NFPA’s single-stair symposium
Over the past few years, the debate over single-stair apartment buildings in the United States and Canada has been heating up. Jurisdictions from coast to coast have been considering changes to their building codes. The Center for Building in North America is tracking legislation or code change proposals in 18 different jurisdictions across the U.S. and Canada, with more happening beneath the radar. Earlier this month, British Columbia formally amended its building code to allow single-stair buildings up to six stories, up from the current two-story allowance. This year, we are a co-proponent on the E24-24 proposal at the International Code Council to change the International Building Code, the main model code for the United States, to allow single-stair apartment buildings up to six stories (here was our initial proposal for the spring hearings, and here is our updated one for the fall).
The issue has stirred the passions of urbanists, architects, and others who are excited about the possibility of more viable infill housing and more efficient family-sized apartments, and has provoked an equal amount of opposition from fire service organizations, with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) writing about the conflict in the cover story to their in-house magazine in August.
Earlier this month, NFPA brought together supporters, opponents, policymakers, and others in the fire protection community for a two-day symposium on the issue at their headquarters in Quincy, Massachusetts. The Center for Building's executive director, Stephen Smith, presented the case that these buildings can be built safely up to at least six stories, and you can find his presentation here, with the narration written in the speaker notes as presented. Anybody is free to use any content within for noncommercial uses. For other uses or questions about the presentation, please get in touch.
NFPA is planning to publish the symposium proceedings soon, and when they do, we will update this post with a link. In the meantime, Nate Stell, a volunteer with Abundant Housing Massachusetts, has written up some notes from the symposium from the perspective of a non-technical supporter of a code change.
