Committee on Health Care submits I-Codes proposals

The International Code Council (ICC) closed the acceptance of code proposals for the administrative, general and structural sections of the International Building Code (IBC) along with the International Existing Building Cod, (IEBC), the International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC) and the International Zoning Code (IZC). The ICC Committee on Health Care (CHC) submitted eight proposals for consideration to these committees and co-sponsored 11 proposals with the Building Code Action Committee.

ICC CHC proposals

Proposals submitted by the ICC CHC to the code committees include:

Sound transmission. Group I-2 occupancies, nursing homes and hospitals do not have rated corridors or unit separations. The ICC CHC proposal would eliminate the minimum requirement calling for these facilities to extend the separate wall to the ceiling for sound transmission due to the fact that several other cost-effective methods to reduce sound transmission exist.

Ambulatory care definition. A proposal to clarify the existing definition for ambulatory care facilities was submitted.

Risk category classification realignment. Three proposals were submitted to clarify the language of Risk Category IV facilities and return Group I-2 Condition 2 occupancies not having emergency surgery or emergency treatment facilities, and Group I-2 Condition 1 occupancies with 50 or more care recipients to Risk Category III.

Clinical labs. This proposal provides a definition, scope and application for clinical laboratories.

Temporary construction. This proposal would remove portions of Chapter 16 of the IBC that have caused confusion due to the code’s conflation of the amount of time a temporary structure is erected on a site with requirements for a structure based on how many times it has been erected on multiple sites.

Guard height. The intent of this proposal is to allow higher guards to be installed for patient safety around outdoor patient garden/exercise areas on a roof.

Co-sponsored proposals

The ICC CHC co-sponsored 11 other proposals with the Building Code Action Committee.

Assisted bathing (IEBC). This proposal would allow assisted toileting and bathing via the IEBC per the IBC.

New corridor (IEBC). This proposal seeks to coordinate the change of occupancy with the alteration requirements for corridors.

Sprinklers in R-4 occupancies. The intent of this proposal is to not require a group home that is moving into a single-family home to add a sprinkler system.

Fire partitions. Groups H, I-1, I-3 and R occupancies are required to have rated corridors in sprinklered buildings. Group A, B and E occupancies are not required to have rated corridors in sprinklered buildings. If an A, B or E occupancy changes to a Group I-1, I-3 or R occupancy, this important passive fire protection system should be provided.

Storage requirement clarification. This proposal clarifies that where a smoke compartment is fully sprinklered, the storage separation should only be required to be smoke-tight.

Group homes (International Residential Code). This proposal defines custodial care and allows for a Group R-4 group home to be constructed under the International Residential Code.

Care facilities within a dwelling. This proposal clarifies how the occupancy classification for small custodial care facilities is determined.

Custodial or medical care. This proposal clarifies how the occupancy classification for small medical or custodial care facilities is determined.

Group I scope. This proposal would better align the scope of Group I occupancies with current definitions and scope.

IEBC health care section. Two submitted proposals call for relocating this section to Chapter 3 of the IEBC. This will ensure the provision is only addressed once.

Code development participation

More details on these proposals, along with all other proposals submitted for the Group B cycle, will be posted to the ICC website on March 13 and will be heard at the Committee Action Hearing #1 scheduled for April 27 through May 6 in Orlando, Fla.

If you are interested in participating in the ICC CHC’s efforts for testimony at the hearings or the committee virtual sessions, please reach out to the ICC CHC chair, Jeff O’Neill at Jeffrey.ONeill@rwjbh.org or Jonathan Flannery, senior associate director of regulatory affairs at the American Society for Health Care Engineering, at jflannery@aha.org.