2009-0227 Edmonds Lutheran Church.pdf
City of Edmonds
PLAN REVIEW COMMENTS
BUILDING DIVISION
(425) 771-0220
DATE: May 1, 2009
TO: Amelia Nossum
Edmonds Lutheran Church
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23525 84 Ave W
amelianossum@yahoo.com
FROM: Leif Bjorback, Assistant Building Official
RE: Plan Check: 2009-0227
Project: ELC Learning Center
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Project Address: 23525 84 Ave W
Amelia,
Thank you for meeting with me last week and discussing the expansion plans for the
Learning Center. Here is a recap of what we discussed, and what I have since verified in a
meeting with Ann Bullis, Building Official and Mike Smith, Acting Fire Marshal.
1.The conversion of the Library space into a daycare for infants constitutes a true
change of occupancy (change of use), and requires a building permit for that
description of work, and not simply a compliance permit as the description now
reads.
2.The City of Edmonds will recognize the new use of the space as having an E
(Education) occupancy classification, since you indicate you will have 5 or fewer
children under the age of 2 ½ years. In a phone conversation with Diane Smith of the
state licensing office, I was told that it doesnt make a difference to the state whether
the classification is an E or an I.
3.Please resubmit new floor plans stamped and signed by a Washington State licensed
architect. This is a state requirement for buildings that are designed or altered (or
having space reclassified) that are larger than 4000 square feet. Ideally, the scope and
scale of the drawing should be similar to that used for your previous permit for the
preschool. Please make sure that the drawing accurately represents the existing layout
of all walls within the space.
4. On site, you asked me to consider approving the maximum occupant load allowed
by the building code. Actually, the occupant load of the collective E occupancy
within the building calculates out to 50 based on square footage. Please be aware that
once an E occupancy exceeds 49, fire sprinklers are required for the entire building.
You can , however, request to have the Building Official approve an occupant load
less than 50 to be established as the approved occupant load based on actual usage
(IBC 1004.1.1 exception) . This request must be in written form, so that we may
formally consider what you propose. You will need to include all of the E occupancy
spaces in the building collectively, and spell out how many children, by age group,
and how many staff workers or other occupants would be present at any one time.
Also, provide license information from the State for number of children to be
approved by them.We discussed whether the new sinks are required to meet
accessibility standards. The building code requires at least one to be accessible (IBC
1109.3), however this should be easily achieved with a parallel approach, as long
as the sink is no higher than 34 inches above the floor and the clear floor space in
front of the sink is at least 30 inches by 48 inches. (This alleviates the need for
compliant knee space under the sink.)
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Leif
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