(Building Occupancy - TotalConstructionHelp)

A building or tenant space used for assembly purposes with an occupant load of less than 50 persons shall be classified as a Group B occupancy.
A room or space used for assembly purposes with an occupant load of less than 50 persons and accessory to another occupancy shall be classified as a Group B occupancy or as part of that occupancy.
A room or space used for assembly purposes that is less than 750 square feet (70 m2) in area and is accessory to another occupancy shall be classified as a Group B occupancy or as part of that occupancy.

Assembly (see Section 303): Groups A-1, A-2, A-3, A-4 and A-5
1. A-1 Assembly uses, usually with fixed seating, intended for the production and viewing of the performing arts or motion pictures including, but not limited to:
  1. Motion picture theaters
  2. Symphony and concert halls
  3. Television and radio studios admitting an audience
  4. Theaters
2. A-2 Assembly uses intended for food and/or drink consumption including, but not limited to:
  1. Banquet halls
  2. Night clubs
  3. Restaurants
  4. Taverns and bars
3. A-3 Assembly uses intended for worship, recreation or amusement and other assembly uses not classified elsewhere in Group A including, but not limited to:
  1. Amusement arcades
  2. Art galleries
  3. Bowling alleys
  4. Places of religious worship
  5. Community halls
  6. Courtrooms
  7. Dance halls (not including food or drink consumption)
  8. Exhibition halls
  9. Funeral parlors
  10. Gymnasiums (without spectator seating)
  11. Indoor swimming pools (without spectator seating)
  12. Indoor tennis courts (without spectator seating)
  13. Lecture halls
  14. Libraries
  15. Museums
  16. Waiting areas in transportation terminals
  17. Pool and billiard parlors
4. A-4 Assembly uses intended for viewing of indoor sporting events and activities with spectator seating including, but not limited to:
  1. Arenas
  2. Skating rinks
  3. Swimming pools
  4. Tennis courts
5. A-5 Assembly uses intended for participation in or viewing outdoor activities including, but not limited to:
  1. Amusement park structures
  2. Bleachers
  3. Grandstands
  4. Stadiums
Business (see Section 304): Group B
1. Airport traffic control towers
2. Animal hospitals, kennels and pounds
3. Banks
4. Barber and beauty shops
5. Car wash
6. Civic administration
7. Clinic�outpatient
8. Dry cleaning and laundries: pick-up and delivery stations and self-service
9. Educational occupancies for students above the 12th grade
10. Electronic data processing
11. Laboratories: testing and research
12. Motor vehicle showrooms
13. Post offices
14. Print shops
15. Professional services (architects, attorneys, dentists, physicians, engineers, etc.)
16. Radio and television stations
17. Telephone exchanges
18. Training and skill development not within a school or academic program
Educational (see Section 305): Group E
1. Educational Group E occupancy includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, by six or more persons at any one time for educational purposes through the 12th grade. Religious educational rooms and religious auditoriums, which are accessory to places of religious worship in accordance with Section 508.3.1 and have occupant loads of less than 100, shall be classified as A-3 occupancies.
Factory and Industrial (see Section 306): Groups F-1, F-2 and F-3
Factory Industrial Group F occupancy includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or a portion thereof, for assembling, disassembling, fabricating, finishing, manufacturing, packaging, repair or processing operations that are not classified as a Group H hazardous or Group S storage occupancy.
1. Factory industrial uses which are not classified as Factory Industrial F-2 Low Hazard shall be classified as F-1 Moderate Hazard and shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
  1. Aircraft
  2. Appliances
  3. Athletic equipment
  4. Automobiles and other motor vehicles
  5. Bakeries
  6. Beverages; over 12-percent alcohol content
  7. Bicycles
  8. Boats
  9. Brooms or brushes
  10. Business machines
  11. Cameras and photo equipment
  12. Canvas or similar fabric
  13. Carpets and rugs (includes cleaning)
  14. Clothing
  15. Construction and agricultural machinery
  16. Disinfectants
  17. Dry cleaning and dyeing
  18. Electric generation plants
  19. Electronics
  20. Engines (including rebuilding)
  21. Food processing
  22. Furniture
  23. Hemp products
  24. Jute products
  25. Laundries
  26. Leather products
  27. Machinery
  28. Metals
  29. Millwork (sash & door)
  30. Motion pictures and television filming (without spectators)
  31. Musical instruments
  32. Optical goods
  33. Paper mills or products
  34. Photographic film
  35. Plastic products
  36. Printing or publishing
  37. Recreational vehicles
  38. Refuse incineration
  39. Shoes
  40. Soaps and detergents
  41. Textiles
  42. Tobacco
  43. Trailers
  44. Upholstering
  45. Wood; distillation
  46. Woodworking (cabinet)
2. Factory Industrial F-2 Low-hazard Occupancy. Factory industrial uses that involve the fabrication or manufacturing of noncombustible materials which during finishing, packing or processing do not involve a significant fire hazard shall be classified as F-2 occupancies and shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
  1. Beverages; up to and including 12-percent alcohol content
  2. Brick and masonry
  3. Ceramic products
  4. Foundries
  5. Glass products
  6. Gypsum
  7. Ice
  8. Metal products (fabrication and assembly)
3. Special purpose F-3.Factory-industrial occupancy includes industrial operations in buildings designed for and suitable only for particular types of operations, characterized by a relatively low density of employee population, with much of the area occupied by machinery or equipment. Group F-3 special purpose factory-industrial occupancy shall include, among others, the occupancies listed in this section: steel mills, paper plants and generating plants.
