Maximum Occupancy/Station Quantity:

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Maximum Occupancy:

The following room types require maximum occupancy data due to requirements determined by Cornell Environmental Health & Safety, which includes rooms with a net area greater than or equal to 350 ft2. Contact Environmental Health & Safety at for more information.

110, 120, 130, 210, 212, 220, 230, 231, 240, 241, 242, 350, 410, 430, 510, 520, 523, 526, 528, 550, 610, 620, 630, 650, 670, 680, 880

Maximum occupancy fields are filled out as follows:

  • Number of exits = as per the definition below
  • Number of Exit Doors Equipped with Panic Hardware = exit openings without doors should be included in this count
  • Number of exits equipped with exit signs = exit openings with appropriate signage.
  • Number of Exit Doors that Swing Out in Direction of Travel = exit openings withoutdoors should be included in this count

Exit Definition – An opening (not a window) that leads from a room to a path of travel out of the building. For a door to be considered an exit it must be operable from inside the room with no keys or special equipment and must not lead into an area that contains a greater hazard than the area you are leaving (i.e. classroom exit cannot lead you into a kitchen area).

  • Double doors - (two doors in a single frame with or without center vertical support) are counted as one exit.
  • Separate doors -doors that do not share a frame are each counted as an individual exit.
  • Panic Hardware – latching or locking hardware on an exit door that is designed to release when you push on the hardware in the direction of travel. This hardware is also referred to as “crash bars,” “panic bars,” “push bars,” or “fire exit hardware.” Door knobs and handles that require a turning or rotating type motion are NOT panic hardware.

Station Quantity:

The following room types require station quantities for either SUNY or Cornell’s Environmental Health & Safety reporting:

110, 120, 130, 210, 212, 220, 230, 231, 240, 241, 242, 250, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 316, 317, 320, 321, 322, 350, 410, 430, 510, 520, 523, 550, 610, 620, 630, 650, 670, 680, 810, 880, 910

For the room types noted above a room’s station quantity cannot be blank. Newly created rooms will have a default station quantity of zero. Hold errors will occur if the room type code requires a station quantity other than zero.

Facilities Inventory station quantities will be determined based on Station Type as listed below for room types requiring station quantity with counts greater than zero.

If there is a posted occupancy for the room:

  • If the maximum occupancy sign has a single number on it use that number
  • If the sign has multiple numbers (standing, chairs only, tables & chairs), use the number that matches the way the room is most typically used.

If there is no posted occupancy for the room:

  • Loose seating (loose tables & chairs, loose chairs, no furniture, lounge furniture)
  • Enter station quantity that is based on the design intent for the room.
  • Spaces that could be used for standing room, dining set up, or lecture set up, should use station quantity based on the design intent for the room. (examples - multipurpose rooms, exhibition space, galleries, atria, lobbies)
  • Fixed seating (seats permanently attached to the floor)
  • Enter station quantity that equals count of number of fixed seats + the number of wheel chair spaces, include any loose seating that does not block the egress path (e.g. chairs around a table at the front of the lecture hall or chairs along the back)
  • Lab benches (fixed furniture - labs, shops, equipment rooms)
  • Enter station quantity that equals the total number of people the room accommodates at all normal work stations, not specialized, temporary use stations – see diagram representing instructional labs for a clarification applicable to these types of spaces
  • Fixed or loose workstations (computer workstations, drawing tables, mapping stations)
  • Enter station quantity that equals the total number of people the room accommodates at all normal work stations; the number the room would typically accommodate
  • Mixed seating – Combination of fixed and loose seating in the same room. This could include combinations of any or all of the above four station types.

Enter station quantity that equals the total number of people the room accommodates

See additional guidance on calculating station quantity in the screen shots below from the Paulien & Associates presentation in May of 2012. For the entire presentation “Room Type Coding & On-site Observations Review Session” at

300 Clarification Notes:

Clarification of student work stations:

  • If a cubicle space has multiple student work stations but would be appropriate for one full time work station, count it as one.
  • If a student work station is very small or ad hoc, and not appropriate to sit at for 8 hours a day, do not count as a station.
  • If any work station is part-time, but is still appropriate to sit at for 8 hours a day, still count it as a station.
  • The presence of a chair does not necessarily mean the presence of a station.