K103 Incidental Uses in Existing Ambulatory Care

K103.1 General.¶

Incidental uses associated with and located within existing ambulatory care facilities required to be separated by Section 422 in the California Building Code, and that generally pose a greater level of risk to such occupancies, shall comply with the

APPENDIX K-4 2025 CALIFORNIA FIRE CODE

APPENDIX K—CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS FOR EXISTING AMBULATORY CARE FACILITIES

provisions of Sections K103.2 through K103.4.2.1. Incidental uses in ambulatory care facilities required to be separated by Section 422 of the California Building Code are limited to those listed in Table K103.1.

TABLE K103.1—INCIDENTAL USES IN EXISTING AMBULATORY CARE FACILITIES

ROOM OR AREA	SEPARATION AND/OR PROTECTION
Furnace room where any piece of equipment is over 400,000 Btu per hour input	1 hour or provide automatic sprinkler system
Rooms with boilers where the largest piece of equipment is over 15 psi and 10 horsepower	1 hour or provide automatic sprinkler system
Refrigerant machinery room	1 hour or provide automatic sprinkler system
Hydrogen fuel gas rooms, not classified as Group H	1 hour in ambulatory care facilities
Incinerator rooms	2 hours and provide automatic sprinkler system
Laboratories not classified as Group H	1 hour or provide automatic sprinkler system
Laundry rooms over 100 square feet	1 hour or provide automatic sprinkler system
Waste and linen collection rooms with containers with total volume of 10 cubic feet or greater	1 hour or provide automatic sprinkler system
Storage rooms greater than 100 square feet	1 hour or provide automatic sprinkler system
Stationary storage battery systems having a liquid electrolyte capacity of more than 50 gallons for flooded lead-acid, nickel cadmium or VRLA, or more than 1,000 pounds for lith- ium-ion and lithium metal polymer used for facility standby power, emergency power or uninterruptible power supplies	1 hour in ambulatory care facilities
For SI: 1 square foot = 0.0929 m2, 1 pound per square inch (psi) = 6.9 kPa, 1 British thermal unit (Btu) per hour = 0.293 watts, 1 horsepower = 746 watts, 1 gallon = 3.785 L.

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K103.2 Occupancy classification.¶

Incidental uses shall not be individually classified in accordance with Section 302.1 of the Califor- nia Building Code . Incidental uses shall be included in the building occupancies in which they are located.

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K103.3 Area limitations.¶

Incidental uses shall not occupy more than 10 percent of the building area of the story in which they are located.

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K103.4 Separation and protection.¶

The incidental uses listed in Table K103.1 shall be separated from the remainder of the building or equipped with an automatic sprinkler system, or both, in accordance with the provisions of that table.

K103.4.1 Separation. Where Table K103.1 specifies a fire-resistance-rated separation, the incidental uses shall be separated from the remainder of the building in accordance with Section 509.4.1 of the California Building Code .

K103.4.2 Protection. Where Table K103.1 permits an automatic sprinkler system without a fire-resistance-rated separation, the incidental uses shall be separated from the remainder of the building by construction capable of resisting the passage of smoke in accordance with Section 509.4.2 of the California Building Code .

K103.4.2.1 Protection limitation. Except as otherwise specified in Table K103.1 for certain incidental uses, where an automatic sprinkler system is provided in accordance with Table K103.1, only the space occupied by the incidental use need be equipped with such a system.

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