| (i) Number of exits. A facility shall provide two exits remote from each other in accordance with NFPA 101, §20.2.4.1. At least one exit door shall be accessible by an ambulance from the outside. This door may also serve as an entry for loading or receiving goods. (ii) 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. (iii) Corridors. (I) Public corridor. The minimum clear and unobstructed width of a public corridor shall be at least four feet. (II) Communicating corridor. The communicating corridor shall be used to convey patients by stretcher, gurney, or bed. (III) The communicating corridor shall link the preoperative holding area, operating room(s), and postoperative recovery suite, and shall be continuous to at least one exit. (IV) The minimum clear and unobstructed width of the communicating corridor shall be eight feet. (iv) Door types. Doors at all openings between corridors and rooms or spaces subject to occupancy shall be swing type. Elevator doors are excluded from this requirement. (v) Door swing. Doors, except doors to spaces such as small closets which are not subject to occupancy, shall not swing into corridors in a manner that might obstruct traffic flow or reduce the required corridor width. Large walk-in type closets are considered as occupiable spaces. (vi) Patient access doors. The minimum width of doors for patient access to examination and consultation rooms shall be three feet. The minimum width of doors requiring access for beds and gurneys (preoperative holding area, operating room, postoperative recovery suite, treatment rooms) shall be three feet eight inches. (vii) Emergency access. Rooms containing a water closet, 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. (viii) Sliding doors. Horizontal sliding doors serving an occupant load of fewer than 10 shall be permitted. The area served by the door shall have no high hazard contents. The door shall be readily operable from either side without special knowledge or effort. The force required to operate the door in the direction of door travel shall be not more than 30 pounds per foot to set the door in motion, and shall be not more than 15 pounds per foot to close the door or open in the minimum required width. The door assembly shall comply with any required fire protection rating, and, where rated, shall be 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 36 inches in the fully open position. The fixed panels may have recessed tracks. (ix) 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. (C) 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. (D) Grab bars. Grab bars shall be provided at patient toilets and showers. 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 intended for use by the disabled shall also comply with ADA requirements. (E) Hand washing facilities. Location and arrangement of fittings for hand washing facilities shall permit their proper use and operation. Hand washing fixtures with hands-free controls shall be provided in each examination room, treatment room, preoperative area, postoperative recovery suite, extended observation room or area, soiled utility room, fluoroscopy room, clean work room, and toilet room. Particular care shall be given to the clearances required for blade-type operating handles. Lavatories and hand washing facilities shall be securely anchored to withstand an applied vertical load of not less than 250 pounds on the front of the fixture. In addition to the specific areas noted, hand washing facilities shall be conveniently located for staff use in rooms and areas noted under spatial requirements in subsection (d) of this section and throughout the center where patient care services are provided. (F) Soap dispensers. A liquid or foam soap dispenser shall be located at each hand washing facility. (G) Hand drying. Provisions for hand drying shall be included at all hand washing facilities. There shall be hot air dryers or individual paper or cloth units enclosed in such a way as to provide protection against dust or soil and ensure single-unit dispensing. (H) Signage. A sign shall be posted at the entrance to each toilet/restroom to identify the facility for public, staff, or patient use. (I) Ceiling heights. The minimum ceiling height shall be eight feet six inches with the following exceptions. (i) Rooms containing ceiling-mounted light fixtures or equipment. Operating rooms or other rooms containing ceiling-mounted light fixtures or equipment shall have ceiling heights of not less than nine feet. Additional ceiling height may be required to accommodate special fixtures or equipment. (ii) Minor rooms. Ceilings in storage rooms, toilet rooms, and other minor rooms shall be not less than seven feet six inches (iii) Boiler rooms. Boiler rooms shall have ceiling clearances not less than two feet six inches above the main boiler header and connecting piping. (iv) Overhead clearance. Suspended tracks, rails, pipes, signs, lights, door closers, exit signs, and other fixtures that protrude into the path of normal traffic shall not be less than six feet eight inches above the finished floor. (J) Areas producing impact noises. Recreation rooms, exercise rooms, and similar spaces where impact noises may be generated shall not be located directly over operating rooms or special procedure rooms unless special provisions are made to minimize noise. (K) Rooms with heat-producing equipment. Rooms containing heat-producing equipment, such as mechanical and electrical equipment and laundry rooms, shall be insulated and ventilated to prevent floors of any occupied room located above it from exceeding a temperature differential of 10 degrees Fahrenheit above the ambient room temperature. (L) Radiation protection. Shielding shall be designed, tested, and approved by a medical physicist licensed under the Medical Physics Practice Act, Occupations Code, Chapter 602. The ASC shall obtain a certificate of registration issued by the Radiation Safety Licensing Branch to use radiation machines. (f) General finishes requirements. (1) Privacy screens, cubicle curtains, and draperies. (A) Cubicle curtains or privacy screens shall be provided to assure patient privacy when required or requested by a patient. (B) Cubicle curtains, draperies and other hanging fabrics shall be noncombustible or flame retardant and shall pass both the small-scale and the large-scale tests of National Fire Protection Association 701, Standard Methods of Fire Tests for Flame-Resistant Textiles and Films, 1999 Edition. Copies of laboratory test reports for installed materials shall be submitted to the department at the time of the final construction inspection. Cont'd... |
