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Building Code Reference

Got a CBC 1006.2.1 correction?

Common path of egress travel

For builders in California, Greater Seattle, the Las Vegas area, the Denver area and Kansas City · CrossBeam Permits

What this code requires, how to fix it, and how cities and counties review it

What this code requires

CBC 1006.2.1 sets the maximum length of the common path of egress travel — the portion of a floor plan where occupants can only walk in one direction before reaching a point with two diverging exit paths. Once the path branches, occupants have a choice of two exits; everything before that branch is the common path. The allowed distance depends on occupancy type and whether the building is sprinklered: B-occupancy spaces without sprinklers cap out at 100 feet (75 feet above 30 occupants), while sprinklered B and F spaces can extend to 100 feet. When the common path is too long or the occupant load is too high, a second exit or exit access doorway is required.

How to fix it

  1. Identify your occupancy group and sprinkler status

    Pull the occupancy classification from the project cover sheet — most office tenant improvements are B, retail is M, factories are F-1 or F-2. Then confirm whether the building has an NFPA 13 or 13R automatic fire sprinkler system. These two facts determine which row of Table 1006.2.1 you’re working from. If the building is unsprinklered B-occupancy, your maximum common path is 100 feet with 30 or fewer occupants and 75 feet above 30. Sprinklered B-occupancy allows 100 feet. Get this right before you measure anything.

  2. Measure the actual common path on your plan

    Starting from the farthest occupied point in the space, trace the single path of travel along the floor plan — following corridors, around partitions, through any intervening rooms — until you reach the first point where two distinct exit paths diverge. That distance is your common path. Measure it in plan along the centerline of the travel route, not as a straight-line diagonal. Many plans that looked fine at first glance fail because the measurement was done diagonally across open floor areas rather than following the real path someone would walk.

  3. Check occupant load against Table 1006.2.1 thresholds

    Even if the distance is under the limit, a high occupant load can trigger the two-exit requirement independently. For B-occupancy, the threshold is 49 occupants; M-occupancy is also 49. Count the occupant load using Table 1004.5 factors — B-occupancy is 150 gross sq ft per occupant, M-occupancy is 60 gross sq ft per occupant for the main sales area. If your occupant load exceeds the Table 1006.2.1 threshold, you need two exits regardless of how short the common path is.

  4. Add a compliant second exit or exit access doorway

    If either the distance or occupant load triggers the requirement, you need to provide a second exit or exit access doorway that gives occupants an independent path out. The common path ends where occupants have separate and distinct access to two exits or exit access doorways, so the two doors must give genuinely separate routes. Coordinate with your architect on door location; the second exit typically needs to be remote from the first (check CBC 1007.1 for exit separation requirements).

  5. Mark up your floor plan with the measured path

    Plan-checkers want to see the math, not just the conclusion. Add a dashed line or annotation on the floor plan showing the common path route and its measured length. Label it 'Common path of egress travel = XX ft (max. XX ft per CBC 1006.2.1)'. Include the occupancy group, sprinkler status, and the applicable table row. This note shows the reviewer exactly how you calculated compliance and saves a back-and-forth comment asking for the measurement basis.

  6. Update the egress diagram on the cover sheet

    Most commercial permit sets include an egress plan on the cover sheet or life safety plan. Make sure this diagram reflects the revised exit configuration, including both exit paths from any area where two exits are required. The egress plan must be consistent with the floor plan annotations — a mismatch between the cover-sheet egress diagram and the floor plan measurements is a common second-round correction that costs another review cycle.

  7. Recheck after any furniture or partition changes

    Common path violations often show up after the interior layout shifts during design development. If the client moves partitions, adds storage rooms, or reconfigures the break room, re-run the common path measurement before the next submittal. The common path from a new back-corner office through a reconfigured hallway might be 20 feet longer than the original layout. Build a recheck step into your plan-review workflow before every submittal — not just the first one.

Take the CBC 1006.2.1 fix steps with you

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Why you got flagged

Plan-checkers flag CBC 1006.2.1 when the floor plan shows a single corridor or aisle that stretches too far before giving occupants a second way out. The most common trigger is a commercial tenant improvement where the designer laid out a long L-shaped suite with one exit door at the far end. On paper the exit door looks fine, but the common path from the back office or break room to that door (walking the length of the L before hitting any branch point) blows past the occupancy limit.

