Understanding Basics of Haunted Houses (Special Amusement Buildings)
As the Halloween season goes into full swing in the United States its a great time to review some of the many code requirements for these special buildings. These buildings are typically known as special amusement buildings that are inherently confusing. This adds to the entertainment of the venue while adding challenges on meeting the fire and building codes. The occupants of the buildings are typically not familiar with the space so extra attention to the specific provisions of the code and training of staff is critical.
There have been multiple fatal fires (Six Flags, 1984; Washington Reid School PTA haunted house 1973) which have lead to the development of codes and standards for the use. Halloween has become a very active time of year which groups try to out do other haunted houses without an emphasis on fire and life safety.
This video shows the “cutting edge” winning the world record for longest haunted house. The video highlights some of the challenges with fire protection in similar structures, and why the training of staff with automatic systems is critical:
Codes and Standards
There are many resources available for the inspector on the special amusement buildings. The adopted code for the jurisdiction will provide the specific code requirements. Here is a sample of the some of the basic code provisions for special amusement buildings:
The National Fire Protection [click to continue…]
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