Code Change Proposal E125 - Accessible Route to Performance Areas

​This post is a continuation of the Proposed Code Change Series, where I highlight some of the interesting and controversial code changes that were presented at the 2024 ICC Committee Action Hearings (CAH). These proposed changes, which could become part of the 2027 ICC codes, are the first step of the updated ICC code development process that now includes two Committee Action Hearings (CAH1 and CAH2), as well as the Public Comment Hearing (PCH).

Please note that I am serving on the 2024-2026 IBC Egress Committee, so many of these articles in this series will be egress related. Each post is my attempt to summarize the code change proposal and the presentation/discussion from CAH1, but please refer to the links below that include the actual code change proposal language and the CAH1 recording. These posts are not intended to provide my personal opinion or commentary on the code changes.  

Code Change Proposal E125 - Accessible Route to Performance Areas 

Link: Code Change Proposal  
Link: Hearing Recording​  

Summary of Code Change  
This proposal seeks to clarify that the location of accessible routes to a performance needs to be in the same area as the circulation path. Additionally, the proposal requires that the audience's sightline to this accessible route must be comparable to the audience's sightline to the circulation path. 

Summary of Testimony and Discussion  
Two participants testified in support of this proposal, essentially stating that equal access to the performance area necessitates the accessible route being in the same area and vicinity as the regular circulation path. Requiring an occupant using a mobility devices to take a substantially different route to the performance area should not be considered equivalent access. 

There was no testimony in opposition of this proposal. 

CAH1 Result  
This code change proposal was approved by the committee, with a vote of 14-0.