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the_mitsuhiko

> And of course, in the US, this is heavily enforced.

Is it? How does this work? Are there regular checks and do escape rooms need to register or how are they discovered?

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The fire department can do surprise inspections of businesses to insure they are complying with fire codes.

If it’s unsafe, they can close the business until the issues has been resolved.

I wouldn’t call it heavy enforcement, and it’s not perfect. People die in commercial fires not too infrequently in the US.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/ct...

https://cbs4indy.com/2019/04/29/messy-aisles-causes-speedway...

It's also not a "U.S." thing since fire codes and enforcement are usually a county by county basis and not inspected or enforced on a federal level.

Though most all urban areas have enforcement, many smaller areas do not.

It's standard fire code rules. All doors between occupied rooms and exits must be unlocked during business hours. Exit doors must have emergency releases that can open them from the inside. You must have your plans approved for these and other issues before construction can begin.

But that was the case in Poland too by law. The owner locked the door anyways.

Compliance with laws varies by country band city.

> You must have your plans approved

Oh, plans. Right, and then half of the shops put a (real steel) chain and padlock (or a large piece of furniture) on the emergency exit, or they use the exit stairway as storage. But indeed on the plans there is an emergency exit anyone can open if needed.

Not in the US they don't. Emergency exits frequently have alarms but locking those doors is a good way to get your business shut down. (Yes violations do happen, but those businesses get fined and shut down pretty quickly.)

Emergency exits frequently have alarms but locking those doors is a good way to get your business shut down.

Unless you are the government. Then you can lock your fire exits and let your fellow bureaucrats die. It's the Chicago way.

https://www.nist.gov/document/nistsp-1021pdf

In most places the fire department will do unannounced inspections periodically and in case of a complaint.

They inspect you when you get a permit. You can't just build a wall or a door; you need to submit plans. The fire marshal is involved and everything.

(Throwaway, for obvious reasons.)

Yes, you can just build a wall or a door, even in the USA. I've done it. It may not be according to code, but that's the very issue here: enforcement. Until someone dies, how do they know? Surprise inspections are exceptionally rare. There's just way too many buildings.

I've even had modifications "inspected" by the fire department, multiple times. I put that in quotes because I've only ever seen them count the number of automatic sprinklers in the building (which did not change), or look to see if we had fire extinguisher signs, and a fire extinguisher under each one.

I've even seen the FD (in a modern American city) respond to and put out an actual fire, and not care that the building did not match the permit plans.

I'm curious what your experience is, as there is no aspect of this which I would describe as "heavily enforced".

That’s how it is. When there is a fire however and people get suffocated because of those modifications you did or just because it was a fire. Then you are in for some serious trouble if the changes can be traced back to you. Some jail time possibly, but the litigation from victims and insurance companies is what really is gonna do you in. Possibly also the guilt.

Don’t do it. Those plans and codes are there for a reason.

All of that other than punitive damages also applies in Poland. Yet until the Fire happened plenty of places locked the doors.

Maybe it depends on the city. In the towns I've lived in, it's been pretty strict.

But then again I was a firefighter, so if I see a code violation I'll call the fire marshal. I expect other firefighters would do the same, off duty or not.

Might this not deter someone violating the code from contacting the fire department in a timely manner in an emergency?

So....literally the same as in Poland then. That's heavy enforcement?

As a Canadian, I'm always somewhat amused how fire code is strictly enforced at events in the US. I've often seen inspections during conferences. US and UK have a much stronger fire code safety culture than elsewhere (although, as most things in the US, it can vary greatly between the big cities and more rural areas, including suburbs or sprawled cities like SF).

SF isn’t really a sprawled city by American standards. The cities outside of SF are sprawled (like San Jose) but SF is pretty compact in comparison.

Good examples of sprawled cities include LA and Houston.

I don’t know anything about Europe, but most escape room owners in the US can report multiple visits by the Fire Marshall. (I just got back from the national conference and talked to a lot of them.) It varies by municipality, but most places in the US pay more attention to escape rooms than the average business. They’re probably more safe than the office suite next door to which nobody pays attention.

They call it fire code inspections. Most commercial places are inspected at least once a year.

You can't have an emergency exit that locks, it must always be openable from the inside. You get huge fines for an emergency exit that is blocked in any way, and the fire inspectors will shut down your business until it is fixed.

The system isn't perfect but it works most of the time, fire deaths in the US are quite rare.

Question: how do prisons handle fires under these regulations?

There are specific rules for prisons (as there are for theme parks and haunted houses.) They must have fire detection and a way to unlock if it is detected, and usually there must be someone monitoring the system whenever occupied and ready to enact emergency procedures.

Adding to that, there's special regulations for almost anything. Hotels, work sites, warehouses. The national fire code is quite a tome, and usually local rules are added on top

If you walk out of someplace and think it is unsafe and call the fire department, I can’t imagine a single location in the US that wouldn’t be “surprise” inspected the very next day.

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