Exception : This requirement is waived when the following conditions are true:

(1) The building meets the criteria for impractical level of evacuation difficulty; and

(2) For any time when the question is answered "no":

a. The resident whose evacuation needs cannot be handled is in a bedroom or other room that provides adequate refuge from fire outside the room, and

b. There is at least one staff member present who can close the door to the room.

Example: A very heavy resident is in a building meeting the criteria for impractical level of evacuation difficulty with one staff member who cannot transfer the resident from his bed to his wheelchair. Although the staff member cannot meet all the resident's evacuation assistance needs, the problem arises only when the resident is in his bedroom and the bedroom provides adequate refuge.

(c) Can Every Staff Member Counted in the Calculation of E-Scores Participate Meaningfully in the Evacuation of Every Resident?  For example, a staff member, due to his or her own disability, may be unable to assist one or more physically disabled residents and, therefore, cannot be included in the calculation of the E-Score. However, if a staff member's disability does not limit his or her ability to assist the residents, then the staff member may be included.

(d) Are All Staff Members Counted in the Calculation of E-Scores Required to Remain in the Dwelling Unit with Only the Exceptions Listed in the Instruction Manual?

The procedure described in this Appendix for calculating an Evacuation Difficulty Score is based upon the assumption that the facility is always staffed when residents are in the building except as described below. Un-staffed buildings, not covered by these Exceptions, may be assigned an evacuation capability level based on the demonstrated ability of the residents to meet the criteria of 21-1.3 without staff assistance.

The Exceptions are as follows:

(1) Residents who receive only the most favorable ratings on the Worksheet for Rating Residents may be present in the dwelling unit without the presence of staff members.

(2) A staff member may be at a location outside of the dwelling unit when his/her ability to respond to a fire emergency from the location is roughly equivalent to his/her response ability from within the dwelling unit. In determining equivalency, the regulatory authority should consider:

a. whether the alarm meets the minimum loudness criteria (see the Instruction Manual for Calculating Evacuation Difficulty Score) at the locations outside the dwelling unit or whether another staff member who is required to remain in the dwelling unit can immediately notify the outside staff member of a fire emergency;

b. travel time to the dwelling unit;

c. detection of fire cues (e.g., smoke, noises) from the locations outside the dwelling unit; and

d. whether the staff member will be immediately notified about which area has the fire emergency, if the outside staff member is required to report to fire emergencies in more than one dwelling unit or fire zone.

The authority having jurisdiction can grant partial credit (not to exceed the Delay of Response score that the staff member would receive when required to remain in the dwelling unit) for staff members who are permitted to be at locations outside the dwelling unit, but who have an ability to respond promptly.

(e) Were at Least Six Fire Drills Conducted in the Last Year?   Any home in operation for less than one year should have had as many fire drills as months of operation to meet the requirement for proper number of fire drills. (Requirement is for 12 drills the first year and six all other years.)

Worksheet for Calculating the Evacuation Difficulty Score (E-Score) (Worksheet F-2)

I.  Areas of Application of Evacuation Difficulty Score -

(a) Small Facilities (housing not greater than 16 residents). The evacuation difficulty score is based on all of the housed residents and the available staff measured in accordance with the criteria for evaluating residents and staff in this instruction manual.

(b) Large Facilities (housing greater than 16 residents). The evacuation difficulty score may be calculated on the basis of individual fire/smoke zones. The procedure providing the better, i.e., (lower), evacuation difficulty score may be used. A fire/smoke zone is a portion of the building separated from all other portions of the building by building construction having at least 1-hour fire resistance and/or smoke barrier conforming to the requirement of Section 6-3 of the Life Safety Code for smoke barriers of at least 20-minute fire resistance. Zoning of the facility is also permitted in non-fire-resistive sprinklered buildings provided the construction separating one zone from another is sound and smoke resistant.

If a building is zoned, each zone shall be separately evaluated. Its evacuation difficulty score is based on the residents of that zone and the staff that is available to that zone in accordance with the staff availability criteria in this instruction manual.

When the area of application is by zone, a separate evaluation is to be made of zones that include common use spaces where the residents of more than one zone congregate for meals, recreation, or other purposes. In such cases, adjust the resident evacuation assistance scores as appropriate to reflect the needs residents would have under such conditions.

II. Finding Staff Shift Score (Worksheet F-2B) - If it is not obvious which time period has the highest E-Value, complete a separate worksheet for all candidate time periods and use the one having the highest E-Value.

Alarm Effectiveness . This factor concerns whether smoke detector-activated alarm devices are loud enough to dependably alert staff to a fire emergency.

(a) Assured. To be rated "assured", the alarm shall be "easily noticeable" in all locations where staff are allowed to go, regardless of their ratings on the promptness of response factor. To be "easily noticeable" the alarm shall be a minimum of 55 dBA measured at ear level. However, in order to be "easily noticeable", the authority having jurisdiction may require the alarm to be louder than 55 dBA where background noise interferes with alarm audibility. For example, the alarm may need to be more than 55 dBA in order to be loud enough to be heard over the noise of washing machine in the laundry, a television in the living room, and so forth.

In addition, if there are staff who are allowed to sleep, the alarm shall be a minimum of 70 dBA measured at "pillow" level in any area where they may be asleep.  The alarm must be activated by one or both of the following:

1.  Smoke detectors.

2.  Sprinkler system.

If the facility has smoke detectors meeting the requirements of Chapter 21, the smoke detectors must activate the alarm. If the facility has a sprinkler system whose fire safety properties are considered in the fire safety evaluation of the building, activation of the sprinkler system must activate the alarm.

(b) Not Assured. The alarm does not satisfy the conditions specified under "Assured". The loudness of the alarm is determined with doors, normally closed during the time period being rated, being closed, and with any other barriers that reduce the loudness of the alarms in place.

(c) Staff Availability. This factor concerns whether there are circumstances when staff may be less able to respond appropriately or may be delayed in their response to a fire emergency.

Staff members shall be included in the ratings only if they are required to remain within the residence,* if they sleep less than 100 ft (30 m) from all locations in the portion of the facility being evaluated, and/or their travel time to any location in the portion of the facility being evaluated does not exceed 1 minute.

*Exceptions to this requirement are listed in the Requirements for Using the Evacuation Difficulty Index.

(a) Standby or Asleep - means that the staff member does not have specific duties that assure an immediate response to the alarm, but that the staff member is otherwise available to assist in a timely manner. This category includes live-in staff who may be asleep, showering, or otherwise unable to respond immediately.

(b) Immediately Available - means that the staff member is required to be available to offer immediate assistance, but is not required to remain in close proximity to the residents. For example, the staff member would be allowed to wash clothes or do bookkeeping.

(c) Immediately Available and Close-by - means that the staff member, in addition to satisfying the requirement for immediately available, is also required to remain in close proximity to the residents except for brief periods of time.

If the home is a large facility and has multiple fire/smoke zones, some staff may have responsibilities for residents outside the fire/smoke zone being evaluated. If their duties include rescue of residents in the fire zone being evaluated, they may be assigned partial or full promptness of response scores. The authority having jurisdiction shall assign the points based on the proximity of the staff members to the zone and the nature of their duties in a fire emergency. This credit will be given only if there is a smoke detection system that will alert the staff member and a system or procedure for promptly informing the staff member of the general location of the fire.

Residents may be assigned responsibilities similar to staff in assisting other residents during fire emergencies. The authority having jurisdiction may assign these residents up to 8 Promptness of Response points based on their capabilities and responsibilities.