Self-Closing Devices

In areas with sprinkler systems, do patient room doors or corridor doors need to have closers? 

The Life Safety Code® does not require “patient room doors” or corridor doors to have self-closing devices, sprinklered or not. However, if one of the exceptions highlighted below is not met, then an un-sprinklered New Ambulatory Health Care Occupancy as well as a New Business Occupancy would have to have self-closing or automatic closing devices on their corridor doors as delineated in LS.03.01.30, EP 11. My guess is that these would be very rare occasions.
   
38.3.6 Corridors. 
38.3.6.1*
 Where access to exits is provided by corridors, such corridors shall be separated from use areas by walls having a fire resistance rating of not less than 1 hour in accordance with 8.2.3. 

• Exception No. 1*: Where exits are available from an open floor area. 
• Exception No. 2*: Within a space occupied by a single tenant. 
• Exception No. 3: Within buildings protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system in accordance with Section 9.7. 

A.38.3.6.1 
The intent of Exception No. 2 and Exception No. 3 to 38.3.6.1 is to permit spaces within single-tenant spaces, or within buildings protected throughout by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system, to be open to the exit access corridor without separation. 

A.38.3.6.1 Exception No. 1 
Where exits are available from an open floor area, such as open plan buildings, corridors are not required to be separated. An example of an open plan building is a building in which the work spaces and accesses to exits are delineated by the use of tables, desks, bookcases, or counters or by partitions that are less than floor-to-ceiling height. 

A.38.3.6.1 Exception No. 2 
It is the intent of this exception that a single tenant be limited to an area occupied under a single management and work the same hours. The concept is that people under the same employ working the same hours would likely be familiar with their entire tenant space. It is not the intent to apply this provision simply because tenants are owned by the same organization. For example, in a government-owned office building, the offices of different federal agencies would be considered multiple tenants because an employee normally works for one agency. The agencies might work various hours. Another example of multiple tenancy would be a classroom building of a university, since some classrooms might be in use at times when other classrooms are not being used.