Attic Egress Window

Egress window well code requirements.

Attic egress window.

V 2500 series white vinyl right handed sliding window with fiberglass mesh screen. They include skylights dormer windows rose windows and top hinged roof windows. Attics are the worst place to be in a fire because heat and fire rise rapidly. Attic windows or roof windows are commonly installed for three main purposes.

In most codes this means an operable not fixed window to the outside or patio door. When the sill height of an egress window is located below grade common for egress windows provided for a basement a window well must be provided. Since the staircase to the attic can act as a chimney for the fire to quickly spread it s necessary to have a secondary point of egress or exit. Please be aware of the definition and egress requirements of a habitable attic as it relates to dwellings built from the 2012 irc.

Egress windows are usually required when finishing a basement or attic. Two means of egress. Egress is literally defined as a path out or to emerge and these terms directly apply to the design principles behind egress windows. Have an egress point.

The minimum opening area of the egress window is 5 7 square feet. Egress is defined as the act of coming or going out. An egress window is a window that is large enough according to local building codes to enter or exit a room during an emergency. A rose window is circular and decorative.

The 2009 and 2015 irc verbiage is similar and still applicable. Attics that meet the size and ceiling height criteria of the habitable attic definition in chapter 2 are considered habitable. Since any staircase to the attic can act as a chimney for the fire to quickly spread it s necessary to have a secondary point of egress or exit. The area of a window well shall not be less than 9 square feet with a horizontal length width of no less than 36 inches.

Attic ventilation natural lighting and aesthetic value. The minimum egress window opening is 20 wide. The egress window must have a glass area of not less than 8 of the total floor area of room s for which it is servicing to allow the minimum amount of sufficient natural light. The minimum egress window opening height is 24 high.