Section 27-548
§ 27-548 General. The provisions of this section shall apply to all
places of assembly classified in occupancy group F-2 under the
provisions of subchapter three. F-2 places of assembly shall comply with
all of the requirements of article two of this subchapter, and with the
following:
(a) Enclosure. To qualify as an F-2 outdoor place of assembly, a place
of assembly shall have at least forty per cent of the combined surface
area of all exterior wall and roof planes open to the outdoors. When a
portion of an outdoor place of assembly is enclosed to a greater extent,
that portion shall comply with all of the requirements of this code
applicable to indoor places of assembly.
(b) Grandstands. Grandstands shall comply with the following:
(1) CONSTRUCTION. Grandstands shall be designed in accordance with the
requirements of subchapters nine and ten of this chapter.
(2) HEIGHT AND AREA. Grandstands, when built entirely of
noncombustible materials, may be of unlimited height and area, and when
built of combustible materials, shall be subject to the following
limitations:
a. No section of seating shall exceed twenty feet in height, or exceed
ten thousand square feet in area.
b. When more than one section of seating is provided, and the
separation between them is less than fifty feet, each section shall be
separated from the other by construction having a fire-resistance rating
of at least two hours and rising to a height of at least two feet six
inches above the levels of seating at each row.
c. No outdoor grandstand of combustible materials shall be erected
within less than two-thirds of its height, but in no case less than ten
feet, of a building or an interior lot line unless separated therefrom
by noncombustible construction having a one hour fire-resistance rating.
(3) SPACES UNDER SEATS. Spaces under grandstand seats shall be kept
free of all combustible materials and shall not be occupied or used for
other than egress, unless such spaces are completely enclosed by
noncombustible construction having a two hour fire-resistance rating.
(4) PARKING. Motor vehicle parking spaces shall not be closer than
twenty feet to any grandstand unless separated therefrom by
noncombustible construction having a one hour fire-resistance rating.
(c) Stage requirements.
(1) DEFINITION. For the purposes of this section the stage in an F-2
place of assembly shall be the area where the principal activity viewed
by the audience takes place.
(2) CONSTRUCTION. The horizontal area of stage construction shall not
exceed the following:
Wood frame: maximum area-- five thousand square feet.
Fire retardant treated wood: maximium area-- ten thousand square feet.
Noncombustible frame: maximum area--unlimited.
(3) EXITS FROM THE STAGE. At least two exits, remote from each other,
shall be available from every point on a stage, each within a travel
distance limitation of three hundred feet. The occupant load of the
stage shall be based upon one person per fifty square feet of area. When
any portion of a stage is used for audience seating at any time, exits
of adequate capacity shall be provided for that portion, within the
travel distance limitations for assembly space seating. Exit openings
serving a stage directly shall have a capacity of four hundred persons
per unit of exit width.
(4) EMERGENCY CONTROL PANEL. In F-2 places of assembly having an
occupant load over one thousand persons, an emergency control panel
shall be provided as follows:
a. It shall be located so as to have a view of the audience and stage
areas, and shall be readily accessible at all times during the
presentation of a performance to an audience, to a competent person
instructed in its use.
b. It shall be equipped with tell-tale lights to indicate when feeders
and sub-feeders of emergency light and power circuits are in operation
in assembly spaces and all exits.
c. It shall be equipped with a public address system serving
loudspeakers in the assembly space. The public address system shall be
connected to both the normal and emergency light and power circuits.
(d) Drive-in theaters. Drive-in theaters shall comply with the
following:
(1) Projection booths and projection machines shall comply with the
requirements of section 27-543 of article two of this subchapter. Motor
vehicle parking spaces shall not be closer than twenty feet to any
projection booth or machine.
(2) Projection screens and supporting structures shall comply with the
requirements of section 27-544 of article two of this subchapter and
shall be designed in accordance with the requirements of subchapters
nine and ten of this chapter as applied to signs. Motor vehicle parking
spaces shall not be closer than twenty feet to any projection screen.
(e) Amusement parks. Buildings and structures within amusement parks
shall be constructed to conform with all of the requirements of this
code governing the specific use and occupancy. Amusement devices shall
not be placed in operation until they have been made to comply with the
provisions of subchapter eighteen of this chapter.