High Hazard (see Section 307): Groups H-1, H-2, H-3, H-4 and H-5
1. High-hazard Group H-1. Buildings and structures containing materials that pose a detonation hazard shall be classified as Group H-1.
2. High-hazard Group H-2. Buildings and structures containing materials that pose a deflagration hazard or a hazard from accelerated burning shall be classified as Group H-2.
3. High-hazard Group H-3. Buildings and structures containing materials that readily support combustion or that pose a physical hazard shall be classified as Group H-3.
4. High-hazard Group H-4. Buildings and structures which contain materials that are health hazards shall be classified as Group H-4.
5. High-hazard Group H-5 structures. Semiconductor fabrication facilities and comparable research and development areas in which hazardous production materials (HPM) are used and the aggregate quantity of materials is in excess of those listed in Tables 307.1(1) and 307.1(2) shall be classified as Group H-5. Such facilities and areas shall be designed and constructed in accordance with Section 415.8.
Institutional (see Section 308): Groups I-1, I-2 and I-3
1. Group I-1. This occupancy shall include buildings, structures or parts thereof housing more than 16 persons, on a 24-hour basis, who because of age, mental disability or other reasons, live in a supervised residential environment that provides personal care services. The occupants are capable of responding to an emergency situation without physical assistance from staff. This group shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
  1. Residential board and care facilities
  2. Assisted living facilities
  3. Halfway houses
  4. Group homes
  5. Congregate care facilities
  6. Social rehabilitation facilities
  7. Alcohol and drug centers
  8. Convalescent facilities
  9. A facility such as the above with five or fewer persons shall be classified as a Group R-3 or shall comply with the Florida Building Code, Residential in accordance with Section 101.2. A facility such as above, housing at least six and not more than 16 persons, shall be classified as Group R-4.
2. Group I-2. This occupancy shall include buildings and structures used for medical, surgical, psychiatric, nursing or custodial care on a 24-hour basis for more than five persons who are not capable of self-preservation. This group shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
  1. Hospitals
  2. Nursing homes (both intermediate care facilities and skilled nursing facilities)
  3. Mental hospitals
  4. Detoxification facilities
  5. A facility such as the above with five or fewer persons shall be classified as Group R-3 or shall comply with the Florida Building Code, Residential.
  6. Child care facility. A child care facility that provides care on a 24-hour basis to more than five children 2 1/2 years of age or less shall be classified as Group I-2.
3. Group I-3. This occupancy shall include buildings and structures that are inhabited by more than five persons who are under restraint or security. An I-3 facility is occupied by persons who are generally incapable of self-preservation due to security measures not under the occupants' control. This group shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
  1. Prisons
  2. Jails
  3. Reformatories
  4. Detention centers
  5. Correctional centers
  6. Prerelease centers
  7. Buildings of Group I-3 shall be classified as one of the occupancy conditions indicated in Sections 308.4.1 through 308.4.5 (see Section 408.1).
Mercantile (see Section 309): Group M
1. Department stores
2. Drug stores
3. Markets
4. Motor fuel-dispensing facilities
5. Retail or wholesale stores
6. Restaurants and drinking establishments with an occupant load of less than 50 persons
7. Sales rooms
8. Quantity of hazardous materials. The aggregate quantity of nonflammable solid and nonflammable or noncombustible liquid hazardous materials stored or displayed in a single control area of a Group M occupancy shall not exceed the quantities in Table 414.2.5(1).
Residential (see Section 310): Groups R-1, R-2, R-3 as applicable in Section 101.2, and R-4
1. R-1 Residential occupancies containing sleeping units where the occupants are primarily transient in nature, including:
  1. Boarding houses (transient)
  2. Hotels (transient)
  3. Motels (transient)
2. R-2 Residential occupancies containing sleeping units or more than two dwelling units where the occupants are primarily permanent in nature, including:
  1. Apartment houses
  2. Boarding houses (not transient)
  3. Convents
  4. Dormitories
  5. Fraternities and sororities
  6. Hotels (nontransient)
  7. Monasteries
  8. Motels (nontransient)
  9. Vacation timeshare properties
  10. Congregate living facilities with 16 or fewer occupants are permitted to comply with the construction requirements for Group R-3.
