14.

7* Exit Passageways
A.14.7
An exit passageway serves as a horizontal means of exit travel that is
protected from fire in a manner similar to an enclosed interior exit
stair. Where it is desired to offset exit stairs in a multistory building,
an exit passageway can be used to preserve the continuity of the
protected exit by connecting the bottom of one stair to the top of the
stair that continues to the street floor. Probably the most important
use of an exit passageway is to satisfy the requirement that at least
50 percent of the exit stairs discharge directly outside from
multistory buildings (see 7.7.2 of NFPA 101). Thus, if it is
impractical to locate the stair on an exterior wall, an exit passageway
can be connected to the bottom of the stair to convey the occupants
safely to an outside exit door. In buildings of extremely large area,
such as shopping malls and some factories, the exit passageway can
be used to advantage where the travel distance to reach an exit would
otherwise be excessive. [101: A.7.2.6]
The word exit, used in the term exit passageway, helps to distinguish
between an exit passageway and an ordinary passageway or corridor
that serves as exit access. An exit passageway is an exit; it provides a
path of travel offering the same level of protection and safety that is
required of an enclosed exit stair. An exit passageway is a versatile
feature, because it can be used to extend an exit, or, as is done in many
cases, it can be used to bring an exit closer to where the occupants are
located.
In Exhibit 14.29, an exit passageway is used to continue the exit to
the outside from one of the two enclosed interior exit stairs. This
arrangement might be used to help comply with the requirements
of 14.11.2, which mandate that at least one-half of the egress capacity
and at least one-half of the number of exits must discharge directly to
the outside at interior discharge levels.

Extending the exit stairs required enclosure to include a portion of

the corridor creates an exit passageway that brings the exit closer to the
occupants, as is demonstrated in Exhibit 14.30. Travel distance
measurement ends at entrance E1 to the exit passageway. The distance

from X to E2 exceeds the allowed travel distance. The distance from X to

E1 is within the allowed travel distance. Extension of an exit stairs
enclosure is often used where travel distance to the exit enclosure would
otherwise be in excess of Code allowance. Because it is an exit, an exit
passageway qualifies as the point at which travel distance measurement
ends in accordance with Section 7.6 of NFPA 101.

In Exhibit 14.31, the two exit passageways marked A bring exits

within allowable travel distances for the occupants in the mall (similar to
the exit passageway illustrated in Exhibit 14.30). The exit passageway
marked B allows occupants of multiple stores in the mall to enter the
exit directly from the rear of each store. This arrangement is often used
to limit, for security purposes, the number of door assemblies that open
directly to the outside.

14.7.1* General.
Exit passageways used as exit components shall conform to the
general requirements of Section 7.1 of NFPA 101 and to the special
requirements of Section 14.7. [101:7.2.6.1]

A.14.7.1
Examples of building elements that might be arranged as exit
passageways include hallways, corridors, passages, tunnels,
underfloor passageways, or overhead passageways. [101: A.7.2.6.1]

14.7.2 Enclosure.
An exit passageway shall be separated from other parts of the
building as specified in Section 14.3, and the following alternatives
shall be permitted:
1.
Fire windows in accordance with 12.7.3 shall be
permitted to be installed in the separation in a building
protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic
sprinkler system in accordance with Section 13.3.
2.
Existing fixed wired glass panels in steel sash shall be
permitted to be continued in use in the separation in

buildings protected throughout by an approved, supervised

automatic sprinkler system in accordance with Section 13.3.
[101:7.2.6.2]

