NFPA Journal - Winter 2021 - 57

CODES, STANDARDS
AND COMPLIANCE
frequency and approach to fire drills
may have to be reevaluated by the
facility to reach all employees and
satisfy the intent of the code. It also
becomes increasingly important that
there are designated employees who
can be trained in the proper safety
procedures and to properly direct
other occupants of the building in
case of emergency evacuation or relocation.
Drills must also simulate the
various conditions that might occur
during an actual emergency. Where
buildings have been reconfigured to
reflect new workspace arrangements,
it will be important to drill occupants
on these new arrangements and any
changes impacting access to exits.
Egress capacity
The occupant load of a particular
space is determined as either
the greater of the calculated
occupant load or the maximum probable
number of people in the space.
Sufficient egress capacity from the
space must then be provided to
accommodate the determined occupant
load. Due to reconfigured
workspaces that change the number
or people in a space (more or less),
a mandated reduction in employees
implemented for health and safety
limitations, or mandated capacity
limitations of meeting spaces and
other large office spaces, the number
of employees present in an office
building at one time might not always
be as great as when a business was
working fully in-person.
However, even though there might
be fewer employees in a space, a
reduction in occupant load and egress
capacity for the purposes of safe
egress design is not permitted. NFPA
101 provides no exception to reducing
the calculated occupant load or limiting
capacity of a space due to other
reasons that might cause a reduction
in the number of occupants. Egress
capacity is required to be provided
for the occupant load of the space as
determined by the definition of occupant
load in NFPA 101.
Change management
Hybrid work routines have caused
businesses to rethink how they use
their building space. In some cases,
where fewer employees are present in
the building each day due to remote
work, there may be space in the building
that is freed up for different uses.
Existing office space may be converted
to storage areas or additional collaborative
or research workspace; enclosed
offices might be converted to create
a more open, transient workspace.
general business use. If a change of
use creates what the code considers to
be a hazardous area, additional, more
restrictive provisions may apply. Other
work that is being done as part of
the change of use would also require
compliance with the applicable provisions
of the specific work category per
Chapter 43.
Even though there
might be fewer
employees in a
space, a reduction
in occupant load
and egress capacity
for the purposes of
safe egress design
is not permitted.
Whatever the change might be, it is
critical to recognize that protection
requirements of the newly created
space may differ from how it was
previously used.
According to Chapter 43 of NFPA
101, a change of use occurs when
there is a change in purpose or level
of activity in a building that involves
a change in how the code is applied to
the space (but it remains in the same
occupancy classification). A change
of use that does not involve a change
of occupancy must comply with the
requirements that are applicable to
the new use that was created in accordance
with the existing occupancy
chapter. For example, if individual
enclosed offices are turned into small
collaboration rooms to accommodate
hybrid work meetings, this would be
considered a change of use because
the occupant load factor of the collaboration
rooms is different from
While working in office buildings
during and after COVID-19 might
look and feel different for many of
us than it used to, the importance of
maintaining an office environment
safe from fire and other emergencies
remains. Reevaluating fire drills,
maintaining sufficient egress capacity,
and managing the impact of building
renovation projects to accommodate
the new use of office space are
only a few considerations that might
challenge office buildings in the new
future of hybrid work.
Kristin Bigda is technical lead for Engineering
Technical Services at NFPA. NFPA members and
AHJs can use the Technical Questions tab to post
queries on NFPA 101 at nfpa.org/101. To follow
the progress on the upcoming edition of the code,
visit nfpa.org/101next.
NFPA 13
Water-based fire
protection systems
Sprinkler considerations
for evolving office spaces
By Jonathan Hart
M
any businesses are
rethinking how their
office spaces will be
utilized post-pandemic,
and a significant
number will undergo renovations
or redesigns. Add this to regular
tenant fit outs, including shell space
in newly constructed buildings, and
there will likely be thousands of
existing sprinkler systems requiring
modification to adequately protect
these redesigned spaces.
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NFPA Journal - Winter 2021

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