this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2025
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Mildly Interesting
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That text makes little sense, because if there is only one stairway, that's the friggin stairway, and not an "emergency" stairway.
I know most American buildings have elevators even if they only have 2 floors, but it's weird to call a stairway that is often faster to use, when it's just a few floors, an "emergency" stairway, just because it's the only option when the elevator doesn't work.
Especially if the elevator and stairway are in connected shafts, it's quite obviously not enough to only have 1 stairway, there needs to be a 2nd stairway with it's own separate shaft in case of fire, because you can't jump out the windows at 4 stories height.
its called an emergency stairway because it's usable in an emergency, not all stairway shaped things are.
I worked in a building that sealed one staircase shut if a fire alarm was pulled because it accessed sensitive areas. It was meant to get to them and if you were in it you could escape but it was useless for the rest of the building so you’re right. Just because it’s a stairwell doesn’t mean it counts in an emergency
Well here stairways also need to be usable in case of emergency, especially fire. Everything has fire codes that must be observed, we frigging don't call a stairway an emergency stairway just because it's legal. AFAIK even if you have 3, they ALL need to be according to safety protocols.
Also AFAIK we need to have at least 2 "emergency" stairways already above 2 floors.
thankfully 'murika let's there be aesthetic staircases that won't meet the same standards, like a big spiral staircase
Who says it can't be aesthetic and be within regulation?
AFAIK it's just generally more expensive.