Significant changes to the 2018 International Building Code

The 2018 Significant Changes guides are available for the International Building, Residential, Fire, Plumbing, Mechanical and Fuel Gas Codes. This valuable series can help any code user save time by zeroing in on the most critical changes in the 2018 International Codes (I-Codes). The Code Council’s technical experts provide summaries, analysis and graphics for these changes making them clear and easy to understand.

2018 International Building Code

A modification to Section 1025.1 (Luminous Egress Path Marking in Group I Occupancies) states that luminous egress path marking is no longer required in high-rise buildings classified as Group I-2, I-3, or I-4 occupancies.

The use of luminous egress path markings in specified high-rise buildings is intended to provide for the visibility of stair treads and handrails in interior exit stairways under emergency conditions where both the building’s primary power supply and the emergency power system fail. The use of photo-luminescent or self-illuminating materials to delineate the exit path has historically been required in interior exit stairways and exit passageways of high-rise buildings housing Group A, B, E, I, M, and R-1 occupancies. Such markings are no longer required in those high-rise buildings classified as Groups I-2, I-3, or I-4.

The 2015 IBC mandates luminous egress path markings in all of the Group I classifications. This requirement has been revised for Group I to only require luminous egress path markings in Group I-1 occupancies. Groups I-2 and I-3 have been removed because hospitals, nursing homes, jails, and detention facilities have trained staff that operate with a defend-in-place strategy. The emergency generators are continually monitored and maintained, so the chance of the emergency egress lighting required in the means of egress failing is extremely minimal. For the luminous egress path marking to be utilized, both the normal power for means of egress lighting and the emergency generator have to fail.

Group I-4 occupancies were also removed from the list of required classifications. For the requirement for luminous path marking to apply, the high-rise building would need to be a day care facility used for custodial care. It was determined that there was a very limited chance that such a use would occur in a high-rise condition.

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