Egyptian Code: Garage Safety Requirements

Egyptian Code for Safety Requirements for Multi-Purpose Buildings

• First section is on garages

Scope

• Specifies the minimum technical requirements and specifications for designing and constructing garages.
• Includes public and private vehicle waiting areas.
• Applies to long-term and short-term parking in independent garages or those within other structures.
• Covers open and closed garages above or below ground level.
• Supplements the Egyptian code for fire protection in buildings
• Details the requirements for garage buildings.
• Using this code does not waive any requirements in construction, concrete, earthquake, electrical, elevator, etc. codes.
• Allows equivalent alternatives approved by relevant authorities.

Objective

• Sets the minimum number of parking spaces for various occupancies.
• Guarantees adequate space for parking inside the garage.
• Ensures smooth traffic flow within the garage and surrounding streets.
• Maintains the building's structural integrity.
• Lowers the possibility of fire, ensures timely detection, and facilitates effective control if it occurs.
• Secures the safe exit of building occupants.
• Limits the spread of car exhaust and smoke from fires within the building.
• Contains fires and stops them from spreading to other parts of the building.
• Enables fire and rescue teams to access the fire and perform their duties easily.

Application

• Applies to garages meeting any of these conditions:
  • Capacity of 50 or more cars.
  • Floor area of 1,000 square meters. or larger.
  • Multiple floors below ground level.
  • One floor below ground level accommodating 25 or more cars (basement level is 1.50m below street level at garage entrance).
• Limits underground garages to four stories.
• A split-level is considered one story, so the lowest floor shouldn't exceed -10.50m from the street level at the entrance.
• Enforces new buildings under its purview after this code's effective date.
• Mandates modifications to existing buildings if such changes increase parking demand.
• Requires exceeding the existing situation by 50 or more parking spaces, but the total available parking after modification must be more than indicated in section 1/2/1.
• It doesn't apply to garages not meeting the criteria.
• May cover private garages in residential and administrative buildings.
• Issued by the Technical Inspection Authority for Building Works, as specified in Annex (1).

Building and Occupancy Permits

• Administrative bodies must ensure code compliance before issuing construction permits.
• Code compliance must be verified, before occupancy permits are granted.

Definitions and Terminology

Mechanical Garages

• Garages use mechanical means, like lifts, elevators, and hydraulic conveyors, to move cars.
• Cars are moved from the entrance to parking and back without the owner.

Enclosed Garages

• Garages that do not meet the requirements of open garages.

Open Garages

• The width does not exceed 60 meters
• The total clear area of open facades facing the outside air for each story is at least 0.5 square meters per linear meter of the garage building’s perimeter.
• Openings are distributed so their total width is at least 40% of the garage's outer perimeter.
• Interior walls on each level have openings equal to at least 20% of the wall area to allow cross-ventilation.

Occupancy

• The type of activity for which a building or part of it is used.

Extremely Hazardous Occupancy

• An industrial or storage occupancy has a fire load exceeding 100 kg of combustible materials per square meter, or generates heat exceeding 2 million kilojoules per square meter.
• Contains materials that are highly flammable, explosive, or prone to rapid combustion in sufficient quantities to pose a specific hazard, subject to the authorities.

Medium Hazard Occupancy

• An industrial or storage occupancy with a fire load between 50 and 100 kg of combustible materials per square meter, or generates heat between 1 and 2 million kilojoules per square meter.

Low Hazard Occupancy

• An industrial or storage occupancy has a fire load not exceeding 50 kg per square meter.
• Generates heat not exceeding 1 million kilojoules per square meter per floor.

Interior Finishing

• Refers to the finishing of interior surfaces such as walls, ceilings, and floors.

Vertical Shaft

• Any vertical space in the building, e.g stairs, elevator shafts, service manholes, contains utility lines.

Internal Cavity

• An open space inside the building that extends vertically for two or more stories and is roofed over.

Cross Ventilation

• Natural ventilation is achieved through openings in two opposing exterior walls.

Repair Garage

• Garage includes a repair and maintenance shop.
• Requirements also apply to independent repair shops.

Fire Wall

• A fire-resistant wall to separate buildings or divide a building into sections.
• Each can be independently compliant with code requirements.

Opposite External Limit

• For each facade of the building is an external boundary:
  • The property line separating the building's courtyard from the neighbor's land if the facade overlooks a courtyard that separates the building from the neighbor's land;
  • The center line of the street or waterway if the facade faces the street or waterway and is directly adjacent to the street or waterway.

Occupancy Load

• The number of people assumed to occupy a building, floor, or area.
• Estimated by dividing the total area by an occupancy factor.

Fire Load

• The amount of combustible materials in a given area, including furniture, flooring, and partitions.
• Measures by mass per area or heat output upon combustion per area.

Fire Zone

• An area in the building is separated from the rest by fire-resistant divisions with the fire resistance.

Smoke Zone

• An area within any story separated from others by smoke barriers.

Fire Damper:

• It is installed in air conditioning ducts to close automatically when heat is detected.

Smoke Damper:

• A device installed within air conditioning ducts that closes automatically upon detecting smoke.

