Areas of Refuge
This Fall, during the final hearings on the 2006 International Building Code (IBC) Detroit, Michigan there were several significant changes that will impact both the life safety and accessibility for persons with disabilities.
The first will require areas of refuge, those safe-havens for wheelchair users located above and below the grade level of a building even if an automatic sprinkler system is provided in a building. In the 2003 IBC, the current edition of the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) as well as the revised ADA/ABA Accessible Guidelines, the installation of a sprinkler system would result in an exception for this critical component of an Accessible Means of Egress.
Ina building equipped with an automatic sprinkler system, everyone on a fire floor may be protected from the immediate dangers of the fire (because it is extinguished by the
sprinkler system) ambulatory persons quickly leave the dangers of smoke and toxic fumes as they proceed to enclosed exit stairs and descend toward the level of exit discharge. Many people with disabilities cannot use the stairs and because an area of refuge is not required, wheelchair users cannot take advantage of the protection of a smoke barrier and can only go into the corridor that is sure to fill with smoke and fumes to await further evacuation.

