Free tools / Compliance
Occupancy Load Calculator
Calculate occupant load and required egress width, with the gross and net distinction handled properly.
Why this exists. Every competitor is single code and most ignore the gross versus net distinction, which alone causes errors of thirty to fifty per cent.
Everything here is calculated in your browser. Your numbers are never sent anywhere, stored or seen by us.
- Floor area used
- 5,000 sq ft (465 m²)
- Occupant load factor
- 150 gross
- Occupant load
- 34
- Minimum means of egress
- 1
- Egress width, stairways
- 6.8 in (173 mm)
- Egress width, level components
- 5.1 in (130 mm)
This use is measured on gross area, meaning the whole floor within the exterior walls including corridors, toilets and wall thickness.
Local amendments are the rule rather than the exception. Confirm against the edition your authority has actually adopted.
How this is calculated
- Occupant load factors are from the International Building Code table of maximum floor area allowances per occupant, verified against a published adoption of the 2021 edition.
- Egress width factors are reduced where the building is sprinklered and fitted with an alarm system, which is the common code allowance.
- Occupant load is always rounded up to the next whole person.
- This tool advises. Your authority having jurisdiction decides, and most jurisdictions amend the model code.
Sources
- International Building Code, maximum floor area allowances per occupant
This is a planning estimate, not professional advice. Read the full disclaimer.
Compliance work is the part clients never see.
ScaleArc automates the parts around it, so more of your week goes on the work that needs an architect.
Talk to the founder