OCCUPANCY AND USE CLASSIFICATION
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(Summary based on the 2002 Ohio Building Code)
302.1 General.
Structures or portions of structures shall be classified with respect to occupancy in one or more of the groups listed below. Structures with multiple uses shall be classified according to Section 302.3. Where a structure is proposed for a purpose which is not specifically provided for in this code, such structure shall be classified in the group which the occupancy most nearly resembles, according to the fire safety and relative hazard involved.
- Assembly (see Section 303): Groups A-1, A-2, A-3, A-4 and A-5
- Business (see Section 304): Group B
- Educational (see Section 305): Group E
- Factory and Industrial (see Section 306): Groups F-1 and F-2
- High Hazard (see Section 307): Groups H-1, H-2, H-3, H-4 and H-5
- Institutional (see Section 308): Groups I-1, I-2, I-3 and I-4
- Mercantile (see Section 309): Group M
- Residential (see Section 310): Groups R-1, R-2 and R-3 as applicable in Section 101.2, and R-4
- Storage (see Section 311): Groups S-1 and S-2
- Utility and Miscellaneous (see Section 312): Group U
303.1 Assembly Group A
Assembly Group A occupancy includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, for the gathering together of persons for purposes such as civic, social or religious functions, recreation, food or drink consumption or awaiting transportation. A room or space used for assembly purposes by less than 50 persons and accessory to another occupancy shall be included as a part of that occupancy. Assembly occupancies shall include the following:
A-1
Assembly uses, usually with fixed seating, intended for the production and viewing of the performing arts or motion pictures including, but not limited to:
- Motion picture theaters
- Television and radio studios admitting an audience
- Theaters
A-2
Assembly uses intended for food and/or drink consumption including, but not limited to:
- Banquet halls
- Night clubs
- Restaurants
- Taverns and bars
A-3
Assembly uses intended for worship, recreation or amusement and other assembly uses not classified elsewhere in Group A, including, but not limited to:
- Amusement arcades
- Art galleries
- Auditoriums
- Bowling alleys
- Churches
- Community halls
- Courtrooms
- Dance halls (not including food or drink consumption)
- Exhibition halls
- Funeral parlors
- Gymnasiums (without spectator seating)
- Indoor swimming pools (without spectator seating)
- Indoor tennis courts (without spectator seating)
- Lecture halls
- Libraries
- Museums
- Passenger stations (waiting area)
- Pool and billiard parlors
A-4
Assembly uses intended for viewing of indoor sporting events and activities with spectator seating, including, but not limited to:
- Arenas
- Skating rinks
- Swimming pools
- Tennis courts
A-5
Assembly uses intended for participation in or viewing outdoor activities including, but not limited to:
- Amusement park structures
- Bleachers
- Grandstands
- Stadiums
304.1 Business Group B
Business Group B occupancy includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, for office, professional or service-type transactions, including storage of records and accounts. Business occupancies shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
- Airport traffic control towers
- Animal hospitals, kennels and pounds
- Banks
- Barber and beauty shops
- Car wash
- Civic administration
- Clinic--outpatient (when staff is adequate to assure safe evacuation of patients in an emergency)
- Dry cleaning and laundries; pick-up and delivery stations and self service
- and self-service
- Educational occupancies above the 12th grade
- Electronic data processing
- Fire and police stations
- Laboratories; testing and research
- Motor vehicle showrooms
- Post offices
- Print shops
- Professional services (architects, attorneys, dentists,
- physicians, engineers, etc.)
- Radio and television stations
- Telephone exchanges
305.1 Educational Group E
Educational Group E occupancy includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, by six or more persons at any one time for educational purposes through the 12th grade.
305.2 Day care.
§ The use of a building or structure, or portion thereof, for educational, supervision or personal care services for more than five children older than 2½ years of age, shall be classified as a Group E occupancy.
- The use of a building or structure, or portion thereof, for educational, supervision or personal care services for more than five but no more than 100 children 2½ years or less of age, when the rooms where such children are cared for are located on the level of exit discharge and each of these child care rooms has an exit door directly to the exterior, shall be classified as Group E.
306.1 Factory Industrial Group F
Factory Industrial Group F occupancy includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, for assembling, disassembling, fabricating, finishing, manufacturing, packaging, repair or processing operations that are not classified as a Group H hazardous occupancy.