Exit Discharge Level

• A floor that can directly reach the public road or a safe open area outside the building.

Fire Barrier

• A structure resists the spread of fire.

Fire Resistance Rating

• It measures how well a component withstands and prevents the spread of fire for a duration of time.

Unprotected Opening:

• Any opening in a fire barrier or exterior wall lacks a fire-resistant closure.

Enclosed Space:

• It may be horizontal, like a space between a structural ceiling and a suspended ceiling, or vertical, like within walls that have wooden or metal supports covered with paneling or cladding.

Fire-Resistant Closure:

• A component that prevents the transit of flames or hot gasses.

Exit

• Part of the exit route that leads away from the story it serves to a public way, separated from the rest of the story.

Horizontal Exit

• It is a passage between two fire zones; at the same level, and connects to a safe area.

Floor Area:

• Measures the area within the building's outer walls or between exterior walls and fire walls, excluding exits, shafts, and service spaces.

Travel Distance:

• It’s measured from any point in the building to the entrance of the closest exit.

Enclosure (or Encapsulation):

• A space or vertical shaft is enclosed by fire-resistant separations, setting it apart from the rest of the story.

Fire Resistance:

• Duration that an element of construction can withstand and prevent fire and hot gases.

Closed (for doors or windows):

• A door that requires a magnetic card or key to open.
• A locked door does not require a tool or key to be opened.

Apron:

• Used for firefighting and rescue vehicles.

Dead End:

• This does not lead to another exit and can impede evacuation.

Opening Closure

• It closes an opening in a structural component, like a door or a sliding shutter.

Planning and Architectural Requirements / Rates

Surface Parking

• Open parking at ground level or on surrounding streets.
• Parking lot is connected to the street through entrances and exits.
• Can be parallel to the curb or at an angle, but must not impede traffic or emergency vehicles.

Garages

• These are located beneath residential, administrative, or other buildings, or as independent structures with multiple levels above and below ground.

Determining Parking Needs

• Demand is determined based on occupancy types and sizes.
• Determined by the rates in section 1/2/2.

Parking Rates

• The following are rates for different types of occupancy:
  • Residential Use:
    • 1.00 space per unit up to 200 square meters net area.
    • 1.25 spaces per unit from 200 to 250 square meters.
    • 1.50 spaces per unit from 250 to 300 square meters.
    • 2.00 spaces per unit exceeding 300 square meters.

Design Requirements for Parking

Administrative Occupancies

• 1.00 space per 100 square meters of net administrative area with low public interaction.
• 2.00 spaces per 100 square meters of net administrative area with high public interaction, e.g. clinics, banks, etc.

Hotels

• 0.6 space per hotel room.

Cinemas

• 0.2 parking spaces per seat.

Commercial Centers and Shops

• 3.00 spaces per 100 square meters of combined area in commercial centers in the city center.
• 4.00 spaces per 100 square meters of combined area for commercial services and uses located on highways.

Restaurants

• 3.00 spaces per 100 square meters of dining hall area.

Private Hospitals

• 1.5 spaces per bed, or 0.12 spaces per square meter of the hospital building's total area, whichever is greater.

Universities and Private Higher Education Institutes

• 0.2 spaces per student, including faculty and staff.

Car Service Centers

• 1 space per 100 square meters of the total building area.

Private and Experimental Schools

• 0.05 spaces per student, including staff, and a bus stop for each student using school buses.

Sports Clubs

• 0.45 spaces per 100 square meters of total club area.

Indoor Game Halls

• 0.2 spaces per spectator seat.

Minimum Dimensions for Parking Spaces

• Spaces designated according to parking dimensions.

Minimum Dimensions for Parking Spaces

• Dimensions vary based on type of garage:

Garages in Buildings

• 2.30 m width, 5.00 m length.
• Occupant knows the space.

Garages in Multi-Use Buildings

• 2.40 m width, 5.00 m length
• Occupant knows the space

Short Term Parking

• 2.50 m width, 5.00 m length
• Occupant does not know space

Disability Spaces

• 3.60 m width, 5.00 m length
• Occupant needs more space.

Design Factors for Parking

Columns

• If there are columns next to parking you have to keep these dimensions in mind.
• They must be set back by no less than 0.50 m.

Walls

• There must be at least 0.25 m between the wall and the edge of the parking space

Parking Space Alignment

• Wheel stops 1.80 meters long and 0.15 meters high that are set back 0.75 meters.

Vertical Clearances

• The minimum clear height of the garage floor is 2.20 meters.
• Any barriers must be placed to indicate the height.
• In some areas, where there are no cars, the clear height can be less than the minimum.
• The minimum clear height of safety barriers and opening sills is 1.10 m.
• The minimum clear height within stairwells is 2.05 m.

Ramps

• Enable cars to drive efficiently.

Straight or Helical

• Slope must be durable and skid-proof.

Straight Ramp with Turning

• 3,65m Wide
• 3,65m Wide In Each Direction

Curbs

• 0.5 m on Each Side
• 0.5 m on Every Side and Separated By Center Curb

Longitudinal Slope

• Should Not Exceed 10%

Transitions

• The tangent should have 3m on both ends.