Unraveling the City of Los Angeles 150' Fire Access Travel Distance Requirement
The Los Angeles Fire Code (LAFC) requires all buildings with any portion of the first story exterior walls located more than 150' from the edge of a street or roadway to require a fire lane.
The LAFC provides an exception to the 150’ travel distance limit for residential buildings where the entrances to all dwelling units or guest rooms are located not more than 150' in horizontal travel distance from the edge of a fire access roadway. However, this exception is rarely applied except for small buildings.
If a building cannot comply with the LA exception, the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) allows the use of a 14-year old policy that is not codified in the current Los Angeles Municipal Code.
This policy allows a modified way of measuring this fire access travel distance in residential buildings (i.e., apartments, condominiums and hotels). While this modified method appears simple at first glance, there are some hidden gotchas in the wording of this policy that can catch designers off-guard.
Under this policy, the LAFD requires:
the distance from the edge of the fire access roadway/street to the door into the exit stairways directly from the outside of the building to not exceed 150 feet of horizontal travel AND
the distance from the standpipe outlets in the stairways of sprinklered residential buildings to the entry door of any dwelling unit or guest room to not exceed 150 feet of horizontal travel.
The policy intent is that in no case will the maximum travel distance exceed 150 feet insidethe structure and 150 feet outsidethe structure. The literal interpretation of this intent statement can cause design challenges when the discharge of an interior exit stairway is extended to the exterior using an exit passageway. See Illustration #1.
Illustration #1 – Ground Level (Example shows 30’ outside horizontal travel and 100’ inside horizontal travel to reach stairway)
In the example shown in Illustration #1, since Stair #1 is setback from the exterior by an exit passageway, the outside travel distance measurement is 30’ and the inside horizontal travel distance begins at the exit passageway exterior exit door.
Referring to Illustration #2, only dwelling unit entry doors located within 50’ of a standpipe hose connection located in Stair #1 are considered to be within the acceptable fire access travel distance limit since the initial 100’ of horizontal travel is taken in the Ground Level exit passageway. In Illustration #2, Stair #1 and Stair #2 are assumed to be have the same Ground Level configuration and distances from their respective fire access roadways. In this example, the entry doors to the two dwelling units located in the center of the floor would be considered outside of 150’ inside fire access travel distance limit.
Illustration #2 – Upper Levels Inside Horizontal Fire Access Travel Distance Measurement
Referring to Illustration #3 and #4, the exit stair discharge configuration would need to be rearranged to minimize or eliminate the Ground Level inside horizontal travel distance, or an additional exit stair may be required to cover the center portion of the project.
Illustration #3 – Ground Floor Exit Stair Discharge Door Direct to Exterior
Illustration #4 – Upper Levels – Inside Horizontal Travel Distance to all Dwelling Unit Entry Doors Not Greater Than 150’
