All things related to breweries
Making the case for an F-2 occupancy for your brewery when the Fire Marshal says your an H-3 A reader posted an interesting comment about brewery occupancy classifications. After a bit more research it seems that other brewery owners have also had this issue. Question Our local fire engineer considers the fermentation tank room an H-3 occupancy (due to quantities of Class 1C flammable liquids), which severely limits the allowable Read More
Getting into a Craft-Brewery Zone takes clear communication. “Zoning is used to prevent new development from interfering with existing residents or businesses and to preserve the “character” of a community. Zoning is commonly controlled by local governments such as counties or municipalities.” Most likely you have probably found the city you would like to operate in, maybe even the street and building. That’s fine, but before negotiating for the property Read More
There are amazing buildings and locations out there, some of which may have existing, non-conforming ADA conditions, avoid a Craft-Brewery unreasonable hardship. The cost to bring those requirements up to current code, can be quite expensive, and in some cases may exceed the planned construction cost necessary to make your brewery operational. Section 1134B.2 General, explains, “When alterations, structural repairs or additions are made to existing buildings or facilities, they Read More
How to determine Bathroom Fixture Counts In this last section of our four part series we will find out how to properly determine the fixture counts for our bathrooms. So, is it bathrooms or bathroom? Well let’s take a look at Section 412.3 Exceptions 1, 2, and 3, of the California Plumbing Code (CPC) for the answer. The exception allows for two conditions, one, if you are less than 10 Read More
Determining your maximum occupant load In this four part series, we have determined how to define room occupancy classifications and began to understand occupancy separations and their exceptions. In this post we’ll use what we have learned and begin to analyze a space which we were looking at for a brewery client of ours, and after completing our basic analysis, discovered that the building was just too small for his Read More
Mixed Use and Occupancy; How to understand occupancy separations In my last post How to define your room occupancy classifications we simply defined brewery occupancies by room. In this post I will discuss how the different occupancies relate to each other. Defining Mixed Use and Occupancy “Each portion of a building shall be individually classified in accordance with Section 302.1. Where a building contains more than one occupancy group, the Read More
How to define room occupancy classifications. For small start-up craft breweries Tasting Rooms generate a great deal of monthly income. Getting the size and occupant load of a Tasting Room right is absolutely critical for brewery owners. Our clients tell us it’s a huge portion of their business plans monthly income. In this four part series we will look at how to define your occupancies, how to size your Tasting Read More