You’ve all seen them… walk into any resturant, saloon, or bar in the US and somewhere on the wall is a sign that has the words “Maximum Occupancy” and some number next to it.
I understand (more or less) how they calculate this number… it has to do with the maximum number of people per square foot etc… and I understand that the local Fire Department has codes that restrict how many people can “occupy” a public room for safety reasons, but does anyone ever pay attention to these signs before there is a fire and the owner gets sued for violating this law?
Have you ever seen someone tell someone else that they couldn’t come into a crowed bar because they would exceed the maximum occupancy? Neither have I… which means the law that requires these signs be posted seems pointless. Am I missing something here?
I have. Daytona Beach, Florida. Spring Break, 1990. My homies and I get to the entrance to a club called Great Barrier Reef (any area residents know if it’s still around?). The bouncer stops us at the door and tells us we’ll have to wait until the crowd inside thins out a bit. “Fire codes” was his response. I didn’t feel like putting up a fuss about it.
Occupancy is not only limited by the square footage, but by the number of exits, the type of buildiing construction, the use group of the building, the type of fire suppresion systems in place, and the distance to the nearest fire station.
These regulations aren’t made just for the sake of making regulations, and Fire Marshalls don’t do inspections just because they have nothing better to do. They’re designed to save your ass in case of a fire and most Fire Marshalls that I’ve known take enforcement very seriously. Most business owerns do as well. It costs time and money to have the Fire Marshall empty a business and inspect the premises before patrons can come back inside. All the time that your patrons are outside on the curb during that inspection is time that they aren’t spending money in your business, and is time that they can wander down the street to the next establishment.
There was an “incident” at a local club recently. Turned out the place was packed three times the max. limit. Also turns out that this had been going on a long time and “everyone” (including local authorities) knew it.
If a place is getting cited for overcrowding, it means someone forgot to pay their “campaign” donation.
When I use to work at a community college bookstore they would use the Maximum Occupancy Signs to their advantage. When the mad rush to get books time came, they would let only that amount into the store, keeping everyone else outside [And we got to hear from those how stupid the customers thought that was. :rolleyes: ] They did this so we could actually help the people in the store, we could keep an eye on the customers so stuff didn’t walk out the door unpaid, and because the Fire Marshal like to inspect during those time.
Other than that I haven’t run into people getting kept out because of the Maximum Occupancy Sign, but when I was kid and helped out at some school functions I did see some people counting to see if they where over that amount.
