# Hotel/motel/hostel occupant loads



## SVFD6

2006 IFC

1. Table 1004.1.1 says 200 gross ft per occupant for residential.  Dormitories are listed as R2 in the definitions of occupancy types but the table allows 50.  Anecdotally it seems to me that many of the newer R1 hotels/motels I have been in are smaller than 200.  What am I missing and where is that discrepancy found/explained/justified?

2. In this vein could a hostel be considered a dormitory (R1)?

I have recently passed NFPA and ICC FI-1 and totally understand what you guys mean when you say now is when the learning starts.  All your invaluable help is greatly appreciated.


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## cda

SVFD6 said:
			
		

> 2006 IFC1. Table 1004.1.1 says 200 gross ft per occupant for residential.  Dormitories are listed as R2 in the definitions of occupancy types but the table allows 50.  Anecdotally it seems to me that many of the newer R1 hotels/motels I have been in are smaller than 200.  What am I missing and where is that discrepancy found/explained/justified?
> 
> 2. In this vein could a hostel be considered a dormitory (R1)?
> 
> I have recently passed NFPA and ICC FI-1 and totally understand what you guys mean when you say now is when the learning starts.  All your invaluable help is greatly appreciated.


There is no fifty max load, if I undrrstand the question

Column header::

"""FLOOR AREA IN SQ. FT. PER OCCUPANT"""

If that is not the question , will you restate


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## north star

*& : & : &*



> " SVFD6  asked:I have recently passed NFPA and ICC FI-1 and totally understand what you  guys mean when you say now is when the learning starts.  All your  invaluable help is greatly appreciated.  "


I will encourage you to please contribute more on the Forum, and to tellall of your colleagues and "circles of influence" about this GREAT resource.

Oh yeah, ...please keep renewing your Sawhorse membership for many,

many years to come.    

*& : & : &*


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## mtlogcabin

DORMITORY. A space in a building where group sleeping accommodations are provided in one room, or in a series of closely associated rooms, for persons not members of the same family group, under joint occupancy and single management, as in college dormitories or fraternity houses.

A dormitory only requires a 50 sq ft gross occupant load because it provides a sleeping area only within the space or room. Other R occupancies may provide cooking and bathing facilities within the 200 sq ft gross occupant load.

What will your hostel have in it?


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## SVFD6

Me being imprecise again...

- Dormitories (R2 in the definitions) require only 50 sq ft per occupant where other residential groups, and other R2s, appear to require 200 sq ft.  I am guessing it has to do with the non transient nature of the residents being more familiar and more able to self rescue but this is the only residential occupancy that I see singled out to vary from the 200 ft m requirement per occupant.  And it is my impression (could be wrong) that many new R1 hotels and motels don't meet that 200 sq ft per occupant standard.  Shouldn't the 200 number in the table be applied to all other R groups (except dormitories)?


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## SVFD6

What will your hostel have in it?[/color]

Trying to calculate it.  It's been operating for years without much oversight.


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## mtlogcabin

Most Hostel's have sleeping rooms with a common hall/eating area and bathing facilities. I suggest using 50 sq ft for the sleeping room(s), if all that is in the room are beds, and then 200 sq ft per person for the remainder of the building.


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## SVFD6

mtlogcabin said:
			
		

> Most Hostel's have sleeping rooms with a common hall/eating area and bathing facilities. I suggest using 50 sq ft for the sleeping room(s), if all that is in the room are beds, and then 200 sq ft per person for the remainder of the building.


Yeah that's the way this one is.

What about R1 hotel/motel types?  Stick with the 200?  Or if I am getting the gist, require more room for places with food prep/eating areas and allow less for others.


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## cda

SVFD6 said:
			
		

> Yeah that's the way this one is.What about R1 hotel/motel types?  Stick with the 200?  Or if I am getting the gist, require more room for places with food prep/eating areas and allow less for others.


You are talking 10x20 or 14 x14 or other combos

Most hotel motel have sleeping area bathroom

Even motel 6 rooms are big


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## mtlogcabin

R-1 would be 200 for the R portions. If there are meeting rooms, dining areas, office space etc those areas would be calculated according to the individual uses

IBC 2006

106.1.2 Means of egress.

The construction documents shall show in sufficient detail the location, construction, size and character of all portions of the means of egress in compliance with the provisions of this code. In other than occupancies in Groups R-2, R-3, and I-1, the construction documents shall designate the number of occupants to be accommodated on every floor, *and in all rooms and spaces.*


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## SVFD6

mtlogcabin said:
			
		

> R-1 would be 200 for the R portions. If there are meeting rooms, dining areas, office space etc those areas would be calculated according to the individual usesIBC 2006
> 
> 106.1.2 Means of egress.
> 
> The construction documents shall show in sufficient detail the location, construction, size and character of all portions of the means of egress in compliance with the provisions of this code. In other than occupancies in Groups R-2, R-3, and I-1, the construction documents shall designate the number of occupants to be accommodated on every floor, *and in all rooms and spaces.*


The R1 does seem more straightforward.


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## SVFD6

north star said:
			
		

> *& : & : &*I will encourage you to please contribute more on the Forum, and to tell
> 
> all of your colleagues and "circles of influence" about this GREAT resource.
> 
> Oh yeah, ...please keep renewing your Sawhorse membership for many,
> 
> many years to come.
> 
> *& : & : &*


I say _absolutely_ to all of the suggestions.  This is an outstanding place.  I'm working on our building official, it's just the two of us in our middle of nowhere county.


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## JBI

Also in the Property Maintenance Code the minimum requirements for bedrooms are 70 sq. ft. for a single occupant and 50 sq. ft. per occupant for two or more. Even if you haven't adopted the PMC it can in this case support the special treatment for dorms (have yet to see very many single occupant dorm rooms). The common areas get treated separately.


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## RLGA

One thing to keep in mind is that the occupant load factors do not assign area that must be made available to occupants.  For example, the 100 sq. ft. for business areas does not mean that everybody gets an office or cubicle that is at least 10' by 10'.  Occupant loads are established purely for the design of the means of egress system and plumbing fixtures in most cases.

Also note that the 200 sq. ft. per occupant for residential occupancies is a 'gross' factor, which means you include corridors, stairways, walls, etc. in addition to the sleeping units in the total area to which the occupant load factor is applied.


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## Paul Sweet

IFC 1004.1.1 says "The number of occupants shall be computed at the rate of one occupant per unit of area as prescribed in Table 1004.1.1."  This doesn't mean you have to make the hotel room 4 times larger than a dormitory room.  It means you have 4 times the number of occupants for the same size room in a dormitory than in a hotel.


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## SVFD6

Thanks everyone for all the food for thought, I think mtlogcabin's suggestion sounds pretty good, so we'll probably go with something like that.


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## Frank

Note also for hotels can do occupant load by bed count if results in larger number


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