"Place of assembly" shall mean a room or space
used for assembly or educational occupancy, which has a floor area
of 1,000 square feet or more used for such purposes. Such room or
space shall include any similarly occupied connecting room or space
in the same story or in a story or stories above or below, where entrance
is common to the rooms or spaces.
No place of assembly, as defined in § 82-35, shall be maintained, operated or used as such without a permit, except that no permit shall be required for any place of assembly used solely as a place of religious worship.
All fire protection equipment required under
this code shall be kept in working condition. Extinguishers and hoses
and similar appliances shall be visible and convenient at all times.
It shall be the duty of the owner and the tenant of each building
or part of a building occupied as a place of assembly to properly
train sufficient regular employees in the use of fire appliances so
that such appliances can be quickly put in operation. These appliances
shall be inspected yearly and properly tagged by an approved person
or Inspector as defined in the NFPA 10 guidelines.
A.
Exit signs. All exit doorways in places of assembly
shall be plainly marked by approved exit signs, sufficiently illuminated
when the floor area is occupied to be readily distinguished.
B.
Directional signs. Where the exit doorways are not
visible from all locations in public corridors, directional signs
as required by the Inspector shall be placed on walls or otherwise
displayed in conspicuous locations to direct occupants to exit doorways.
Required stairways, hallways and other means
of egress, including exterior open spaces to or through which exitways
lead, shall be kept adequately lighted at all times that the building
served thereby is occupied. All such lighting shall be on a separate
and distinct electrical line running to the fuse panel.
During the period of occupancy of places of
assembly, no exit door shall be locked, bolted or otherwise fastened
or obstructed by any means so that the door cannot be opened from
the inside by the use of the ordinary door latch or knob or by pressure
on the door or on a panic release device or any other approved release
device.
No part of a stairway, whether interior or exterior,
nor of a hallway, corridor, vestibule, balcony or bridge leading to
a stairway or exit of any kind, shall be used in any way that will
obstruct its use as an exit or that will present a hazardous condition.
