Since when are voice systems required in schools? I have never seen one in a school, at least in these parts. The district I went to only recently put Genesis H/S in.
IBC 2012 added the requirement for all new construction. I didn’t verify but the NFPA 101 is probably in the similar time frame.
Usually takes cities awhile to adopt codes, for example, the city I live in just recently adopted 2009, they were on 1999 before that. Who knows when they’ll get to 2012 or beyond…
and even after that, the building goes by the codes when it was first being permitted, so construction documents might be submitted in 2014, and just now being built in 2016. That building will follow the codes adopted in 2014, not what they have adopted in 2016.
In other words, it can take some time to see these changes take effect in the real world… it’s also worth noting if a school does a complete system replacement, the AHJ can make them bring the system up to the latest codes at that time. otherwise the school can stay at whatever codes the system was originally permitted under. so if you walk into a building built in 1992 that hasn’t been touched since, it could very well fall under 1992 building codes.
Does the EVAC requirement apply to colleges and universities as well?
Depends on the building.
Colleges/University classrooms actually fall under Group “B” (business) occupancy, which are a lot more lenient. Technically they don’t even require an alarm system if total occupancy is less than 500 and all on the same level, and when they are fully sprinkled they can eliminate all but 1 pull station.
Dorms fall under Group “R-2” (residential class 2) and require an automatic smoke detection system with pulls and everything. I don’t see an elimination exception for them.
Group E (education) is specifically k-12.
I know of a few high schools in Toronto/GTA that have voice evac, but that is purely optional. The way the code works here basically is if you need a single stage or two stage system. Schools fall under the single stage category, while high rises and such require two stage.