Ontario Building Code - Section 323

2024 Building Code Compendium 3.3.1.22. Division B – Part 3 135 3.3.1.20. Transparent Doors and Panels (1) Except for dwelling units and as permitted by Sentence (5), a glass or transparent door shall be designed and constructed so that the existence and position of the door is readily apparent, by attaching visually contrasting hardware, bars or other permanent fixtures to it. (2) Fully glazed transparent doors, and fully glazed transparent sidelights and panels with widths greater than 300 mm, shall be marked in conformance with Sentence 3.8.3.3.(15). (3) A glass door shall be constructed of (a) laminated or tempered safety glazing conforming to CAN/CGSB-12.1, “Safety Glazing,” or (b) wired glass conforming to CAN/CGSB-12.11-M, “Wired Safety Glass.” (4) Except as permitted by Sentence (5), transparent panels used in an access to exit that, because of their physical configuration or design, could be mistaken as a means of egress shall be made inaccessible by barriers or railings. (5) Sliding glass partitions that separate a public corridor from an adjacent occupancy and that are open during normal working hours need not conform to Sentences (1) and (4), provided the partitions are suitably marked in conformance with Sentence (2) to indicate their existence and position. (6) Glass in a vision panel in a door or in a transparent sidelight shall conform to Sentence 3.8.3.3.(14). (7) Glass in doors and glass sidelights that could be mistaken for doors, within or at the entrances to dwelling units and in public areas, shall conform to the requirements of Article 9.6.1.4. (8) A window in a public area that extends to less than 1 000 mm above the floor and is located above the second storey in a building of residential occupancy, shall be protected by a barrier or railing from the floor to not less than 1 070 mm above the floor, or the window shall be non-openable and designed to withstand the lateral design loads for balcony guards required by Article 4.1.5.14. 3.3.1.21. Exhaust Ventilation and Explosion Venting (1) Except as provided in Sentence (2), an exhaust ventilation system designed in conformance with the appropriate requirements of Part 6 shall be provided in a building or part of a building in which dust, fumes, gases, vapour or other impurities or contaminants have the potential to create a fire or explosion hazard. (See also Article 4.2.4.13.) (2) Where a fire separation required to have a fire-resistance rating is penetrated by a ventilation system required by Sentence (1) for power-ventilated enclosures in laboratories, the ducts shall be (a) continuously enclosed from the first penetrated fire separation to any subsequent fire separations or concealed spaces and all the way through to the outdoors so that the highest fire-resistance rating of all the penetrated fire separations is maintained, and (b) exempted from the requirement to be equipped with a fire damper, smoke damper and combination smoke/fire damper as stated in Article 3.1.8.7. (3) Explosion relief devices, vents or other protective measures conforming to Subsection 6.3.1. and Article 6.9.1.2. shall be provided for a space in which substances or conditions that have the potential to create an explosion hazard are present as a result of the principal use of a building. 3.3.1.22. Janitors’ Rooms (1) Except as permitted by Sentences (2) and (3), a room or space within a floor area for the storage of janitorial supplies shall be separated from the remainder of the building by a fire separation having a fire-resistance rating not less than 1 h.