Music Venue Capacity Calculator

Area per occupant, in the same unit as the floor area, read from IBC Table 1004.5 (or NFPA 101 Table 7.3.1.2) in the edition your jurisdiction has adopted. Check whether the entry is stated gross or net.
Where seating is fixed, the code counts seats rather than applying an area factor. Add them here and set the area of the fixed-seating portion to zero.
From IBC 1005.3 for the component you are sizing - stairways use a larger figure than level components. Leave at 0 to skip the egress width.
Optional, used only to report the width each exit would carry if the load were shared evenly.
Occupant load
1,000
Occupant Load Calculator
Occupants from the floor area
1,000
Unrounded area / factor
1,000.0000
Occupant load factor used
5.0000
Worked out from International Building Code, Section 1004 Occupant Load and Table 1004.5 Maximum Floor Area Allowances per Occupant and 2 other sources.
The occupant load factor is the single number this result turns on. Read it from the table in the code edition your jurisdiction has adopted, and check whether that entry is stated as gross or net floor area.
Required exit count, exit separation, travel distance, dead ends and the many exceptions in Chapter 10 are not evaluated here.
An occupant load of 1000 normally triggers additional egress requirements; confirm them with the fire code official.
Occupant load and means of egress are life-safety determinations. The governing occupant load factor, egress width factor, exit count and every exception belong to the code edition adopted in your jurisdiction, and the number that counts is the one the authority having jurisdiction approves. This tool performs the arithmetic on factors you supply; it is not a code determination and does not substitute for the fire code official, an architect or a fire protection engineer.

How this is worked out

3 steps
  1. 5000 ft2 / 5 ft2 per occupant = 1000, rounded up to 1000 occupants.
  2. Occupant load = 1000.
  3. No egress width factor given, so no egress capacity is reported.

Results are general information, not financial, tax, legal, medical or engineering advice.