# Apartment or Dormitory



## Jim B

Apartment or Dormitory

Code: IBC 2012 and ANSI A117.1-2009

New R2 3-Story building, 30 Dwelling Units, privately owned

No elevator. Only accessible entrances at grade on 1st floor

This building is located adjacent to a college.

They are provided 2 Type A units on the 1st Floor and the remaining units on the 1st Floor are Type B

These unit types would comply for an R2 Apartment (IBC 2012: 1107.6.2.1)

The question has been proposed to the architect if this is a “Dormitory” as per definition of IBC 202.

They may rent these apartments to three or more persons not of the same family or relation (college students).

If this is classified as and R2, Dormitory, then the Type A Units would need to be Accessible Units (IBC 2012: 1107.6.2.2)

It seems a bit gray,  when is an R2 an apartment building or a dormitory?

Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated


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## mark handler

Not enough information, but based on what you posted I would classify it as an apartment building.


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## cda

Apartment

Not a dorm


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## cda

What does it matter as far as construction


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## Francis Vineyard

The 2009 Commentary is the same as the 2012;

*1107.6.2.2 Group R-2 other than apartment houses, monasteries and convents.* In Group R-2 occupancies, other than apartment houses, monasteries and convents, _Accessible units_ and _Type B units_ shall be provided in accordance with Sections 1107.6.2.2.1 and 1107.6.2.2.2.




 This would include congregate housing types, such as dormitories, boarding houses, fraternities and sororities. Nontransient hotels and motels would typically be grouped with these requirements since they may also be operating as transient and nontransient. A building used for two purposes must be designed for the most restrictive provisions (see Section 302.1). Time shares should comply with Section 1107.6.2.1 or 1107.6.2.2, based on whichever it most closely represents (see also commentary, Section 1107.6.2). 

 Dormitories are typically located in universities. Since universities typically receive some type of federal funding, their dormitories are covered by ADA requirements. Boarding houses, fraternity houses and sorority houses have similar types of living arrangements; therefore, it seems logical that the same anticipated need should result in the same level of required Accessible units. Since all these facilities typically serve as a person's residence, they are covered by FHAG. The scope for Accessible units is consistent with ADA requirements for dormitories. The scope for Type B units is consistent with FHAG requirements. 

http://publicecodes.cyberregs.com/icod/ibc/2009f2cc/icod_ibc_2009f2cc_11_sec007.htm


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## jdfruit

The commentary leads into having equivalent accessible units as the use is "congregate housing types". Still hard to nail down all the specific attributes but here is the definition applicable:

CONGREGATE LIVING FACILITIES. A building or part thereof that contains sleeping units where residents share bathroom and/or kitchen facilities.


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## Jim B

The potential issue that I am having with this project is whether two of the units should be Accessible or Type A units. There is no federal funding and this is not located on the college property.

If a dormitory then IBC 2012: 1107.6.2.2 (Accessible Units), if not IBC 2012: 1107.2.1 (Type A Units)

_*IBC 2012: 202: 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._


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## cda

It is an apartment

My daughter lived in a house, while at college.

Each room had its own bathroom and common area shared.

Each person paid rent to the complex owner, had about fifty houses. So to me apartments also


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## mtlogcabin

_A space in a building where __group sleeping accommodations are provided in one room_

_One or two people per sleeping room, more than that could be a dorm _


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## cda

Jim B said:
			
		

> Apartment or DormitoryCode: IBC 2012 and ANSI A117.1-2009
> 
> New R2 3-Story building, 30 Dwelling Units, privately owned
> 
> No elevator. Only accessible entrances at grade on 1st floor
> 
> This building is located adjacent to a college.
> 
> They are provided 2 Type A units on the 1st Floor and the remaining units on the 1st Floor are Type B
> 
> These unit types would comply for an R2 Apartment (IBC 2012: 1107.6.2.1)
> 
> The question has been proposed to the architect if this is a “Dormitory” as per definition of IBC 202.
> 
> They may rent these apartments to three or more persons not of the same family or relation (college students).
> 
> If this is classified as and R2, Dormitory, then the Type A Units would need to be Accessible Units (IBC 2012: 1107.6.2.2)
> 
> It seems a bit gray,  when is an R2 an apartment building or a dormitory?
> 
> Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated


So are these single occupant units?

Or multi occupant units with each one person having their own room?

Or one big room with a couple of beds in the room

Either way it is an apartment


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## Francis Vineyard

Clarify 30 dwelling units as in apartments.


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## cda

R-2: The length of the occupants' stay plus the arrangement of the facilities provided are the basic factors that differentiate occupancies classified in Group R-2 from other occupancies in Group R. The occupants of facilities or areas classified in Group R-2 are primarily nontransient, capable of self-preservation and share their means of egress in whole or in part with other occupants outside of their sleeping area or dwelling unit. The separation between dwelling units must, at a minimum, meet the requirements contained in Sections 420, 709.1 and 712.3. Building types ordinarily classified in Group R-2 include apartments, boarding houses (when the occupants are not transient) and dormitories [see Figures 310.1(2) and 310.1(3)].