A second pattern shows up on mixed-use ground-floor retail. A B-occupancy back office accessed through the retail floor can push the common path beyond 100 feet in a non-sprinklered building without anyone noticing until the plan-check comment comes back. The check counts linear travel, not square footage, so a narrow 120-foot store fails even with a small occupant load.

Open-plan office renovations hit this too. Designers remove interior partitions to create one large workroom, which eliminates what used to be intermediate corridor branches. What started as two 55-foot segments of common path now becomes one 110-foot dead-end run, exceeding the 100-foot limit for B-occupancy even in a sprinklered building if the calculation isn’t updated on the drawings.

Warehouse-to-office conversions are another repeat offender. The original S-occupancy shell had exits placed for the old footprint. When the interior gets subdivided for office use, the B-occupancy load factor (150 sq ft per occupant versus 500 for warehouses) packs far more people into each space, and the existing exit locations no longer satisfy the occupant load and common path limits.

The official code

California Building Code 2025, Chapter 10 Means of Egress, Section 1006.2.1 Egress Based on Occupant Load and Common Path of Egress Travel Distance

Read the source →

Common questions

What is the maximum common path of egress travel for a B-occupancy office?
For B-occupancy without a sprinkler system, the maximum common path is 100 feet with 30 or fewer occupants and 75 feet above 30. With an NFPA 13 or 13R automatic fire sprinkler system, the limit is 100 feet. These limits apply regardless of how small the individual offices or workrooms are — the measurement starts from the farthest occupied point and ends at the first spot where occupants can choose between two separate exit paths. If you’re over the limit, you need a second exit or exit access doorway, not just a shorter hallway.
Does CBC 1006.2.1 apply to tenant improvements in an existing building?
Yes. Any permit-required tenant improvement triggers a plan-check review of egress, and the plan-checker will measure the common path for the new layout. If you’re moving walls, adding offices, or reconfiguring the floor plan, the new layout has to comply with 1006.2.1 under the current CBC. The fact that the building’s shell was built to an older code doesn’t exempt the new interior configuration. This is the most common source of 1006.2.1 corrections: an interior remodel that turns a compliant layout into a non-compliant one.
Can I use a single exit door if my occupant load is under 49?
Only if the common path distance is also under the Table 1006.2.1 limit for your occupancy and sprinkler status. Both conditions have to be met: occupant load under the threshold AND common path distance under the limit. If either one trips the requirement, you need two exits. An office with 30 occupants but a 110-foot common path still needs a second exit in an unsprinklered building. Run both checks — don’t just count heads.
How do I measure the common path correctly?
Measure along the actual walking path from the farthest occupied point to where the path first splits into two distinct exit routes. Follow corridors, doorways, and open-floor travel routes as someone would actually walk, not as a straight-line diagonal. The measurement ends at the first true branch point where a person could go two different directions toward two different exits. If that branch point is at the front lobby where both exits discharge, you’ve been measuring the entire building depth as common path — add an interior branch point or a second exit door earlier in the path.
Does adding a sprinkler system fix a common path violation?
It can, depending on your occupancy. For B-occupancy spaces with more than 30 occupants, adding sprinklers increases the allowed common path from 75 feet to 100 feet; with 30 or fewer it stays at 100 feet. For F-occupancy (factory/industrial), sprinklers increase the allowed distance from 75 feet to 100 feet. Check Table 1006.2.1 for your specific occupancy before assuming sprinklers will solve the problem. In some occupancies, the sprinklered limit is higher; in others it’s the same or there’s no change. Don’t use sprinklers as a workaround without running the numbers first.
Does CBC 1006.2.1 apply to R-2 apartments?
Yes. R-2 is listed in Table 1006.2.1: a space with one exit is limited to 20 occupants, and its common path is NP (not permitted) without sprinklers and 125 feet with sprinklers. For R-3, the common path limit applies only in a mixed occupancy building. Single-exit stories in apartment buildings are a separate check under CBC 1006.3.4 and its tables, which limit occupant load, dwelling units and travel distance. If you’re working on a multifamily project, run both checks.

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