14.7.3 Stair Discharge.

An exit passageway that serves as a discharge from a stair enclosure
shall have not less than the same fire resistance rating and opening
protective fire protection rating as those required for the stair
enclosure. [101:7.2.6.3]
Paragraph 14.7.2 requires exit passageways to have walls with the
hourly fire resistance ratings and door assemblies with the fire protection
ratings required of exit stair enclosures, as detailed in 14.3.1(1) or (2)
and 12.7.4.2. The requirement also limits door openings into, and
penetrations through, the exit enclosure created by the exit
passageway, as detailed in 14.3.1(9) and (10). In Exhibit 14.32, new exit
passageway A on the first floor the level of exit discharge opens at
one end to a five-story exit stair enclosure and, at the other end, to a
door assembly to the outside. This exit passageway also serves as a
horizontal continuation of, and discharge for, the stair enclosure. In
serving as a discharge for the exit stair, the exit passageway must
provide the same degree of protection required of the stair enclosure.
Given that the exit stair must be enclosed by 2-hour fire resistancerated
construction because it is new and serves four or more stories, the exit
passageway must also be enclosed by 2-hour fire resistancerated
construction. This protection is addressed in 14.7.3.

In Exhibit 14.32, exit passageway B, on the fourth floor, is used to

provide the safety of an exit to occupants traveling to the exit stair
enclosure. This exit passageway might have been built to meet the
travel distance limitation. If a fire-rated wall and door assembly separate
exit passageway B from the new 2-hour exit stair enclosure, the required
rating of exit passageway B is only 1 hour, because the exit passageway
serves only the occupants of the fourth floor. A similar 1-hour fire
resistancerated enclosure requirement applies, for example, to a
horizontal exit serving a single story of a shopping mall building.
Contrast this configuration with exit passageway A on the first floor,
which potentially serves occupants of the second through fifth floors and
must provide a continuation of the 2-hour separation required of the new
stair enclosure.
For the same reasons that the exit stair enclosure cannot have door
assemblies opening directly onto it from normally unoccupied spaces, a
storage room, for example, is prohibited from opening directly onto exit

passageways A and B and the exit stair enclosures. Penetrations through

the enclosing walls are limited to those necessary for the functioning of
life safety systems, such as lighting powered by electrical cables that
enter the exit enclosure via properly sealed conduit penetrations.
Ductwork for climate control is prohibited from penetrating enclosing
walls. Thus, the exit passageways and the exit stair enclosures must
receive their heating and cooling by systems independent of those
serving the remainder of the building. Ductwork serving other parts of
the floor must be routed around the outside of, not through, the exit
passageway enclosures.

14.7.4 Width.
14.7.4.1
The width of an exit passageway shall be sized to accommodate the
aggregate required capacity of all exits that discharge through it,
unless one of the following conditions applies:
1.
(1)*
Where an exit passageway serves occupants of the level of
exit discharge as well as other stories, the capacity shall not
be required to be aggregated.
2.
(2)
As provided in Chapters 36 and 37 of NFPA 101, an exit
passageway in a mall building shall be permitted to
accommodate occupant loads independently from the mall
and the tenant spaces.(See 36.2.2.7.2 and 37.2.2.7.2
of NFPA 101.) [101:7.2.6.4.1]

A.14.7.4.1(1)
Where an exit passageway serves occupants on the level of exit
discharge as well as other floors, it should not be required that the
occupant loads be added, thus increasing the width of the exit
passageway. The situation is the same as that in which occupants
from the level of exit discharge join occupants from upper floors for

a few feet of horizontal travel through a stair enclosure.

[101:A.7.2.6.4.1(1)]

14.7.4.2
In new construction, the minimum width of any exit passageway into
which an exit stair discharges, or that serves as a horizontal transfer
within an exit stair system, shall meet the following criteria:
1.
The minimum width of the exit passageway shall be
not less than two-thirds of the width of the exit stair.
2.
Where stairs are credited with egress capacity in
accordance with 14.8.3.2, the exit passageway width shall
be sized to accommodate the same capacity as the stair,
with such capacity determined by use of the capacity
factors in Table 14.8.3.1
Source: https://www.inkling.com/read/nfpa-fire-codehandbook-harrington-2012/chapter-14/14-7-exitpassageways