3. R-3 Residential occupancies where the occupants are primarily permanent in nature and not classified as Group R-1, R-2, R-4 or I, including:
  1. Buildings that do not contain more than two dwelling units.
  2. Adult care facilities that provide accommodations for five or fewer persons of any age for less than 24 hours.
  3. Child care facilities that provide accommodations for five or fewer persons of any age for less than 24 hours.
  4. Congregate living facilities with 16 or fewer persons.
  5. Adult and child care facilities that are within a single-family home are permitted to comply with the Florida Building Code, Residential.
4. R-4 Residential occupancies shall include buildings arranged for occupancy as residential care/assisted living facilities including more than five but not more than 16 occupants, excluding staff.
Storage (see Section 311): Groups S-1 and S-2
1. Moderate-hazard storage, Group S-1. Buildings occupied for storage uses that are not classified as Group S-2, including, but not limited to, storage of the following:
  1. Aerosols, Levels 2 and 3
  2. Aircraft repair hangar
  3. Bags: cloth, burlap and paper
  4. Bamboos and rattan
  5. Baskets
  6. Belting: canvas and leather
  7. Books and paper in rolls or packs
  8. Boots and shoes
  9. Buttons, including cloth covered, pearl or bone
  10. Cardboard and cardboard boxes
  11. Clothing, woolen wearing apparel
  12. Cordage
  13. Dry boat storage (indoor)
  14. Furniture
  15. Furs
  16. Glues, mucilage, pastes and size
  17. Grains
  18. Horns and combs, other than celluloid
  19. Leather
  20. Linoleum
  21. Lumber
  22. Motor vehicle repair garages complying with the maximum allowable quantities of hazardous materials listed in Table 307.1(1) (see Section 406.6)
  23. Photo engravings
  24. Resilient flooring
  25. Silks
  26. Soaps
  27. Sugar
  28. Tires, bulk storage of
  29. Tobacco, cigars, cigarettes and snuff
  30. Upholstery and mattresses
  31. Wax candles
2. Low-hazard storage, Group S-2. Includes, among others, buildings used for the storage of noncombustible materials such as products on wood pallets or in paper cartons with or without single thickness divisions; or in paper wrappings. Such products are permitted to have a negligible amount of plastic trim, such as knobs, handles or film wrapping. Storage uses shall include, but not be limited to, storage of the following:
  1. Aircraft hangar
  2. Asbestos
  3. Beverages up to and including 12-percent alcohol in metal, glass or ceramic containers
  4. Cement in bags
  5. Chalk and crayons
  6. Dairy products in nonwaxed coated paper containers
  7. Dry cell batteries
  8. Electrical coils
  9. Electrical motors
  10. Empty cans
  11. Food products
  12. Foods in noncombustible containers
  13. Fresh fruits and vegetables in nonplastic trays or containers
  14. Frozen foods
  15. Glass
  16. Glass bottles, empty or filled with noncombustible liquids
  17. Gypsum board
  18. Inert pigments
  19. Ivory
  20. Meats
  21. Metal cabinets
  22. Metal desks with plastic tops and trim
  23. Metal parts
  24. Metals
  25. Mirrors
  26. Oil-filled and other types of distribution transformers
  27. Parking garages, open or enclosed
  28. Porcelain and pottery
  29. Stoves
  30. Talc and soapstones
  31. Washers and dryers
Utility and Miscellaneous (see Section 312): Group U
1. Agricultural buildings
2. Aircraft hangars, accessory to a one- or two-family residence (see Section 412.3)
3. Barns
4. Carports
5. Fences more than 6 feet (1829 mm) high
6. Grain silos, accessory to a residential occupancy
7. Greenhouses
8. Livestock shelters
9. Private garages
10. Retaining walls
11. Sheds
12. Stables
13. Tanks
14. Towers
Day care (see Section 313): Group D
1. Subclassifications. Day care occupancies in which more than 12 clients receive care, maintenance and supervision, by other than their relative(s) or legal guardian(s), for less than 24 hours per day shall be classified as day care occupancies. Day care occupancies of 12 or fewer clients shall be classified as day care homes and shall be divided into classifications as set forth in this section.
  1. Family day care home. A family day care home is a day care home in which more than three but fewer than seven clients receive care, maintenance and supervision by other than their relative(s) or legal guardian(s) for less than 24 hours per day with no more than two clients incapable of self-preservation.
  2. Group day care home. A group day care home is a day-care home in which at least seven but not more than 12 clients receive care, maintenance, and supervision by other than their relative(s) or legal guardian(s) for less than 24 hours per day with no more than three clients incapable of self-preservation.
  3. Adult day care. Adult day care shall include any building or portion thereof used for less than 24 hours per day to house more than three adults requiring care, maintenance and supervision by other than their relative(s). Clients shall be ambulatory or semiambulatory and shall not be bedridden. They shall not exhibit behavior that is harmful to themselves or others.
  4. Group D occupancies. Group D occupancies shall include, among others, the following:
    1. Child day care occupancies
    2. Adult day care occupancies, except where part of a health care occupancy
    3. Nursery schools
    4. Day care homes
    5. Kindergarten classes that are incidental to a child day care occupancy
    6. In cases where care is incidental to some other occupancy, the section of this code governing such other occupancy shall apply.