Individual dwelling units in Group R-2 are either rented by tenants or owned by the occupants. The code does not make a distinction between either type of tenancy. Residential condominiums are treated in the code the same as Group R-2 apartments. Such condominiums are based on shared ownership of a building and related facilities. While an individual owner will have exclusive rights to a certain unit, the building, the lot the building sits upon, parking, common recreational facilities and similar features are owned in common by all the owners of individual dwelling units. In most cases condominiums do not establish separate lots and the walls between units are not setting on lot lines. Another type of shared ownership is referred to as a "co-op," short for co-operative. Occasionally a condominium will establish actual lots and lot lines distinguishing individual ownership. When the dwelling unit is located on a separate parcel of land, lot lines defining the parcel exist and the requirements for fire separation must be met.

Dormitories are generally associated with university or college campuses for use as student housing, but this is changing rapidly. Many dormitories are now being built as housing for elderly people who wish to live with other people their own age and who do not need 24-hour-a-day medical supervision. The only difference between the dormitory that has just been described and the dormitory found on a college campus is the age of its occupants. If the elderly people must have 24-hour-a-day medical supervision (i.e., a nurse or doctor on the premises), the building is no longer considered a residential occupancy but an institutional occupancy and would have to comply with the applicable provisions of the code for the appropriate Group I occupancy.

Similar to Group R-1, individual rooms in dormitories are sleeping units and are required to be separated from each other by fire partitions and horizontal assemblies in accordance with Sections 420, 709.1 and 712.3. When college classes are not in session, the rooms in dormitories are sometimes rented out for periods of less than 30 days to convention attendees and other visitors. When dormitories undergo this type of transient use, they more closely resemble Group R-1.

Buildings containing dormitories often contain other occupancies, such as cafeterias or dining rooms (Group A-2), recreation rooms (Group A-3) and office (Group B) or meeting rooms (Group A-3). When this occurs, the building is considered a mixed occupancy and is subject to the provisions of Section 508 [see Figure 310.1(4)].

Included in the listing of Group R-2 are live/work units. A live/work unit is a dwelling unit or sleeping unit in which a significant portion of the space includes a nonresidential use operated by the tenant. Reflecting a growing trend in urban neighborhoods and the reuse of existing buildings, live/work units must comply with the provisions of Section 419.

The intent of the congregate living facility reference is to better define when a congregate living facility is operating as a single-family home. Blended families are now commonplace and not necessarily defined strictly by blood or marriage. Small boarding houses, convents, dormitories, fraternities, sororities, monasteries and nontransient hotels and motels may be small enough to operate as a single-family unit and would be permitted to be constructed as Group R-3 occupancies as intended by the code. The threshold of 16 persons is consistent with the results of the most recent census, which has 98 percent of all homes in the U.S. containing less than 16 persons.


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## cda

Jim B said:
			
		

> Apartment or DormitoryCode: IBC 2012 and ANSI A117.1-2009
> 
> New R2 3-Story building, 30 Dwelling Units, privately owned
> 
> No elevator. Only accessible entrances at grade on 1st floor
> 
> This building is located adjacent to a college.
> 
> They are provided 2 Type A units on the 1st Floor and the remaining units on the 1st Floor are Type B
> 
> These unit types would comply for an R2 Apartment (IBC 2012: 1107.6.2.1)
> 
> The question has been proposed to the architect if this is a “Dormitory” as per definition of IBC 202.
> 
> They may rent these apartments to three or more persons not of the same family or relation (college students).
> 
> If this is classified as and R2, Dormitory, then the Type A Units would need to be Accessible Units (IBC 2012: 1107.6.2.2)
> 
> It seems a bit gray,  when is an R2 an apartment building or a dormitory?
> 
> Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated


Wait a minute wait a minute

It is up to you to say what occupancy it is

Yes you can question what is on paper


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## Jim B

There is no question that this is a R2 occupancy.

The dwelling units consist of three bedrooms with each bedroom occupied by one person, each bedroom has a bathing room; there is a shared kitchen and living area… the occupants are not related, and the building is under the management of the landlord/ owner

Again a dormitory, and this building, is where “group sleeping accommodations are provided in a series of closely associated rooms, for persons not members of the same family group, under joint occupancy and single management”


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## jdfruit

After all the descriptions given by Jim B; I am in the "apartments" opinion group.


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## mtlogcabin

> the occupants are not related,


Not required by code and been tossed out by the courts in many local areas



> After all the descriptions given by Jim B; I am in the "apartments" opinion group.


I agree as defined by the IBC. Local zoning laws/definitions may conflict with the IBC


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## cda

Agree apartment

Besides would you get into zoning and other issues if it was called a dorm?


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## Yikes

Not sure what state this was in, but here in California, by state law any dwelling unit (= sleeping + living+ food prep space) can have up to 6 unrelated occupants and sill be considered a single family residence.  Therefore what you are describing is a collection of private residences i.e. and apartment house.

Not widely known but I was told that in the hippie era, there was a California court case that determined the minimum # of SF per occupant in a very old, "grandfathered" single family residence was 25 SF.  Thus a 20x20 space could legally have 16 occupants!


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## Francis Vineyard

That's far out, man!


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## steveray

I think of an apartment as a "living unit" and a dorm as more of a "sleeping unit"....Renting apartments to college kids does not a dorm make.


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