective
				public safety communications.
FREQUENCY.
The particular waveband at which a
				communications system broadcasts or transmits.
FREQUENCY LICENSE HOLDER(S).
The person(s) or
				entity(s) that are issued the license from the frequency licensing authority of
				United States or other country of jurisdiction for the frequencies being used
				by both the in-building emergency responder communications enhancement system
				and the emergency services communications system that it enhances.
FREQUENCY LICENSING AUTHORITY.
The government
				authority in a country or territory that issues frequency licenses for the use
				of communications frequencies by authorized entities and individuals.
GRAVITY-OPERATED DROP OUT VENTS.
Automatic smoke
				and heat vents containing heat-sensitive glazing designed to shrink and drop
				out of the vent openings when exposed to fire.
HOSPICE CARE CENTER.
A building or portion thereof
				used on a 24-hour basis for the provision of hospice services to terminally ill
				inpatients.
LIMITED VERBAL OR PHYSICAL ASSISTANCE.
Persons
				who, because of age, physical limitations, cognitive limitations, treatment or
				chemical dependency, and may not independently recognize, respond, or evacuate
				without limited verbal or physical assistance during an emergency situation.
				Verbal assistance includes prompting, giving, and repeating instructions.
				Physical assistance includes assistance with transfers to walking aids or
				mobility devices and assistance with egress.
MOBILE FOOD PREPARATION VEHICLE.
Mobile food
				preparation vehicles that are equipped with appliances that produce smoke or
				grease-laden vapors or utilize LP-gas systems or CNG systems for the purpose of
				preparing and serving food to the public. Vehicles intended for private
				recreation shall not be considered mobile food preparation vehicles.
MOTOR VEHICLE.
Includes, but not limited to, a
				vehicle, machine, tractor, trailer or semitrailer, or any combination thereof,
				propelled or drawn by mechanical power and designed for use upon the highways
				in the transportation of passengers or property. It does not include a vehicle,
				locomotive or car operated exclusively on a rail or rails, or a trolley bus
				operated by electric power derived from a fixed overhead wire, furnishing local
				passenger transportation similar to street-railway service. The term "motor
				vehicle" also includes freight containers or cargo tanks used, or intended for
				use, in connection with motor vehicles.
NIGHTCLUB.
An A-2 Occupancy use in which the
				aggregate area of concentrated use of unfixed chairs and standing space that is
				specifically designated and primarily used for dancing or viewing performers
				exceeds 350 square feet (32.5 m2), excluding
				adjacent lobby areas. "Nightclub" does not inaters with fixed seating, banquet
				halls, or lodge halls.
OCCUPANCY CLASSIFICATION.
For the purposes of this
				code, certain occupancies are defined as follows:
Institutional Group I-1.
Institutional Group I-1
				occupancy shall include buildings, structures or portions thereof for more than
				16 persons excluding staff, who reside on a 24-hour basis in a supervised
				environment and receive custodial care. Buildings of Group I-1 shall be
				classified as one of the occupancy conditions indicated below. This group shall
				include, but not be limited to, the following: Assisted living facilities
				licensed under chapter 388-78A WAC and residential treatment facilities
				licensed under chapter 246-337 WAC shall be classified as Group I-1, Condition
				2.
No change to the rest of the occupancy conditions.
Group I-2.
This occupancy shall include buildings
				and structures used for medical care on a 24-hour basis for more than five
				persons who are incapable of self-preservation. This group shall include, but
				not be limited to, the following:
Foster care facilities
Detoxification facilities
Hospice care centers
Hospitals
Nursing homes
Psychiatric hospitals
Five or fewer persons receiving care.
A facility
				such as the above with five or fewer persons receiving such care shall be
				classified as Group R-3 or shall comply with the
International
				Residential Code
provided that an
automatic sprinkler system
is installed in accordance with Section 903.3.1.3 or with Section
				P2904 of the
International Residential Code
.
Family home child care.
Family home child care
				licensed by Washington state for the care of 12 or fewer children shall be
				classified as Group R-3 or shall comply with the
International
				Residential Code
.
Adult care facility.
A facility that provides
				accommodations for less than 24 hours for more than 5 unrelated adults and
				provides supervision and personal care services shall be classified as Group
				I-4.
EXCEPTION:
Where the occupants are capable of responding to an
						  emergency situation without physical assistance from the staff, the facility
						  shall be classified as Group R-3.
Child care facility.
Child care facilities that
				provide supervision and personal care on a less than 24-hour basis for more
				than 5 children 2 1/2 years of age or less shall be classified as Group
				I-4.
