DonHester's blog

Can’t get in… But Can I get out? Emergency Escape

Submitted by DonHester on Tue, 08/07/2012 - 07:42.

Can’t get in… But Can I get out? Emergency Escape- Chelan and Leavenworth Home Inspection Services

I have talked about emergency egress and ingress before on bedroom windows.

But sometimes you have to reiterate a point. On a recent Wenatchee Home Inspection I observed a curious security feature.

The owner must have had some worry about security. As a purposeful and resourceful soul he decided to repurpose some common household items, the bed headboard and footboard.

Now I love ingenuity and creativeness but sometimes the thought is just not quite complete or well thought out.

In this example we can see that the homeowner placed these bars over the widows.

Now two things-
First they are fastened from the exterior so if you really wanted in it would not be that hard to remove them.

Second and most important this is a life safety issue. This is how the code (IRC) describes this
R310.1.4 Operational constraints.
Emergency escape and rescue openings shall be operational from the inside of the room without the use of keys, tools or special knowledge.

As you can see these windows bars clearly cannot be operated from the inside or opened without a tool.

“One of the true tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.”

Arnold H Glasgow

NCW Home Inspections, LLC is a Licensed Washington State Home Inspection service located in Wenatchee Washington serving Chelan County, Douglas County, Kittitas County, Okanogan County and Grant County Washington and the cities of Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Cashmere, Orville, Cle Elum, East Wenatchee, Quincy and many more…

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DonHester's blog

Can’t get in… But Can I get out? Emergency Escape