A117.1 Chapter 7 & Section 1106
This lesson moves out of the plumbing and kitchen chapters and into Chapter 7, Communication Elements, the part of A117.1 that governs how a building tells a person something is happening: an alarm sounding, a room's identity, a change underfoot at a curb ramp. It then folds in Section 1106, a dwelling-unit-specific chapter that replaces the general alarm section for any unit built with communication features. The two are easy to confuse on a GCHS project, since a rehab job often touches both a common corridor, which follows the general Chapter 7 rules, and the inside of a unit, which follows Section 1106 instead. Knowing which section applies to which side of the unit's front door is the practical skill this lesson builds.
Section 702 covers the audible and visible alarms and notification appliances that are part of a building fire alarm system. They must be installed in accordance with NFPA 72, the national fire alarm and signaling code, powered by a commercial light and power source, permanently connected to the premises wiring, and permanently installed. Section 702 sets how those appliances are installed. Whether a given building must have them is decided by the scoping the administrative authority adopts, not by 702 itself.
That covers common areas such as corridors, community rooms, and shared laundry or mechanical spaces on a GCHS multifamily rehab project. Section 702 has an exception for notification appliances provided inside dwelling or sleeping units: those follow Sections 1106.2 through 1106.4.4 instead, covered later in this lesson. Treating 702 as the rule for everywhere in a building, including inside individual units, is the most common mix-up an estimator makes when scoping alarm work.
Section 703 covers signage identifying permanent rooms and spaces, such as a restroom, an exit stairway, or a unit number. A sign of this kind must carry both raised characters and Grade 2 braille together; neither one substitutes for the other. Grade 2 braille is the contracted form of braille used throughout the United States, with common letter combinations condensed into single cells, and it is what A117.1 requires rather than the simpler letter-by-letter Grade 1 form. A sign ordered with only printed raised letters, or only a braille strip with no raised print, does not meet 703 on its own.
Section 703 also fixes where a tactile sign goes. The raised characters must be at least 48 inches above the floor, measured to the baseline of the lowest raised character, and no more than 60 inches, measured to the baseline of the highest raised character (703.3.10). At a single door, the sign belongs alongside the door on the latch side, with an 18-by-18-inch clear floor area centered on the raised characters beyond the arc of the door swing (703.3.11). Double doors have their own rules: on the inactive leaf where only one leaf is active, and to the right of the right-hand door where both leaves are active. A sign centered on a door leaf, or one hung well above 60 inches purely for visual symmetry with other signage, fails the mounting requirement even if its lettering and braille are correct, apart from a narrow exception for the push side of doors with closers and no hold-open devices. This is a detail an inspector checks room by room, since it is easy to get the sign's content right and its placement wrong.
Beyond the tactile requirements, Section 703 sets a separate standard for a sign's visual characters: the printed lettering a sighted person reads at a distance. The minimum character height depends on how high the characters are above the floor and how far away they are viewed from, set out in Table 703.2.4 rather than a single fixed number, so a directory sign meant to be read from across a lobby needs larger lettering than a room-identification plaque read from arm's length. Characters and their background must also have a nonglare finish, and the characters must contrast with the background, light on dark or dark on light (703.2.10 for visual characters, 703.3.12 for raised characters). Where separate raised and visual characters carry the same information, the raised characters are excused from the finish and contrast rule.
Section 705 covers detectable warnings, the truncated-dome surface that signals a transition a cane or a foot can feel before a curb ramp drops to street level or before a transit platform edge. The domes themselves are sized narrowly: a base diameter of 0.9 to 1.4 inches, a height of 0.2 inch, and center-to-center spacing of 1.6 to 2.4 inches, close enough to feel underfoot as a distinct texture rather than an occasional bump. The surface must extend a minimum of 24 inches in the direction of travel, so a strip too shallow to register before the hazard does not satisfy 705 even if the dome pattern itself is correctly sized.
Section 1106 governs units required to have communication features, and it starts inside the unit with smoke detection. Where a unit has its own smoke detection, that detection must include audible notification meeting NFPA 72, the same referenced standard that governs the general Section 702 alarms outside the unit (1106.2). In addition, where the building has a fire alarm system, its wiring must be extended to a point within the unit near the unit's smoke detection, so that the unit can receive a signal from the building system as well as sound its own local alarm (1106.3).
Where a unit under Section 1106 includes visible notification appliances, meaning strobes, they must meet Section 702 (1106.4.1). Strobes provided for unit smoke detection must activate when the unit detects smoke, and strobes provided for building fire alarm notification must activate when the building alarm activates in the part of the building containing the unit (1106.4.2). The same strobes are allowed to serve both purposes (1106.4.3). Section 1106.4.4 is specific that a strobe used to show smoke detection or building alarm activation may not be used for any other purpose within the unit, such as a doorbell indicator or a security signal; it is reserved for the fire and smoke notification it was installed to provide.
