New: area of refuge, stairway and elevator signs

Most ADA signs help people find a room. A smaller set helps them get out, and those were missing from the site until today. Here is what each new builder makes, and the rules behind it.

Areas of refuge

An area of refuge is a protected place, usually a stair landing or a lobby next to an exit stair, where someone who can't use the stairs waits for help during an emergency. In some buildings with sprinklers, an area for assisted rescue plays the same role. The 2010 ADA Standards point to the International Building Code for these spaces (§216.4.2, §216.4.3), and the Access Board's guide sums up three kinds of sign:

• At the door: a sign reading AREA OF REFUGE with the International Symbol of Accessibility. It designates a permanent space, so it needs raised characters and braille. The symbol itself doesn't need to be raised.
• On the way: directional signs with the symbol, at exits that aren't accessible and at elevators serving accessible spaces, pointing to the accessible means of egress. These need only visual characters.
• Inside the area: instructions for the two-way communication system. They tell people who can use the stairs to do so as soon as possible unless they are helping others, explain what assistance is planned and how to call for it, and give directions to the other exits. These are visual signs.

The area of refuge sign builder makes all three. The instructions are a starting point: rewrite them to match your building's communication system and evacuation plan.

Stairways

The IBC requires a sign inside an enclosed stair at each floor landing in taller buildings. It gives the stair's name, whether there's roof access, the floor level in large characters, the top and bottom levels served, and the level and direction of the exit discharge. The Access Board notes that the floor level designation is a permanent space designation, so the tactile floor sign beside the stair door needs raised characters and braille, while the rest of the information only has to be visual. The stairway sign builder draws both and points the exit arrow up or down for you.

Elevators

Each hoistway entrance has a floor designation on both jambs in raised characters at least 2 inches high, with braille below. The main entry floor adds a raised star (§407.2.3). Inside the car, raised symbols and braille sit to the left of each button. The elevator sign builder makes jamb plates, control labels and the IN CASE OF FIRE sign. One note from the Access Board's guide: emergency stop buttons are no longer permitted on new control panels under the ASME A17.1 elevator code, so the stop label is for existing panels.

Occupant load

Assembly rooms post their maximum occupancy near the main exit (IBC 1004.9). The occupant load sign builder takes the number your building or fire official gives you.

Which IBC edition applies, and which signs your building needs, is up to your local building and fire officials. The ADA Standards themselves reference the 2000 and 2003 editions. Find every new sign in the directory.