shower enclosure door swing

[greywolf]

other than the IRC, is there a specific code requirement for shower enclosure doors to swing out. is this required in a commercial application (health club)?

[Jerry Peck - Codeman]

That was an excellent way to phrase that question (yes, words do matter) ... "specific" requirement ...

First with a "non-specific" requirement. (bold and underlining are mine)
- From the IPC (International Plumbing Code):
- - 417.4 Shower compartments. All shower compartments shall have a minimum of 900 square inches (0.58 m2) of interior cross-sectional area. Shower compartments shall not be less than 30 inches (762 mm) in minimum dimension measured from the finished interior dimension of the compartment, exclusive of fixture valves, shower heads, soap dishes, and safety grab bars or rails. Except as required in Section 404, the minimum required area and dimension shall be measured from the finished interior dimension at a height equal to the top of the threshold and at a point tangent to its centerline and shall be continued to a height not less than 70 inches (1778 mm) above the shower drain outlet.
- - - Exception: Shower compartments having not less than 25 inches (635 mm) in minimum dimension measured from the finished interior dimension of the compartment, provided that the shower compartment has a minimum of 1,300 square inches (.838 m2) of cross-sectional area.

The enclosure, including the door, is not excepted out in the exception, meaning that a door which swings into the shower compartment will reduce the size of the compartment down to where th door first intrudes into the shower compartment space.

As an example of what I am saying:
- Example 1 - Let's use a 30" by 30" shower compartment: the door would not be able to swing in at all.
- Example 2 - Let's add 24" length to the above shower, making the shower compartment 30" by 54", and add a 24" door which swings into the compartment from one of the 30" end walls, and the door swings to one of the 54" walls; that door still leaves the required 30" by 30" space for the shower compartment.
- See attached drawing for the examples.

Here is another "non-specific" "requirement" to be considered: *WHEN* (not "if") someone falls in that shower compartment with the in-swing door and the door impedes getting to and rescuing that person, or even if the door does not impede any rescue it may well impede the person existing who just got up after falling, you can rest assured knowing that their attorney will key in on that in-swing shower door and that will become a pivotal point in losing a lawsuit. Now, thinking of things in that light 'should be a requirement' for anyone.

There really is no good reason to in-swing a shower enclosure door, and any reason one comes up with to justify that would most likely not be defensible when any of the negatives are put up against any reason for installing it as an in-swing door.

Hope this information helps.