Egress calculator

Calculate exit widths and travel distances per IBC requirements

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The Egress Calculator helps architects and code consultants verify that building exits provide adequate capacity for safe evacuation during emergencies.

Proper egress design is critical for life safety. This calculator determines required exit widths based on occupant load and verifies that travel distances comply with code limits for sprinklered and non-sprinklered buildings.

Enter your occupant load and building conditions to calculate minimum egress widths for doors, corridors, and stairs. The tool also helps verify common path of travel and dead-end corridor limits.

Features

Everything you need

Exit width calculations from occupant load
Sprinklered vs. non-sprinklered limits
Travel distance verification
Common path of travel checks
Dead-end corridor limits
Stair width requirements
Door width minimums

How it works

Simple workflow

1
Enter the total occupant load for the space or floor
2
Indicate whether the building is sprinklered
3
Select the occupancy classification
4
Review minimum required egress widths
5
Verify travel distances meet code limits

Use cases

Built for real-world scenarios

Code review preparation

Generate egress calculations to support permit applications and plan check submittals.

Tenant improvement verification

Confirm existing egress capacity is adequate for proposed tenant buildout.

Assembly space design

Size exits appropriately for high-occupancy venues like theaters and restaurants.

Renovation assessments

Evaluate existing building egress when changing use or increasing occupancy.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

For most occupancies with sprinklers, multiply occupant load by 0.2 inches for stairs and 0.15 inches for other egress components. Without sprinklers, use 0.3 and 0.2 respectively. Minimum door width is 32 inches clear.

Common limits are 200 feet unsprinklered and 250 feet sprinklered for most occupancies. High-hazard uses have shorter limits. These distances are measured along the actual path of travel, not straight-line.

Common path of travel is the distance an occupant must travel before having a choice of two separate exit paths. IBC typically limits this to 75 feet, or 100 feet with sprinklers in some occupancies.

Rooms with occupant load over 50 generally require two exits. Some occupancies trigger two exits at lower thresholds. Rooms with only one exit have stricter travel distance and common path limits.

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We're always looking to improve our calculators. If you have ideas for new features, improvements, or found something that could work better, we'd love to hear from you.

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