| (G) Exceeding minimum requirements. Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to prohibit a better type of building construction, more exits, or otherwise safer conditions than the minimum requirements specified in this subchapter. (H) Equivalency. Nothing in this subchapter is intended to prevent the use of systems, methods, or devices of equivalent or superior quality, strength, fire resistance, effectiveness, durability, and safety to those prescribed by this subchapter, providing technical documentation which demonstrates equivalency is submitted to the department for approval. (I) Freestanding buildings (not for patient use). Separate freestanding buildings for nonpatient use such as the heating plant, boiler plant, laundry, repair workshops, or general storage may be of unprotected noncombustible construction, protected noncombustible construction, or fire-resistive construction and be designed in accordance with other occupancy classifications requirements listed in NFPA 101. (J) Freestanding buildings (for patient use other than sleeping). Buildings containing areas for patient use which do not contain patient sleeping areas and in which care or treatment is rendered to ambulatory inpatients who are capable of judgment and appropriate physical action for self-preservation under emergency conditions, may be classified as business or ambulatory care occupancies as listed in NFPA 101, Chapters 20 and 38, respectively, instead of hospital occupancy. (K) Energy conservation. In new construction and in major alterations and additions to existing buildings and in new buildings, electrical and mechanical components shall be selected for efficient utilization of energy. Hospital construction shall be in accordance with the provisions of the Texas Building Energy Performance Standards, Health and Safety Code, Chapter 388. (L) Heliports. Heliports located on hospital buildings or land used or intended to be used for landing and take off of helicopters shall comply with National Fire Protection Association 418, Standard for Heliports, and 2001 edition. (2) General detail and finish requirements. Details and finishes in new construction projects, including additions and alterations, shall be in compliance with this paragraph, with NFPA 101, Chapter 18, with local building codes, and with any specific detail and finish requirements for the particular unit as contained in §133.163 of this title (relating to Spatial Requirements for New Construction). (A) General detail requirements. (i) Fire safety. Fire safety features, including compartmentation, means of egress, automatic extinguishing systems, inspections, smoking regulations, and other details relating to fire prevention and fire protection shall comply with §133.161 of this title (relating to Requirements for Buildings in Which Existing Licensed Hospitals Are Located), and NFPA 101, Chapter 18 requirements for hospitals. The Fire Safety Evaluation System for Health Care Occupancies contained in the National Fire Protection Association 101A, Alternative Approaches to Life Safety, 2001 edition, Chapter 3, shall not be used in new building construction, renovations or additions to existing hospitals. (ii) Access to exits. Corridors providing access to all patient, diagnostic, treatment, and sleeping rooms and exits shall be at least eight feet in clear and unobstructed width (except as allowed by NFPA 101, §18.2.3.4, Exceptions 1 and 2), not less than seven feet six inches in height, and constructed in accordance with requirements listed in NFPA 101, §18.3.6. (iii) Corridors in other occupancies. Public corridors in outpatient, administrative, and service areas which are designed to other than hospital requirements and are the required means of egress from the hospital shall be not less than five feet in width. (iv) Encroachment into the means of egress. Items such as drinking fountains, telephone booths or stations, and vending machines shall be so located as to not project into and restrict exit corridor traffic or reduce the exit corridor width below the required minimum. Portable equipment shall not be stored so as to project into and restrict exit corridor traffic or reduce the exit corridor width below the required minimum. (v) Doors in means of egress. All door leaves in the means of egress shall be not less than 44 inches wide or as otherwise permitted for hospitals by NFPA 101, §18.2.3.6. (vi) Sliding doors. Horizontal sliding doors serving an occupant load of fewer than 10 shall be permitted. The area served by the door has no high hazard contents. The door is readily operable from either side without special knowledge or effort. The force required to operate the door in the direction of door travel is not more than 30 pounds per foot to set the door in motion and is not more than 15 pounds per foot to close the door or open in the minimum required width. The door assembly complies with any required fire protection rating, and, where rated, is self-closing or automatic closing. The sliding doors opening to the egress corridor doors shall have a latch or other mechanism that ensures that the doors will not rebound into a partially open position if forcefully closed. The sliding doors may have breakaway provisions and shall be installed to resist passage of smoke. The latching sliding panel shall have a minimum clear opening of 41.5 inches in the fully open position. The fixed panels may have recessed tracks. (vii) Control doors. Designs that include cross-corridor control doors should be avoided. When unavoidable, cross-corridor control doors shall consist of two 44-inch wide leaves which swing in a direction opposite from the other, or of the double acting type. Each door leaf shall be provided with a view window. (viii) Emergency access. Rooms containing bathtubs, showers, and water closets, intended for patient use shall be provided with at least one door having hardware which will permit access from the outside in any emergency. Door leaf width of such doors shall not be less than 36 inches. (ix) Obstruction of corridors. All doors which swing towards the corridor must be recessed. Corridor doors to rooms not subject to occupancy (any room that you can walk into and close the door behind you is considered occupiable) may swing into the corridor, provided that such doors comply with the requirements of NFPA 101, §7.2.1.4.4. (x) Stair landing. Doors shall not open immediately onto a stair without a landing. The landing shall be 44 inches deep or have a depth at least equal to the door width, whichever is greater. (xi) Doors to rooms subject to occupancy. All doors to rooms subject to occupancy shall be of the swing type except that horizontal sliding doors complying with the requirements of NFPA 101, §18.2.2.2.9 are permitted. Door leaves to rooms subject to occupancy shall not be less than 36 inches wide. (xii) Operable windows and exterior doors. Windows that can be opened without tools or keys and outer doors without automatic closing devices shall be provided with insect screens. (xiii) Glazing. Glass doors, lights, sidelights, borrowed lights, and windows located within 12 inches of a door jamb or with a bottom-frame height of less than 18 inches and a top-frame height of more than 36 inches above the finished floor which may be broken accidentally by pedestrian traffic shall be glazed with safety glass or plastic glazing material that will resist breaking and will not create dangerous cutting edges when broken. Similar materials shall be used for wall openings in activity areas such as recreation and exercise rooms, unless otherwise required for fire safety. Safety glass, tempered or plastic glazing materials shall be used for shower doors and bath enclosures, interior windows and doors. Plastic and similar materials used for glazing shall comply with the flame spread ratings of NFPA 101, §18.3.3. (xiv) Fire doors. All fire doors shall be listed by an independent testing laboratory and shall meet the construction requirements for fire doors in National Fire Protection Association 80, Standard for Fire Doors and Fire Windows, 1999 edition. Reference to a labeled door shall be construed to include labeled frame and hardware. (xv) Grab bars. Grab bars shall be provided at patient toilets, showers and tubs. The bars shall be one and one-half inches in diameter, shall have either one and one-fourth or one and one-half inches clearance to walls, and shall have sufficient strength and anchorage to sustain a concentrated vertical or horizontal load of 250 pounds. Grab bars are not permitted at bathing and toilet fixtures in mental health and chemical dependency units unless designed and installed to eliminate the possibility of patients harming themselves. Grab bars intended for use by the disabled shall also comply with ADA requirements. (xvi) Soap dishes. Soap dishes shall be provided at all showers and bathtubs. Cont'd... |
