Start from the occupant loads on the life safety plan, then trace each route through exit access, exits, and exit discharge on the floor plans, door schedule and hardware, stair and ramp sections, and site plan, checking that each sheet shows the same doors, widths, and paths. AI can flag conflicts; the architect and the building official decide compliance.
What does IBC Chapter 10 cover?
Chapter 10 of the 2024 IBC, Means of Egress, requires every building to have a means of egress system and controls the design, construction, and arrangement of its components. Its sections include occupant load (1004), egress sizing (1005), number of exits and exit access doorways (1006) and their configuration (1007), illumination (1008), accessible means of egress (1009), doors, gates, and turnstiles (1010), stairways (1011), ramps (1012), exit signs (1013), handrails (1014), guards (1015), exit access travel distance (1017), aisles (1018), corridors (1020), exits (1022), interior exit stairways and ramps (1023), horizontal exits (1026), exit discharge (1028), assembly (1030), and emergency escape and rescue (1031).
Chapter 10, Means of Egress, on ICC Digital Codes is part of the 2024 IBC. ICC’s store lists the 2027 IBC as a pre-order due in mid-October, and the 2027 edition was not yet on Digital Codes. Both checked October 6, 2026. Section numbers and titles below are from the 2024 edition; they can move between editions, and states and cities adopt a specific edition with amendments. Record the edition the jurisdiction enforces before citing a section.
This guide follows one chapter. The IBC guide covers the code analysis as a whole, and state codes built on the IBC, such as the California Building Code, may renumber or amend the chapter.
Some occupancies and jurisdictions also apply the Life Safety Code (NFPA 101), which has its own egress requirements; houses within the IRC follow the IRC guide.
Gather the life safety plans and every sheet on the route
Collect the code analysis, the life safety or egress plans with occupant loads, exit widths, and travel paths, the floor plans, the door schedule and hardware sets, the stair and ramp plans and sections, the reflected ceiling and electrical plans for egress lighting and exit signs, the site plan showing exit discharge to the public way, and the accessibility plans for accessible means of egress.
Life safety plans are often updated less often than floor plans. Compare their issue dates before trusting either.
Trace each egress route through the set
| Review question | Sources to compare | Decision to record |
|---|---|---|
| Occupant load | Life safety plan, floor plans, room names, furniture plans | Confirm the loads reflect the current room uses and layouts. |
| Number and arrangement of exits | Life safety plan, floor plans | Check that the exits the life safety plan counts are drawn as exits on the floor plans. |
| Widths and capacity | Life safety plan, door schedule, stair sections | Match the widths the life safety plan uses to the doors and stairs scheduled and drawn. |
| Travel distance and corridors | Life safety plan, floor plans, rated wall plans | Find routes that changed after the travel paths were drawn, and corridors whose rating differs between sheets. |
| Doors and hardware | Door schedule, hardware sets, security plans | Identify egress doors with locking, swing, or hardware that differs between documents. |
| Exit discharge | Site plan, ground floor plan, civil grading | Follow each exit to the public way and check the site plan shows the path. |
Single figures can be checked with the occupant load calculator, the egress width calculator, and the stair riser and tread calculator. Common plan check comments are in occupant load and egress width corrections, and egress doors connect to the door schedule checklist.
Example: the life safety plan counts an exit the floor plan removed
Hypothetical example. A floor is replanned and a second stair moves. The floor plans show the new stair, but the life safety plan still counts the old stair location as an exit and measures travel distance to it, and the door schedule still lists the old stair door.
The life safety plan counts an exit at a stair location the current floor plan no longer shows, and the door schedule still lists that stair door. Please update the life safety plan, travel distances, and door schedule to the current stair.
The architect updates the life safety plan and confirms the number of exits and travel distances still work with the moved stair. The building official confirms compliance.
Review egress with Groundbook
Upload the current drawings and specifications to Groundbook, and state the edition, amendments, and review scope in your instructions. Add the IBC Chapter 10 edition the project uses from a copy you are licensed to use, where the license permits uploading it, and the jurisdiction’s published amendments. See how Groundbook works with local and licensed codes.
Compare the life safety plans and code analysis with the floor plans, door schedule, hardware sets, stair and ramp sections, egress lighting and exit sign plans, accessibility plans, and site plan. Flag occupant loads that do not match room uses, exits counted but not drawn, widths that differ between sources, egress doors with conflicting hardware, and exits with no discharge path shown. Use the supplied IBC edition and local amendments and cite both sources.
Groundbook links each potential finding to the sheets involved. Overlay the life safety plan on the floor plan to see where a route changed.
Document review does not calculate occupant loads or egress capacity for you, and it does not replace the architect or the building official.