When calculating occupancy we do not use one calculation for the entire building we need to apply the occupancy rules for each of the various areas to attain accurate calculations.
Floor area calculation for occupancy.
When an occupant load factor is based on the net floor area the calculation is based on the actual occupied area.
The occupant load factors used for each room come from table 7 3 1 2 in nfpa 101 life safety code.
Determine the number of exits needed by determining the number of occupants in the office.
If the minimum area per person is 100 sq ft the occupation rate is 1 100 0 01 person per sq ft or 10 persons per 1000 sq ft.
Units of area per person for specific buildings can be found in the chart at the end of this article.
If you have a room that is shaped irregularly separate the room into square portions for ease of measurement.
Call center 50 ft x 25 ft 1 250 ft 2 1 250 ft2 50 ft2 per person 25 people.
The general guidelines for floor area allowances per occupant for a 2 occupancy is as follows.
The code formulates the number of exits based on the number of occupants in the office.
The floor area within the inside perimeter of the exterior walls of the building under consideration exclusive.
Calculate a basic estimation of a room s maximum occupancy by dividing the available floor space in square feet by 36.
Occupancy rate is maximum numbers of persons per area unit.
The occupancy load is calculated by dividing the area of a room by its prescribed unit of area per person.
Calculate the occupancy load using the following formula.
For example if you want to find the maximum occupancy of a bar measure only where patrons will stand and not the area behind the bar.
Measure only the area where people will sit or stand.
Nonoccupiable spaces like corridors stairs bathrooms electrical mechanical rooms closets and fixed equipment are subtracted from the total area to determine the net floor area.
The occupant load of any space shall include the occupant load of all spaces that discharge through it in order to gain access to an exit.
To calculate a room s maximum occupancy determine factors such as the area of the room the available space in the room the number of useful exits and the height of the ceiling.
Where data regarding the sq.
Floor or building as the case may be is designed or 2 by using the appropriate occupant area ratios from table 6 2 whichever is larger.
The net floor area is intended to include only the area of the room used for a specific purpose and does not include the areas mentioned in the above definition and therefore is not included in the net floor area.
Spaces 450 ft in area 75 ft fact sheet the floor plan below shows an example of occupant load calculations for several types of rooms commonly found in an office.