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. 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 407.5.4 (required egress from Smoke Compartments) states that in Group I-2 occupancies, any smoke compartment that does not have an exit from the compartment must now provide direct access to a minimum of two adjacent smoke compartments.

In protect-in-place uses, such as hospitals and nursing homes, it is necessary to provide multiple smoke compartments to allow for movement of patients during fires and other emergency events. Previously, the only limiting requirement for a means of egress system from a smoke compartment was that the egress path could not return through the compartment of origin. An additional condition now indicates that any smoke compartment not having an exit must provide direct access to a minimum of two adjacent compartments.

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