306.2 Factory Industrial F-1 Moderate-Hazard Occupancy
Factory Industrial uses which are not classified as Factory Industrial F-2 Low Hazard shall be classified as F-1 Moderate Hazard and shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
- Aircraft
- Appliances
- Athletic equipment
- Automobiles and other motor vehicles
- Bakeries
- Beverages (alcoholic)
- Bicycles
- Boats; building
- Brooms or brushes
- Business machines
- Cameras and photo equipment
- Canvas or similar fabric
- Carpets and rugs (includes cleaning)
- Clothing
- Construction and agricultural machinery
- Disinfectants
- Dry cleaning and dyeing
- Electric light plants and power houses
- Electronics
- Engines (including rebuilding)
- Food processing
- Furniture
- Hemp products
- Jute products
- Laundries
- Leather products
- Machinery
- Metals
- Millwork (sash & door)
- Motion pictures and television filming
- Musical instruments
- Optical goods
- Paper mills or products
- Photographic film
- Plastic products
- Printing or publishing
- Recreational vehicles
- Refuse incineration
- Shoes
- Soaps and detergents
- Textiles
- Tobacco
- Trailers
- Upholstering
- Wood; distillation
- Woodworking (cabinet)
306.3 Factory Industrial F-2 Low-Hazard Occupancy
Factory industrial uses that involve the fabrication or manufacturing of noncombustible materials which during finishing, packing or processing do not involve a significant fire hazard shall be classified as F-2 occupancies and shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
- Beverages (nonalcoholic)
- Brick and masonry
- Ceramic products
- Foundries
- Glass products
- Gypsum
- Ice
- Metal products (fabrication and assembly)
307.1 Hazardous Group H.
Hazardous Group H occupancy includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, that involves the manufacturing, processing, generation or storage of materials that constitute a physical or health hazard in quantities in excess of those found in Tables 307.7(1) and 307.7(2). (See also definition of "Control Area".)
307.3 Group H-1 structures.
Buildings and structures that contain materials that pose a detonation hazard, shall be classified as Group H-1. Such materials shall include, but not be limited to:
§ Explosives
§ Organic peroxides, unclassified detonable
§ Oxidizers, Class 4
§ Unstable (reactive) materials, Class 3 detonable and
§ Class 4
§ Detonable pyrophoric materials
307.4 Group H-2 structures.
Buildings and structures that contain materials that present a deflagration hazard or a hazard from accelerated burning, shall be classified as Group H-2. Such materials shall include, but not be limited to:
- Class I, or II or III-A flammable or combustible liquidsthat are used or stored in normally open containers or systems, or in closed containers or systems pressurized at more than 15 pounds per square inch gauge (103 kPa).
- Combustible dusts
- Cryogenic liquids, flammable
- Flammable gases
- Organic peroxides, Class I
- Oxidizers, Class 3, that are used or stored in normally open containers or systems, or in closed containers or systems pressurized at more than 15 pounds per square inch gauge (103 kPa).
- Pyrophoric liquids, solids and gases, nondetonable
- Unstable (reactive) materials, Class 3, nondetonable
- Water-reactive materials, Class 3
307.5 Group H-3 structures.
Buildings and structures that contain materials that readily support combustion or present a physical hazard, shall be classified as Group H-3. Such materials shall include but not be limited to:
- Aerosols, Level 2 and Level 3
- Class I, II or III A flammable or combustible liquids that are used or stored in normally closed containers or systems pressurized at less than 15 pounds per square inch gauge (103 kPa).
- Combustible fibers
- Consumer fireworks, 1.4G (Class C, Common)
- Cryogenic liquids, oxidizing
- Flammable solids
- Organic peroxides, Class II and Class III
- Oxidizers, Class 1 and Class 2
- Oxidizers, Class 3, that are used or stored in normally
- closed containers or systems pressurized at less than
- 15 pounds per square inch (103 kPa) gauge
- Oxidizing gases
- Unstable (reactive) materials, Class 2
- Water-reactive materials, Class 2
307.6 Group H-4 structures.
Buildings and structures that contain materials that are health hazards, shall be classified as Group H-4. Such materials shall include, but not be limited to:
- Corrosives
- Highly toxic materials
- Toxic materials
307.7 Group H-5 structures.
Semiconductor fabrication facilities and comparable research and development areas in which hazardous production materials (HPM) are used and the aggregate quantity of materials is in excess of those listed in Tables 307.7(1) and 307.7(2). Such facilities and areas shall be designed and constructed in accordance with Section 415.9.
308.1 Institutional Group I.
Institutional Group I occupancy includes among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, in which people having physical limitations because of health or age are harbored for medical treatment or other care or treatment, or in which people are detained for penal or correctional purposes or in which the liberty of the occupants is restricted. Institutional occupancies shall be classified as Group I-1, I-2, I-3 or I-4.
- 308.2 Group I-1.
This occupancy shall include a building or part thereof housing more than 16 persons, on a 24-hour basis, who because of age, mental disability or other reasons, live in a supervised residential environment that provides personal care services. The occupants are capable of responding to an emergency situation without physical assistance from staff. This group shall include, but not be limited to, the following: residential board and care facilities, assisted living facilities, half-way houses, group homes, congregate care facilities, social rehabilitation facilities, alcohol and drug centers and convalescent facilities. A facility such as the above with five or fewer persons shall be classified as a Group R-3. A facility such as above, housing at least six and not more than 16 persons shall be classified as a Group R-4.