Section 1106.5 sets two requirements at a unit's primary entrance. The first is a hard-wired electric doorbell, with a button or switch on the public side of the entrance that sounds an audible tone inside the unit. Where a visible doorbell signal, such as a flashing light, is located in a sleeping area, a control must be provided to deactivate it, so that a resident can turn off a visual alert that would otherwise disturb sleep (1106.5.1). The second is a way to identify a visitor at the door without opening it. Where a peephole is used, it must give a 180-degree minimum range of view, and other methods are permitted (1106.5.2).
Where a system permitting voice communication between a visitor and the occupant is provided at a location other than the unit entry door, such as an intercom a visitor uses at a lobby door to reach a resident, Section 1106.6 applies. The unit's end of the system must include a telephone jack capable of supporting voice and TTY communication, and the public or common-use interface must be capable of supporting voice and TTY communication with it. A voice-only intercom retrofit that never contemplates a TTY connection does not satisfy this requirement, even if every other part of Section 1106 in the unit is met.
General-use alarms: audible and visible appliances installed per NFPA 72, permanently wired (702); notification appliances inside dwelling or sleeping units follow 1106.2-1106.4.4 instead. Tactile signs: raised characters plus Grade 2 braille, raised characters 48 in. min to the lowest baseline and 60 in. max to the highest baseline, alongside the door on the latch side (703.3.10, 703.3.11). Visual character height: depends on height above floor and viewing distance per Table 703.2.4; nonglare finish and light-on-dark or dark-on-light contrast required (703.2.10). Detectable warnings: truncated domes 0.9-1.4 in. base diameter, 0.2 in. height, 1.6-2.4 in. spacing, extending 24 in. min in the direction of travel (705.5, 705.6). Unit alarms (1106.2-1106.4): where provided, audible smoke detection per NFPA 72, building alarm wiring extended into the unit, strobes that activate on smoke detection and on building alarm, never reused for another purpose. Primary entrance (1106.5): hard-wired doorbell with deactivation control where a visible signal reaches a sleeping area, plus visitor identification such as a peephole with 180-degree min view. Voice entry systems (1106.6): voice and TTY capability at the unit jack and at the public/common interface.
Why this matters for GCHS
GCHS scopes and inspects this work rather than pulling the alarm wiring or hanging the signage itself, so the estimator's job is to write the specification correctly and the inspector's job is to confirm the installed contractor's work against it. Getting 702 versus 1106 right at the scoping stage keeps a multifamily rehab job from specifying the wrong alarm standard for the inside of a unit, and checking sign mounting height and braille presence at inspection catches the two most common signage callbacks. The 1106 entrance and TTY provisions matter directly on any HUD-funded project delivering units with communication features, since a missed doorbell deactivation control or a voice intercom with no TTY path is a finding GCHS's own inspection should catch before the funder's does.
1. Under Section 702, how must the audible and visible alarms that are part of a building fire alarm system be installed?
2. Do Section 702's installation rules apply directly to the notification appliances provided inside dwelling or sleeping units?
3. Under Sections 703.1 and 703.4.1, what must a tactile sign identifying a permanent room carry?
4. Where must a Section 703 tactile sign be mounted at a single door, and at what height above the floor?
5. A GCHS inspector finds a properly worded, braille-equipped room sign mounted on the pull side of the door leaf itself, centered on the leaf. Does it satisfy Section 703?
6. Under Section 703.2.4, how is the minimum visual character height for a sign determined?
7. What finish and contrast does Section 703.2.10 require for visual sign characters and their background?
8. Under Section 705, what is the required base diameter and height of a truncated dome in a detectable warning surface?
9. Under Section 705.6, what is the minimum extent of a detectable warning surface in the direction of pedestrian travel?
10. Where a unit governed by Section 1106 provides smoke detection and the building has a fire alarm system, what must the unit's detection include, and what else is required?
11. Under Section 1106.4, what must trigger a unit's visible notification appliances (strobes), and can a strobe serve another purpose?
12. Under Section 1106.5, what two requirements apply at a unit's primary entrance?
13. A GCHS project is installing a voice entry intercom between a unit built to Section 1106 and the building's lobby. What must the system include?
14. A GCHS estimator is writing specifications for a multifamily rehab with common corridors and units built with communication features. Which alarm section applies to the corridors, and which applies inside the units?