The building department will subsequently issue permits for the inhabitance of the building, and inspectors will verify compliance to these standards during development. Your commercial construction contractor will submit your building’s construction plans to your local building department before construction begins. Building designers also use these codes during the design process. An experienced commercial construction company will have intimate knowledge of building codes that will ensure your construction job goes smoothly without costly setbacks. Knowledge of building codes is an essential factor when choosing a commercial contractor for your next construction project. On the other hand, building codes are designed to safeguard the health and safety of all occupants in the building. On the one hand, it can be expensive and time-consuming to comply with building codes. Building codes also address issues outside of structural integrity such as fire resistance, fire prevention and control, sanitation, water supply, safe exits, lighting, ventilation, and energy conversation.īuilding codes are considered a double-edged sword by many commercial property owners. They are the rules that dictate how buildings should be constructed, what materials can be used, and how those materials should be implemented in the construction. Safety is the priority and everyone should know where to go.īelieve it or not, I still see customers with the red exit signs or very poorly lit ones.Most individuals, when approaching their first construction project, are vaguely familiar with building codes, otherwise known as building controls or building regulations. People need to see the signs in places that are noticeable and easy to commit to memory. The running man pictogram helped to overcome the barriers of language and moved Ontario closer to the international standard.Īside from the aesthetics of a sign, the placement of signs are just as important. The need to change a few signs may provide an opportunity to replace all the signs on one floor or level with the green pictogram.
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However, if one or two signs require a replacement, one can continue to install the red exit signs to maintain continuity. Certainly, someone similar to our customer here, will need to install the green running man signs if changing all the signs in their facility. In 2014, the need to change depended on the scope of the job. If the sign was approved upon installation, then it can remain as is. These building codes are not retroactive. “Do I need to replace all my exit signs?” Now let’s get back to the question at hand.
It relies on the fact that the other lights in the area are off in order to be seen. This is quite uncommon as a typical exit sign is very dim in the DC (emergency) mode. The new signs looked great and shone as brightly in emergency mode as they did in AC mode. A single universal sign fit all the locations. The choice of a truly universal sign meant all 78 signs could be ordered without any concern for the pictogram orientation, voltage (AC or DC) or the mounting method. They selected a high-end LED universal sign. Our customer was smart and wanted to get ahead of the curve. Building codes had been updated so, the conventional exit signs would shift to today’s green running man a mandatory requirement since early 2014. After years of their service, the signs began to deteriorate.Ĭoming in close to the end of the year, this request provided an interesting opportunity. In the event of a power failure, only a single DC incandescent lamp illuminated the sign. While this does save money, the sign is not always properly lit with new lamps.
For a majority of cases, the old incandescent bulbs had been replaced with retrofit LED lamps to save energy. They recognized that the exit signs were revealing their age and they were looking for an alternative.īack then, the present signs were a mid range aluminum box. In this case, our customer operated a fairly high tech three-story office building. Here at Signature Electric, we like to use these articles to discuss the work we do with our amazing customers. Now that I have your attention with that provocative title, let’s try to answer an age old question: Do you need to replace all your exit signs?