Classroom Occupant Load
The following guidelines were compiled by the Environmental
Health and Instructional Safety Office using the NFPA Life
Safety Code, California Building Code and State Fire Marshal
regulations. They outline the legal maximum number of occupants
for those campus classrooms holding more than 50 persons at
any one time. For those rooms with an occupant load
of under 50, follow the guidelines below for determining aisle
widths and exiting requirements.
- All occupant loads over 50 must have two exit doors.
- Exit doors serving occupant loads over 50 must swing out
and must be at least 28 inches wide.
- All rooms with an occupant load over 100 persons must
have panic hardware or no latch on the door.
- All rooms holding over 50 persons are required to have
signs listing the maximum occupant load of the room.
- When two exits are required, they must be separated ½
of the room’s longest diagonal distance.
- Exits from a room may pass through one accessory
room to the corridor.
- The design criterion for state university classrooms is
15 feet per occupant. It is permissible, with proper
aisles, to increase the load to 10 feet per occupant.
- There may be no more that 6 intervening seats or desks
to the aisle (14 seats maximum per row).
- Aisle ways between desks should be 22 inches wide. 12
inches is the absolute minimum width allowable on a short-term
basis.
- Exit aisles must be 3 feet wide with seats on only one
side and 3 ½ feet wide with seats on both sides. The aisle
can be 30 inches wide if there are 60 seats or less.
Revised: 10/04/2004 CW