Nashville Concrete Egress Window

If your construction business is in an area where residential basements are predominant, you have an opportunity to capitalize on requirements for emergency escape and rescue openings in the form of egress window systems for all residential dwellings.

Egress means a direct method of leaving a building. An egress window in a residential basement is a legal requirement intended to ensure that a person can escape the building during an emergency. Most local building codes also require egress windows to be large enough for a fully outfitted firefighter to enter through them for rescue.

Most communities in the United States and Canada base building codes on the International Residential Code (IRC) or the International Building Code (IBC). Section R310 of the IRC and Section 1009 of the IBC require at least one operable emergency and rescue opening in any basement plus each additional sleeping room must have its own opening. According to the IRC, an egress window must have a minimum net clear opening of 5.7 square feet and must be at least 20 inches wide and 24 inches high. The interior sill height to the finished floor must be no greater than 44 inches. If you are hired to install an egress, check first with the local code authority to see if it has its own rules or has adopted the IRC.

A typical basement egress window system consists of a window, a window well, and a window well cover. Installation of the egress window system usually requires enlargement of the opening. This is accomplished by sawing into the existing basement block or concrete wall. Common styles of egress windows have either a horizontal sliding window sash or casement-type crank-out or crank-in window sash.