Occupancy Group Classification

303.1 Assembly Group A. Assembly Group A occupancy includes, among others, the use of a building or structure or a portion thereof, excluding a dwelling unit, for the gathering together of any number of persons for purposes such as civic, social or religious functions, recreation, food or drink consumption, awaiting transportation, or similar group activities; or when occupied by 75 persons or more for educational or instructional purposes.
Exceptions:
1. A room or space used for assembly purposes by fewer than 75 persons and accessory to another occupancy shall be included as a part of that occupancy
2. A building or non-accessory tenant space used for assembly purposes by fewer than 75 persons shall be considered a Group B occupancy.
Assembly occupancies shall include the following:
A-1 Assembly uses, usually with fixed seating, intended for the production and viewing of the performing arts or motion pictures including, but not limited to: Motion picture theaters
Symphony and concert halls
Television and radio studios admitting an audience
Theaters

A-2 Assembly uses intended for food and/or drink consumption including, but not limited to:
Banquet halls
Cabarets
Cafeterias, except as provided for in A-3
Dance halls
Night clubs
Restaurants
Taverns and bars

A-3 Assembly uses intended for worship, recreation or amusement and other assembly uses not classified elsewhere in Group A including, but not limited to:
Amusement arcades
Art galleries
Bowling alleys
Cafeterias for children up to and including the 12th grade
Classrooms and instructional rooms with 75 persons or more; such rooms with fewer than 75 persons shall be classified as Group B or E
Community halls
Courtrooms
Custodial care facilities with 75 or more persons, providing care to persons over the age of 2, where no more than four occupants are incapable of responding to an emergency situation without physical assistance from staff
Dance studio or instruction (not including food or drink consumption)
Exhibition halls
Funeral parlors
Gymnasiums (without spectator seating)
Houses of worship
Indoor swimming pools (without spectator seating)
Indoor tennis courts (without spectator seating)
Lecture halls
Museums
Waiting areas in transportation terminals
Pool and billiard parlors
School auditoriums

A-4 Assembly uses intended for viewing of indoor sporting events and activities with spectator seating including, but not limited to:
Arenas
Skating rinks
Swimming pools
Tennis courts

A-5 Assembly uses intended for participation in or viewing outdoor activities including, but not limited to:
Amusement park structures
Bleachers
Grandstands
Stadiums

304.1 Business Group B. Business Group B occupancy includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, for office, professional, service-type transactions, or for conducting public or civic services, including the incidental storage of records and accounts and the incidental storage of limited quantities of stocks of goods for office use or purposes. Business Group B occupancies shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
Airport traffic control towers
Animal hospitals, kennels and pounds
Banks
Barber and beauty shops
Civic administration offices
Clinic—outpatient, including group medical centers, and neighborhood family care centers
Custodial care facilities with fewer than 75 persons, providing care to persons over the age of 2, where no more than four occupants are incapable of responding to an emergency situation without physical assistance from staff
Dry cleaning and laundries; pick-up and delivery stations and self-service
Educational occupancies above the 12th grade, where not classified in Group A. Such occupancy may be used occasionally for educational purposes offered to children through the 12th grade
Electronic data processing
Laboratories; non-production testing and research, as per Section 419
Libraries when not classified in Group E
Motor vehicle showrooms
Offices
Post offices
Photocopying and printing shops using electronic printing equipment
Professional services (architects, attorneys, dentists, physicians, engineers, etc.)
Radio and television stations not admitting an audience
Telephone exchanges

305.1 Educational Group E. Educational Group E occupancy includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, by five or more persons at any one time for educational purposes offered to children through the 12th grade and where no more than two children are under the age of 2, including but not limited to, the following:
Academies
Day care facilities where no more than two children are under the age of 2
Libraries accessory to Group E occupancies
Schools

Exceptions:
1. Classrooms and instructional rooms with 75 or more persons shall be classified as Group A-3.
2. Day care services provided within a dwelling unit as described in Section 310.
3. Custodial care facilities with up to 30 children under the age of 2 are permitted to be classified as Group E when the rooms where such children are cared for are located on the level of exit discharge and each of these child care rooms has an exit door directly to the exterior.

306.1 Factory Industrial Group F.
Factory Industrial Group F occupancy includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, for assembling, disassembling, fabricating, finishing, manufacturing, packaging, repair, cleaning, laundering or processing operations that are not classified as a Group H hazardous occupancy.

307.1 High-Hazard Group H.
High-Hazard Group H occupancy includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, that involves the manufacturing, processing, generation or storage of materials that constitute a physical or health hazard in quantities in excess of those found in Tables 307.7(1) and 307.7(2) (see also definition of “Control area”).
Exception: Laboratories for non-production testing, research, experimental, instructional or educational purposes, in compliance with Section 419.

