 Take two. Welcome to Contour with Katie. Let's see what's on thinking man's mind today. What is a means of egress? Another good question. Come on in and let's check it out. I remember when I was a kid, long before I was a door hardware nerd, this story about P.T. Barnum, he had a museum back in the 1800s and it was huge, very very popular. It cost 25 cents to get in and people would stay all day looking at the exhibits because there was so much to see. It got to be too crowded and he couldn't let more people in. So he had to wait until the others would leave. He came up with an idea of posting signs. See the egress and this way to the great egress. Curious customers follow the signs. They didn't know what an egress was. They thought it was a bird maybe. So they followed the path. They got to this door. There was a sign that said egress on it and once they left, they couldn't get back inside without going to the front entry and paying another quarter. If only the customers knew what the definition of a means of egress was, they wouldn't have been tricked. I'll be basing my answer using references from IBC 2015. Other editions are similar. Always consult your state and local codes as well. The definition of a means of egress can be found in Chapter 2. It is a continuous and unobstructed path of vertical and horizontal egress travel from any occupied portion of a building or structure to a public way. And a means of egress consists of three separate distinct parts. The exit access, that part which leads to an exit, the exit itself, which can be either vertical, the stairs, or horizontal, and it includes exit doors and the exit discharge, which gets you out of the building to safety to the public way. Let's break them down. The exit access is that portion of a means of egress that leads from any occupied portion of a building or structure to an exit. The exit is highlighted in yellow. The exit access from any room or space, you can see the X follow that path. Once you get into the hallway, the corridor, you're still in part of the exit access until you reach the door at the stair or the door that leads directly to the outside. And that is the exit, which is that portion of a means of egress between the exit access and the exit discharge or public way and safety. Exit components include exterior exit doors at the level of exit discharge, as well as interior exit stairways and ramps, exit passageways, exterior exit stairways and ramps, and horizontal exits. The exit discharge is that portion of a means of egress between the termination of an exit and a public way. And in thinking man's mind, now that he knows he's completely safe, he likes to do back flips. Just a couple more definitions. An exit access doorway is a door or access point along the path of egress travel from an occupied room, an area or space where the path of egress enters an intervening room, a corridor, an exit access stairway or ramp. All of the doors that are highlighted are exit access doorways. And if you're walking along the corridor, that is considered an exit access corridor. By limiting the travel distance to an exit, the code is limiting how long an occupant spends in the exit access portion of a means of egress. In terms of time, the higher the risk, whether it be because of the occupancy type or the type of building materials that are used, the shorter amount of time that it takes to reach an exit. And the lower the risk, which again depends on whether the building is sprinklered or not, what occupancy type and the type of construction, the shorter amount of time that it takes to reach an exit. In any case, the furthest distance to reach an exit will take the average person anywhere between one to two minutes to walk. Once an exit is reached, then the fire separation protection increases giving the occupant a high degree of safety and time enough to get out of the building. For more information and continuing education opportunities, please visit Osa Abloy Academy by clicking on the link in the comments below. Please click like and subscribe to this channel. You can follow me on Twitter at Art Consultant and or connect with me on LinkedIn for updates. And you can email Catherine.Flower at osaabloy.com, that's me, and ask me code questions or possible suggestions for future episodes. Thanks for joining me in the code corner today. My name is Katie Flower and my goal is to help you achieve safety in the built environment.