Institutional vs residential: the self-preservation line (I vs R)

One-line orientation

The I-vs-R boundary turns on whether occupants can save themselves (and whether they’re restrained) — and on a head count that lets small facilities drop from Institutional down to Residential.

Key points

• Group I — Institutional (occupants supervised, incapable of self-preservation, or restrained):
  • I-1 — supervised residential environment housing more than 16 persons receiving custodial care — occupants capable of self-preservation or needing only limited assistance (e.g. assisted living, group homes).
  • I-2 — medical care for patients incapable of self-preservation (hospitals, nursing homes).
  • I-3 — occupants restrained for security reasons (prisons, jails, correctional centers).
  • I-4 — day care: custodial care for fewer than 24 hours a day for more than 5 persons of any age — children 2½ years or younger, or adult day care. (Day care for more than 5 children older than 2½ is Group E.)
• The count threshold: facilities with 16 or fewer persons can be classified as Group R rather than Group I — small group homes / small care homes fall to Residential.
• Group R — Residential (ordinary dwelling/sleeping; occupants capable of self-preservation):
  • R-1 — primarily transient (hotels, motels).
  • R-2 — primarily permanent, multiple sleeping units (apartments, condos, boarding houses).
  • R-3 — primarily permanent, not R-1/R-2/I (single-family homes).
  • R-4 — more than five but not more than 16 persons, including some assisted living.

Institutional groups are separated by the occupant condition

CODE SUMMARY

Restraint, inability to self-preserve, supervision, and part-day custodial care lead to different I subgroups

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I-1 occupants may be capable but supervised; I-2 occupants are incapable of self-preservation.

The blue count rule is a classification transition for qualifying small care facilities; it does not replace the four condition tests above.

Confusions / comparison

Use	Group	Why
Hospital, nursing home	I-2	Incapable of self-preservation (medical)
Prison, jail	I-3	Restrained for security
Assisted living (>16)	I-1	Supervised custodial care (occupants can self-evacuate)
Day care (kids ≤2½, or adults)	I-4	Custodial care under 24 hr (older kids’ day care = E)
Small care home (≤16)	R	Count drops it out of Group I
Hotel / motel	R-1	Transient occupants
Apartment / condo	R-2	Permanent, multiple sleeping units
Single-family home	R-3	Permanent, not R-1/R-2/I

Related

→ Occupancy groups overview (this module): the ten-group map · Assembly (Group A) (this module) · Construction types (this module): occupancy + construction type set height/area limits.