Egress Window Codes
Emergency Escape Basement Egress Window
Basement living space requires emergency escape and rescue openings. Your first step is to check local building codes. Your code authority may have its own rules or it may be among the more than 90 percent of communities in the United States that adopt the standards of the International Code Council (ICC).
The ICC’s 2006 International Residential Code for One- and Two-Story Dwellings has new language stating basements that contain habitable space need an egress window.
Egress Requirements
Whether it is an egress window or an egress door, it has to open easily without the use of keys or tools. It must also follow code requirements for height and width of basement egress windows.
Egress opening requirements include:
- A window with a minimum width of opening of 20 inches
- A window with a minimum height of opening of 24 inches
- A window with a minimum net clear opening –- the actual opening through which a person must crawl—of 5.7 square feet
- A sill height no higher than 44 inches above the floor
- A window-well floor space of 9 square feet with minimum dimensions of 36 inches wide and long.
- A permanent ladder or steps if the window well depth is more than 44 inches.
Features of an emergency escape egress window: