By: Johnson S.B. No. 2835
(In the Senate - Filed March 14, 2025; April 7, 2025, read
first time and referred to Committee on Local Government;
May 1, 2025, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 1, 2025, sent
to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 2835 By: Cook
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to municipal regulation of stairway requirements in
certain apartment buildings.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 214, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding Subchapter I to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER I. SINGLE STAIRWAY IN CERTAIN APARTMENT BUILDINGS
Sec. 214.301. PERMITTED REGULATION OF APARTMENT BUILDING
STAIRWAY REQUIREMENTS. (a) A municipality may exercise the
authority under this section regardless of whether the municipality
has adopted local amendments to the International Building Code
under Section 214.216(c).
(b) A municipality may authorize an apartment building to
have a single stairway only if the building:
(1) does not have more than six stories above grade
plane and is not a high-rise as defined by the International
Building Code, as adopted under Section 214.216;
(2) does not have more than four dwelling units on any
floor;
(3) has automatic sprinkler locations in each interior
exit stairway, regardless of the type of stairway construction,
that comply with the requirements prescribed by National Fire
Protection Association Standard 13 for combustible stairways;
(4) has:
(A) an exterior stairway; or
(B) an interior exit stairway for which the
doors:
(i) into the stairway from the interior of
the building swing into the stairway regardless of the occupant
load served; and
(ii) from the interior exit stairway to the
building exterior swing in the direction of exit travel;
(5) has interior exit stairway enclosures that:
(A) have a fire resistance rating of not less
than two hours; and
(B) do not contain an elevator opening;
(6) has on each floor a corridor from each dwelling
unit entry or exit door to an interior exit stairway, including any
related exit passageway, that has a fire resistance rating of at
least one hour;
(7) does not have more than 20 feet between the entry
or exit door of a dwelling unit and an exit stairway;
(8) does not have more than 125 feet of exit access
travel distance;
(9) has an exit serving the portion of the building
that contains two or more dwelling units that does not discharge
through a portion of the building with a different occupancy
category, including an accessory parking garage;
(10) has an exit that terminates in an egress court for
which the court depth does not exceed the court width, unless it is
possible to exit the egress court to the public way in either
direction;
(11) does not have an opening within 10 feet of an
unprotected opening into an exit stairway other than a required
exit door that has a fire resistance rating of at least one hour;
(12) has emergency escape and rescue openings that
comply with Section 1031 of the International Building Code as
adopted under Section 214.216 on each floor served by a single exit;
(13) does not have an electrical receptacle in an
interior exit stairway; and
(14) has an automatic smoke and fire detection system
that activates an occupant notification system that complies with
Section 907.5 of the International Building Code as adopted under
Section 214.216 installed in each:
(A) common space outside of a dwelling unit;
(B) laundry room, mechanical equipment room, and
storage room;
(C) interior corridor serving a dwelling unit;
and
(D) main floor landing or interior or exterior
exit stairway.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
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