- 308.3 Group I-2.
This occupancy shall include buildings and structures used for medical, surgical, psychiatric, nursing or custodial care on a 24-hour basis of more than five persons who are not capable of self-preservation. This group shall include, but not be limited to the following: hospitals, nursing homes (both intermediate care facilities and skilled nursing facilities), mental hospitals and detoxification facilities. A facility such as the above with five or fewer persons when located in other than a dwelling shall be classified as a Group R-3.
§ This occupancy shall also include nursing homes where personal care services and skilled nursing care are provided for three or more individuals.
§ This occupancy shall also include residential care facilities where more than sixteen individuals reside and supervision and personal care services are provided for three or more individuals when more than five are not capable of responding to an emergency without physical assistance.
§ 308.3.1 Child care facility.
A child care facility that provides care on a 24-hour basis to more than five children 2½ years of age or less shall be classified as Group I-2.
308.4 Group I-3.
This occupancy shall include buildings and structures that are inhabited by more than five persons who are under restraint or security. An I-3 facility is occupied by persons who are generally incapable of self-preservation due to security measures not under the occupants' control. This group shall include, but not be limited to, the following: prisons, jails, reformatories, detention centers, correctional centers and prerelease centers. Buildings of Group I-3 shall be classified as one of the occupancy conditions indicated in Sections 308.4.1 through 308.4.5 (see Section 408.1).
§ 308.4.1 Condition 1.
This occupancy condition shall include buildings in which free movement is allowed from sleeping areas, and other spaces where access or occupancy is permitted, to the exterior via means of egress without restraint. A Condition 1 facility is permitted to be constructed as Group R.
§ 308.4.2 Condition 2.
This occupancy condition shall include buildings in which free movement is allowed from sleeping areas and any other occupied smoke compartment to one or more other smoke compartments. Egress to the exterior is impeded by locked exits.
§ 308.4.3 Condition 3.
This occupancy condition shall include buildings in which free movement is allowed within individual smoke compartments, such as within a residential unit comprised of individual sleeping rooms and group activity spaces, where egress is impeded by remote-controlled release of means of egress from such a smoke compartment to another smoke compartment.
§ 308.4.4 Condition 4.
This occupancy condition shall include buildings in which free movement is restricted from an occupied space. Remote-controlled release is provided to permit movement from sleeping rooms, activity spaces and other occupied areas within the smoke compartment to other smoke compartments.
§ 308.4.5 Condition 5.
This occupancy condition shall include buildings in which free movement is restricted from an occupied space. Staff-controlled manual release is provided to permit movement from sleeping rooms, activity spaces and other occupied areas within the smoke compartment to other smoke compartments.
308.5 Group I-4, day care facilities.
This group shall include buildings and structures occupied by persons of any age who receive custodial care for less than 24 hours by individuals other than parents or guardians, relatives by blood, marriage, or adoption, and in a place other than the home of the person cared for. A facility such as the above with five or fewer persons when located in other than a dwelling shall be classified as a Group R-3. Places of worship during religious functions are not included.
- 308.5.1 Adult day care facility.
A facility that provides accommodations for less than 24 hours for more than five unrelated adults and provides supervision and personal care services.
- 308.5.2 Child day care facility.
A facility, that provides supervision and personal care on less than a 24-hour basis for more than five children 2½ years of age or less shall be classified as Group I-4. Exception: A child day care facility that provides care for more than five but no more than 100 children 2½ years or less of age, when the rooms where such children are cared for are located on the level of exit discharge and each of these child care rooms has an exit door directly to the exterior, shall be classified as Group E.
309.1 Mercantile Group M.
Mercantile Group M occupancy includes, among others, buildings and structures or a portion thereof, for the display and sale of merchandise, and involves stocks of goods, wares or merchandise incidental to such purposes and accessible to the public. Mercantile occupancies shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
- Department stores
- Drug stores
- Markets
- Motor vehicle service stations
- Retail or wholesale stores
- Sales rooms
309.2 Quantity of hazardous materials. (Caution for warehouses and paint stores)
The aggregate quantity of nonflammable solid and nonflammable or noncombustible liquid hazardous materials stored or displayed in a single control area of a Group M occupancy shall not exceed the quantities in Table 414.2.4.
310.1 Residential Group R
Residential Group R includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, for sleeping accommodations when not classed as an Institutional Group I. Residential occupancies shall include the following:
R-1
§ Residential occupancies where the occupants are primarily transient in nature (less than 30 days) including:
o Boarding houses (transient)
o Hotels (transient)
o Motels (transient)
R-2
- Residential occupancies containing more than three dwelling units where the occupants are primarily permanent in nature in structures with a shared means of egress including:
o Apartment houses
o Condominiums
o Vacation timeshare properties
- Residential occupancies where more than 5 lodgers, boarders or residents share provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, or sanitation and where the occupants are primarily permanent in nature including:
o Boarding houses (not transient)
o Convents
o Dormitories
o Fraternities and sororities
o Monasteries
o Hotels (non transient)
o Motels (non transient)
- Residential occupancies in buildings or structures of mixed use containing one or more dwelling units where the occupants are primarily permanent in nature in structures with a shared means of egress
R-3
§ Residential occupancies having more than three dwelling units where the occupants are primarily permanent in nature and not classified as R-1, R-2, R-4 or I and where each unit has an independent means of egress or adult and child care facilities in dwelling units in R-3 occupancies that provide accommodations for five or fewer persons of any age.
§ Residential occupancies in building or structures of mixed use, three stories or less, where the occupants are primarily permanent in nature and where each unit has independent means of egress.
§ See OBC 310.1 alternative compliance requirements for R-3 using the International Building Code.
§ See OBC 310.2 for definitions of boarding house, dormitory, dwelling unit, personal care service and residential care facilities.
R-4
§ Residential occupancies shall include buildings arranged for occupancy as Residential Care/Assisted Living Facilities including more than five but not more than 16 occupants, excluding staff. Group R-4 occupancies shall meet the requirements for construction as defined for Group R-3.
311.1 Storage Group S
Storage Group S occupancy includes among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, for storage that is not classed as a hazardous occupancy.
§ 311.2 Moderate-hazard storage, Group S-1.
Buildings occupied for storage uses which are not classified as Group S-2 including, but not limited, to storage of the following:
§ Aerosols, Level 2 and Level 3
§ Aircraft hangars
§ Bags, cloth, burlap and paper
§ Bamboos and rattan
§ Baskets
§ Belting, canvas and leather
§ Books and paper in rolls or packs
§ Boots and shoes
§ Buttons, including cloth covered, pearl or bone
§ Cardboard and cardboard boxes
§ Clothing, woolen wearing apparel
§ Cordage
§ Furniture
§ Furs
§ Glues, mucilage, pastes and size
§ Grains
§ Horns and combs, other than celluloid
§ Leather
§ Linoleum
§ Lumber
§ Motor vehicle repair garages complying with the maximum allowable quantities of hazardous materials listed in Table 307.7(1). (See Section 406.6.)
§ Petroleum warehouses for storage of lubricating oils with a flash point of 200°F (93°C) or higher
§ Photo engravings
§ Resilient flooring
§ Silks
§ Soaps
§ Sugar
§ Tires, bulk storage of
§ Tobacco, cigars, cigarettes and snuff
§ Upholstery and mattresses
§ Wax candles
§ 311.3 Low-hazard storage, Group S-2.
Includes, among others, buildings used for the storage of noncombustible materials such as products on wood pallets or in paper cartons with or without single thickness divisions; or in paper wrappings. Such products may have a negligible amount of plastic trim such as knobs, handles or film wrapping. Storage uses include, but are only limited to, storage of the following:
§ Asbestos
§ Beer or wine up to 12-percent alcohol in metal, glass or
§ ceramic containers
§ Cement in bags
§ Chalk and crayons
§ Dairy products in nonwaxed coated paper containers
§ Dry cell batteries
§ Electrical coils
§ Electrical motors
§ Empty cans
§ Food products
§ Foods in noncombustible containers
§ Fresh fruits and vegetables in nonplastic trays or containers
§ Frozen foods
§ Glass
§ Glass bottles, empty or filled with noncombustible liquids
§ Gypsum board
§ Inert pigments
§ Ivory
§ Meats
§ Metal cabinets
§ Metal desks with plastic tops and trim
§ Metal parts
§ Metals
§ Mirrors
§ Oil-filled and other types of distribution transformers
§ Parking garages, open or enclosed
§ Porcelain and pottery
§ Stoves
§ Talc and soapstones
§ Washers and dryers
312.1 UTILITY AND MISCELLANEOUS GROUP U
Buildings and structures of an accessory character and miscellaneous structures not classified in any specific occupancy shall be constructed, equipped and maintained to conform to the requirements of this code commensurate with the fire and life hazard incidental to their occupancy. Group U shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
§ Agricultural buildings
§ Aircraft hangars, accessory to a one- or two-family residence (See Section 412.3)
§ Barns
§ Carports
§ Fences more than 6 feet (1829 mm) high
§ Grain silos, accessory to a residential occupancy
§ Greenhouses
§ Livestock shelters
§ Private garages
§ Retaining walls
§ Sheds
§ Stables
§ Tanks
§ Towers
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