AskCodeMan

Hey there,
We are doing an interior renovation within an existing building. The project is a coffee house (front of house) and bean roaster (back of house). Our project is roughy 1600. Front of house is roughly 1050 sqft and back of house is roughly 550 sqft. The existing building is sprinkled. We would like to place a storefront system between front of house and back house. Front of house will have an occupancy of A-2. How would we treat the back of house? Would it stay as A-2. We really don't want any fire separation between the two.

EnE_arch wrote:The project is a coffee house (front of house) and bean roaster (back of house).

The 2015 IBC seems to say yes:
- 303.3 Assembly Group A-2.
- - Group A-2 Ocupancy includes assembly uses intended for food and/or drink consumption including, but not limited to:
- - - (fourth item down is)
- - - Restaurants, cafeterias and similar dining facilities (including associated commercial kitchens)

I suspect the bean roaster area would be considered a "kitchen" and would therefore be the same occupancy as the dining facility it is associated with.

However ... if they were to roast beans for other uses outside the dining room, such as selling wholesale to other places, then the bean roaster area would likely become a factory, Factory F-1.

If it became a Factory, F-1, then Table 508.4, under F-1, Sprinklered, the separation to an A would be 1 hour minimum.