ECN Forum Forums Code Related Discussion Building Codes for Electricians Exit / Emergency Lighting

The "means of egress" consists of three parts: exit access, exit and exit discharge.
Building code requires illumination (emergency lighting) to one footcandle for the entire means of egress including the exit discharge. (IBC 1006.1) There is no exception for rooms with only one exit door that I can find.
Your restroom would need lighting of at least one footcandle, just like the rest of the building. What doesn't need any lighting is rooms where no one is present, like a closet.
You may not need an emergency light in any specific room if light is dispersed through a window where emergency lighting is present, or other openings that would achieve the same effect.
One footcandle is not a lot of light. Cut a half-moon over the door, and you are OK.

earlydean,

True, there is no exception to 1006.1 for rooms requireing only one exit. But that section covers the normal lighting in the building. 1006.3 is the section that covers emergency lighting. That section lists the locations where emergency power is required for lighting. Rooms that require only one exit are not on the list.

I beg to differ with you.

The titles:
Section 1006: MEANS OF EGRESS LIGHTING
Section 1006.1 Illumination required
Section 1006.2 Illumination level
Section 1006.3 Illumination emergency power

Section 1006.1 covers the illumination for MOE lighting, not normal lighting!!!!!

But now, I have to eat a little crow.

Section 1006.3 goes on to list areas needing emergency power for illumination:
1) exit access corridors, passageways and aisles in rooms and spaces which require two or more MOE.
2) exit access corridors and exit stairways located in buildings required to have two or more exits.
3) exterior egress components at other than the level of exit discharge until exit discharge is accomplished for buildings required to have two or more exits.
4) interior exit discharge elements in buildings required to have two or more exits
5) the portion of the exit discharge immediately adjacent to exit discharge doorways in buildings required to have two or more exits.

And we all remember which buildings and areas need two or more exits: those with an occupant load of more than 50. (I know, it is a lot more complicated than that: Spaces in occupancies H-1,2&3 = 3; H-4&5, I-1,3&4, and R = 10; and S = 30, spaces within floors need two exits if occupant load exceeds 500, and buildings consider travel distance too)

Bottom line:

Restrooms and other spaces not requiring two or more exits do NOT require any emergency lighting.

Sorry, yes Section 1006.1 does cover means of egress lighting. I was using the term "normal lighting" in the way that it is used in NEC 700.12(F) meaning lighting when not supplied by emergency power.

700.12(F) covers unit equipment. This is emergency power supplied by an individual battery to the lights, not "normal" power either.

A partial quote from 700.12(F):

"...The branch circuit feeding the unit equipment shall be the same branch circuit as that serving the normal lighting in the area....".

700.12(F) is not using the term "normal lighting" to mean that it is not egress lighting. It simply means the lighting in the area when not using emergency power. I am trying to explain to you that I was using the term "normal lighting" in the same way when I made my first post in this thread.

got it! (finally)