Commercial Signage| Evacuation and Fire Safety Do’s and Don’ts

When entering commercial buildings, hospitals and schools you will see an evacuation map located by an elevator or stairwell. Believe it or not these buildings cannot officially be opened to the public unless fire department approved evacuation maps are installed on site. These Evacuation Maps may look simple and plain but there are a lot of specific steps that are required to create one.

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1.) The designer must get a copy of the blue prints and/or site plans for the buildings and attain the city fire department guidelines for evacuation maps.

2.) The designer must visit and walk the site and take multiple pictures as to get a good representation of the building. Also he/she must take note of all the fire extinguishers, alarms, stairwells, and rooms that are in the building.

3.) With the pictures, notes and site plan the designer must follow the fire department guidelines exactly, and design the maps accordingly.

4.) The designer must produce multiple samples of each evacuation map and have the building contractor or the project manager submit the evacuation map samples to the fire department to have them approve the layout.

Please note: If the fire department guidelines are not followed exactly, the Evacuation Maps will not be approved. This may result in additional fees and may delay any planned opening date.
Here at SignWorks our skilled and knowledgeable staff can help develop and design Evacuation Maps accurately in a timely manner. If you want more information about evacuation maps or would like a quote please contact us at (510) 357-2000 or e-mail us at info@signworks.us.com.