The rear door leaf is 36 inches wide and it swings outward over the stoop. The stoop measures 34 inches from the face of the door out to its edge and 36 inches across. Applying the landing requirements for doors, how should the inspector rule?
- AAcceptable: the landing only has to be as wide as the door it serves, and this one runs the full width of the leaf
Width matching the door is the other half of the rule, not the whole of it. The landing also carries a minimum dimension in the direction of travel, and it can be plenty wide while still too shallow to stand on safely.
- BAcceptable: a door that swings outward over an exterior stoop is exempt from the minimum landing dimensions
Nothing exempts an outswinging door from landing dimensions. The swing direction only affects whether the landing may sit a step below the threshold, and the dimension applies to every required landing at a door.
- CA violation: the landing must measure at least 48 inches in the direction of travel, leaving this one 14 inches short
Forty-eight inches is not a residential landing dimension. The call is right but the number is not, which in the field means the contractor builds more than the code asks and the inspector loses credibility on the next item.
- A violation: the landing must measure at least 36 inches in the direction of travel, and 34 inches falls short
Why D is correct
Run both checks. Width of landing 36 inches versus a 36-inch door leaf: satisfied. Depth in the direction of travel 34 inches versus a 36-inch minimum: two inches short, so a correction is required. The depth dimension exists so a person can stand clear of a swinging leaf without stepping off the edge.
What this question is testing
The item tests whether the candidate applies both landing dimensions rather than one, knows the 36-inch depth in the direction of travel, and rejects the idea that swing direction changes the dimensional requirements.
On the job
Rear and side stoops are poured by the flatwork crew from a rough sketch, often after the framer set the door, and 34 or 35 inches is what you get when someone forms to the width of a standard step form. Because the stoop is concrete, the correction is expensive and contentious, which is why experienced inspectors look at flatwork dimensions on the pre-pour visit rather than at final. Confirm the surface falls away from the door for drainage while you have the tape out.
Memory technique
Thirty-six deep, door-wide across.
Exam tip
Landing questions have two numbers: as wide as the door, and 36 inches deep.
Where to look it up
IRC Chapter 3, means of egress, the floors and landings at exterior doors subsection.