EXCEPTIONS:
1. A child day care facility that provides care for
						  more than five but no more than 100 children 2 1/2 years or less of age, where
						  the rooms in which the children are cared for are located on a level of exit
						  discharge serving such rooms and each of these child care rooms has an exit
						  door directly to the exterior, shall be classified as Group E.
2. Family child care homes licensed by Washington state
						  for the care of 12 or fewer children shall be classified as Group
						  R-3.
Residential Group R.
Residential Group R includes,
				among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, for
				sleeping purposes when not classified as an Institutional Group I or when not
				regulated by the
International Residential Code
. This group
				shall include:
R-1
Residential occupancies containing sleeping
				units where the occupants are primarily transient in nature, including:
Boarding houses (transient) with more than 10 occupants
Congregate living facilities (transient) with more than 10
				occupants
Hotels (transient)
Motels (transient)
R-2
Residential occupancies containing sleeping
				units or more than two dwelling units where the occupants are primarily
				permanent in nature, including:
Apartment houses
Congregate living facilities (nontransient) with more than 16
				occupants
Boarding houses (nontransient) with more than 16
				occupants
Convents
Dormitories
Fraternities and sororities
Monasteries
Hotels (nontransient)
Live/work units
Motels (nontransient)
Vacation timeshare properties
R-3
Residential occupancies where the occupants
				are primarily permanent in nature and not classified as Group R-1, R-2, R-4, or
				I, including:
Buildings that do not contain more than two dwelling
				units.
Care facilities that provide accommodations for five or fewer
				persons receiving care.
Congregate living facilities (nontransient) with 16 or fewer
				occupants.
Boarding houses (nontransient) with 16 or fewer
				occupants
Convents
Dormitories
Fraternities and sororities
Monasteries
Congregate living facilities (transient) with 10 or fewer
				occupants.
Boarding houses (transient) with 10 or fewer occupants Lodging
				houses (transient) with five or fewer guestrooms and 10 or fewer
				occupants
Care facilities within a dwelling.
Care facilities
				for five or fewer persons receiving care that are within a single-family
				dwelling are permitted to comply with the
International Residential
				Code
provided an automatic sprinkler system is installed in accordance
				with Section 903.3.1.3 or with Section P2904 of the
International
				Residential Code
.
Adult family homes, family home child care.
Adult
				family homes and family home child care facilities that are within a
				single-family home are permitted to comply with the
International
				Residential Code
.
Foster family care homes.
Foster family care homes
				licensed by Washington state are permitted to comply with the
International Residential Code
, as an accessory use to a
				dwelling, for six or fewer children including those of the resident
				family.
PORTABLE SCHOOL CLASSROOM.
A prefabricated
				structure consisting of one or more rooms with direct exterior egress from the
				classroom(s). The structure is transportable in one or more sections, and is
				designed to be used as an educational space with or without a permanent
				foundation. The structure shall be capable of being demounted and relocated to
				other locations as needs arise.
POWERED MICROMOBILITY DEVICES.
Motorized bicycles,
				motorized scooters, and other personal mobility devices powered by a
				rechargeable battery. The term does not include motor vehicles that are
				required to be registered with the department of motor vehicles for the state
				or jurisdiction.
RECALL SIGNAL.
An electrically or mechanically
				operated signal used to recall occupants after an emergency drill or to
				terminate a shelter-in-place event that shall be distinct from any alarm or
				alert signal used to initiate an emergency plan, or other signals.
SHELTER-IN-PLACE.
An emergency response used to
				minimize exposure of facility occupants to chemical or environmental hazards by
				taking refuge in predetermined interior rooms or areas where actions are taken
				to isolate the interior environment from the exterior hazard.
SPECIAL HAZARDS SUPPRESSION SYSTEMS.
Wet-chemical
				systems (NFPA 17A), Dry-chemical systems (NFPA 17), Foam systems (NFPA 11),
				Carbon dioxide systems (NFPA 12), Halon systems (NFPA 12A), Clean-agent systems
				(NFPA 2001), Automatic water mist systems (NFPA 750), Aerosol
				fire-extinguishing systems (NFPA 2010), and Explosion prevention systems (NFPA
				69).
Reviser's note:
The spelling error in the above
				  section occurred in the copy filed by the agency and appears in the Register
				  pursuant to the requirements of
				  RCW
				    34.08.040.
Statutory Authority: RCW 19.27A.031,
				  
											19.27.074 and
				  chapters
				  19.27 and
				  34.05 RCW. 13-04-063, §
				  51-54A-0202, filed 2/1/13, effective
				  7/1/13.