Chicago Fire Codes

Chicago, Illinois follows more stringent egress lighting requirements than the rest of the US. Exit sign lettering must be red with a tempered glass face and steel body. Emergency lights must also be steel, provide a higher amount of illumination than generic fixtures and have IC housing if recessed into the ceiling.

The specific requirements of the Chicago Fire Code are as follows：

1）Minimum Number Of Exits

2）Exit Lighting

3）Emergency Lighting

4）Exit, Stairway, Fire Escape And Directional Signs

1. Minimum Number Of Exits

A. There shall be not less than two exits from every building, floor, space or room, except that one exit may be permitted from any room or space under the conditions outlined in subsection (a) through (b) of this section; and one exit may be permitted from a floor under the conditions outlined in subsections (c) through (o) of this section.

(a) In all occupancies except hazardous use units, one exit shall be permitted from any room or space designed or used for an occupancy of not more than 50 persons and: (1) having an area not exceeding 1,200 square feet; or (2) used for business, mercantile, industrial or storage use, not exceeding 4,000 square feet, provided the travel distance from the exit door to the most remote point in the room or space does not exceed 75 feet, or 115 feet if equipped throughout with a standard automatic sprinkler system as defined in Chapter 15-16 of this Code.

(b) In all occupancies one exit shall be permitted from any room or space having an area not exceeding 2,000 square feet and used exclusively for storage purposes with only incidental human occupancy.

(c) In single-family dwellings and townhouses, one exit shall be permitted from any floor not more than one story above or below grade; provided that the area of such floor shall not exceed 1,500 square feet.

(d) In multiple dwellings, one exit serving one family only shall be permitted from the first or second story, and one exit shall be permitted from a basement space provided that the area of such floor or basement shall not exceed 800 square feet.

(e) In multiple dwellings, one exit shall be permitted to a public corridor from a dwelling unit when the travel distance to the most remote door within the unit does not exceed 35 feet and 55 feet from the most remote point of the dwelling unit. Two corridor exit doors are required when these distances are exceeded.

(f) In multiple dwellings, two stories high, except in buildings of Type III-C or IV-A or IV-B construction, one inside stairway from the second floor shall be permitted under the following conditions:

(g) In multiple dwellings of Types I-A, I-B and I- C construction not more than four stories high, one stairway shall be permitted under the following conditions:

(h) In multiple dwellings and business units of Types I-A, I-B or I-C construction not more than eight stories in height, one smokeproof tower shall be permitted under the following conditions:

(i) In fire stations one inside stairway shall be permitted from the second floor where there are not less than two slide poles in addition thereto

(j) In all public buildings there shall be no less than one primary entrance or exit for the handicapped from the property line to the building, accessible to, and usable by, individuals in wheel chairs, or those with major mobility limitations。

(k) In all group homes there shall be two exits from each floor.

(l) In intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled – 15 or less, every floor containing areas or rooms used by residents shall have at least two exits remote from each other. At least one means of egress shall consist of an interior stairway, an enclosed outside stairway or a horizontal exit。

(m) In multiple and single-family dwellings of any construction type not over three stories in height, units having an area not over 1,500 square feet on the third floor and at least one interior stair serving exclusively that unit, leading from the third floor to an exterior exit, may substitute for the second exit from the third floor of one of the following means of escape:

(n) In townhouse dwellings of IIIB construction or better up to four stories in height, units having an area not over 1,500 square feet on the highest story and having at least one interior stair serving exclusively that unit and leading from the highest story to an exterior exit, may substitute for the second exit required from the third or fourth stories a continuous exterior deck linking three or more units at the highest story。

(o) In single-family dwellings and in two-unit multi-family dwellings not over three stories, the second exit from the third floor。

2. Exit Lighting

All exit areas shall be adequately lighted by electricity. Except in single-family and two-family dwellings, such lighting shall be continuous during the time that conditions of occupancy require that the exit ways be open or available and the intensity of lighting required in Section 13-160-670 is not provided by means of natural light. Emergency exit lighting shall be provided in intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled – 15 or less。Normal intensity of lighting shall be not less than one footcandle per square foot on the floor surfaces of vertical exits and not less than one-half footcandle per square foot on the floors of other exits。

3. Emergency Lighting

Emergency lighting shall be provided in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 14-28 through 14-36 and 14-44 through 14-72* of this Code。

4. Exit, Stairway, Fire Escape And Directional Signs

A. Exit, stairway, fire escape and directional signs, illuminated by electricity, shall be installed and maintained in all existing buildings。

B. Every such sign shall be internally illuminated by a ten watt or larger incandescent electric lamp。

C. Exit signs shall be located over or immediately adjoining every opening to a horizontal means of egress or ramp leading out of a building; also over every opening leading from a public assembly room to a mezzanine floor, corridor or hallway。Stairway or exit signs shall be located at every stairway on every floor in existing buildings. In buildings hereafter erected stairway signs only shall be located at every stairway on every floor。

D. All such signs shall be clearly visible from all means of approach to such ways of egress。

E. Directional signs shall be located where the path of exit travel or the location of the exit, stairway or fire escape is not clear and unmistakable due to bridges, tunnels, intersections of hallways, intervening partitions or turns in corridors. Such signs shall be located at every yard, court, passageway or other exterior space leading from any exit to a space serving as a way of departure from every theater, public assembly building, hotel, school or church。

F. Every exit, stairway and fire escape sign shall bear the words “EXIT”, “STAIRWAY” and “FIRE ESCAPE”, respectively, in block letters at least four and one-half inches high with nine-sixteenths inch stroke。

G. Every directional sign shall bear the word “EXIT” to indicate the direction of an exit, stairway or fire escape and shall bear a horizontal arrow pointed in the direction of travel. Lettering shall be in block letters at least three and three-eighths inches high with nine- sixteenths inch stroke. The arrow shall be one-half inch wide and as long as the lettering。

H. Phosphorescent signs shall be made of materials which meet or exceed the specifications for luminous material and equipment (nonradioactive), electric lamp activated as hereinafter in this section set forth。No such sign shall be installed or used until it has been tested as hereinafter specified in Section 13-160-790 by a laboratory equipped to make such tests and maintained by the City of Chicago as a testing laboratory or by any other qualified laboratory equipped to make such tests as herein provided and acceptable to and approved by the fire commissioner of the City of Chicago and until such laboratory has certified to the fire commissioner that such sign meets the requirements as set forth in Section 13-160-790 upon which certification the fire commissioner shall approve such sign for installation subject to further inspection as hereinafter provided。

BACL Service:

BACL is the Energy Star testing laboratory, certification body, and market sampling testing laboratory approved by the EPA. At the same time we obtain the authorization and recognition of NVLAP (Lab Code: 200707-0)、IAS (Accreditation No.: TL-460, TL-749)、CNAS (Registration No.: L2408, L5662, L6290, L9963, L11432, IB0343)、A2LA (Certificate No.: 3297.01, 3297.02, 3297.03, 4821.01, 4820.01, 4324.01, 4323.01), and so on. Respectively have testing sites in US, Shenzhen, Dongguan and Kunshan, such places. With the ability to complete the energy efficiency aging detection of 60,000 lights at the same time, BACL is the largest and most authoritative energy efficiency testing laboratory in China.

We can provide you with many services, such as US Energy Star, DLC, DOE, CEC Title20, CEC Title24, LDL, FTC Label, European Union ERP, Canada NRCan, UK EST, Australia GEMS/VEET/IPART, global Energy efficiency Label ELI and Hong Kong Energy Label inspection and certification.