ADA exit signs

Exit and egress signs under the ADA

An exit passageway is a horizontal exit component, separated from the rest of the building by fire-rated construction, that leads to the exit discharge or public way. The exit discharge is the part of the route between the end of an exit and the public way (Advisory 216.4.1). Ordinary corridor doors and room exit doors are not on the list; the Access Board confirms that tactile labels are only required at these three kinds of doors.

What the building codes add

Most states and cities adopt the International Building Code, which has its own tactile exit sign section. In the 2021 edition, 1013.4 says that where exit signs are provided at an area of refuge with direct access to a stairway, an exterior area for assisted rescue, an exit stairway or ramp, an exit passageway, a horizontal exit and the exit discharge, a sign stating EXIT in visual characters, raised characters and braille, complying with ICC A117.1, shall be provided. Earlier editions word it differently, so check the edition the project was permitted under. ICC A117.1's technical rules for the sign match the ADA's closely.

California goes further and sets the wording by door (CBC 1013.4): EXIT at grade-level exterior exit doors; EXIT STAIR DOWN, EXIT STAIR UP, EXIT RAMP DOWN or EXIT RAMP UP at doors leading to a grade-level exit by stair or ramp; EXIT ROUTE at doors leading there through an exit enclosure or passageway, and at doors from rooms into exit corridors; and TO EXIT at doors through a horizontal exit. California also requires tactile floor identification signs at each stair landing. See the California page.

Areas of refuge

Where a building has areas of refuge, the building code requires instructions posted in them and signs directing people to them. The ADA requires those signs to meet the visual character rules (216.4.2, 216.4.3). Under the 2021 IBC, where exit signs are provided at an area of refuge with direct access to a stairway, a tactile EXIT sign is required there as well.