308.2 Group I-1. This occupancy shall include buildings, structures or parts thereof housing persons, on a 24-hour basis, who because of age, mental disability or other reasons, live in a supervised residential environment that provides personal care services. The occupants are capable of self-preservation and capable of responding to an emergency situation without physical assistance from staff. Such occupancy shall be subject to the New York State Multiple Dwelling Law. This group shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
Adult homes, where occupants are capable of self-preservation (see Section 308.2.1)
Alcohol and drug abuse rehabilitation centers
Assisted living facilities
Community Residences or Intermediate Care Facilities (see Section 308.2.2)
Congregate care facilities
Convalescent facilities
Enriched housing, where occupants are capable of self-preservation (see Section 308.2.1)
Halfway houses
Overnight child care facilities where all supervised occupants are under the age of 18, with no more than two children under the age of 2
Residential care facilities
Social rehabilitation facilities

308.3 Group I-2. This occupancy shall include buildings and structures used for medical, surgical, psychiatric, nursing or personal care on a 24-hour basis or overnight of more than two children under the age of 2, or more than three persons who are not capable of self-preservation and not capable of responding to an emergency situation without physical assistance from staff. This group shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
Adult homes, where occupants are not capable of self-preservation, operated pursuant to and meeting the additional construction requirements of Section 460 of the New York State Social Services Law and regulations of the New York State Department of Health
Community Residences or Intermediate Care Facilities, where occupants are not capable of self preservation, operated pursuant to and meeting the additional construction requirements of the New York State Mental Hygiene Law and applicable regulations of the New York State Office of Mental Health and Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities
Enriched Housing, where occupants are not capable of self-preservation, operated pursuant to and meeting the additional construction requirements of Section 460 of the New York State Social Services Law and regulations of the New York State Department of Health
Hospitals Nursing homes (both intermediate-care facilities and skilled nursing facilities) Mental hospitals where patients are not under restraint Detoxification facilities

Exception: Such a facility offering care on a 24-hour basis for 3 or fewer persons who are not capable of self preservation may occupy not more than one dwelling unit in a Group R occupancy.

308.4 Group I-3. This occupancy shall include buildings and structures that are inhabited by more than five persons who are under restraint or security. An I-3 facility is occupied by persons who are generally incapable of self-preservation due to security measures not under the occupants' control. This group shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
Mental hospitals where patients are under restraint
Prisons
Jails
Reformatories
Detention centers
Correctional centers
Prerelease centers
Buildings of Group I-3 shall be classified as one of the occupancy conditions indicated in Section 408.1.

309.1 Mercantile Group M. Mercantile Group M occupancy includes, among others, buildings and structures or a portion thereof, for the display and sale of merchandise, and involves stocks of goods, wares or merchandise incidental to such purposes and accessible to the public. Mercantile occupancies shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
Department stores
Drug stores
Markets
Motor fuel-dispensing facilities
Retail or wholesale stores
Sales rooms

903.2.1.1 Group A-1. An automatic sprinkler system shall be provided for Group A-1 occupancies where any one of the following conditions exists:
1. The fire area exceeds 12,000 square feet (1115 m2).
2. The fire area has an occupant load of 300 or more.
3. The aggregate occupant load of all fire areas occupied by Group A, located on any given floor other than the level of exit discharge, is 300 or more.
4. The fire area contains a multitheater complex.

903.2.1.2 Group A-2. An automatic sprinkler system shall be provided for Group A-2 occupancies where any one of the following conditions exists:
1. The fire area exceeds 5,000 square feet (464.5 m2).
2. The fire area has an occupant load of 300 or more.
3. The aggregate occupant load of all fire areas occupied by Group A, located on any given floor other than the level of exit discharge, is 300 or more.
4. The A-2 occupancy is used as a cabaret.

903.2.1.3 Group A-3. An automatic sprinkler system shall be provided for Group A-3 occupancies where any one of the following conditions exists:
1. The fire area exceeds 12,000 square feet (1115 m2).
2. The fire area has an occupant load of 300 or more.
3. The aggregate occupant load of all fire areas occupied by Group A, located on any given floor other than the level of exit discharge, is 300 or more.
Exception: Areas used exclusively as participant sports areas where the main floor area is located at the same level as the level of exit discharge of the main entrance and exit.

903.2.1.4 Group A-4. An automatic sprinkler system shall be provided for Group A-4 occupancies where any one of the following conditions exists:
1. The fire area exceeds 12,000 square feet (1115 m2).
2. The fire area has an occupant load of 300 or more.
3. The aggregate occupant load of all fire areas occupied by Group A, located on any given floor other than the level of exit discharge, is 300 or more.
Exception: Areas used exclusively as participant sports areas where the main floor area is located at

903.2.1.5 Group A-5. An automatic sprinkler system shall be provided in all enclosed areas of the structure, including but not limited to the concession concourse, concession stands, retail areas, press boxes and other accessory use areas, in excess of 1,000 square feet (93 m2).

903.2.2 Group E. An automatic sprinkler system shall be provided for Group E occupancies as follows:
1. Throughout all Group E fire areas greater than 20,000 square feet (1858 m2) in area.
2. Throughout every portion of educational buildings below the level of exit discharge.


Exception: An automatic sprinkler system is not required in any fire area or area below the level of exit discharge where every classroom throughout the building has at least one exterior exit door at ground level without intervening corridors, passageways, or exit enclosures.

903.2.3 Group F. An automatic sprinkler system shall be provided throughout all buildings containing a Group F occupancy where any one of the following conditions exists:
1. Where a Group F-1 fire area exceeds 12,000 square feet (1115 m2);
2. Where a Group F-1 fire area is located more than three stories above grade; or
3. Where the combined area of all Group F-1 fire areas on all floors, including any mezzanines, exceeds 24,000 square feet (2230 m2); or
4. Where required by Section 280 of the New York State Labor Law for “factory buildings” defined in Section 2 of such law.