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CBC 403 — High-rise & Mission-Critical Provisions (Data Center)

Updated May 18, 2026
High-rise + Group H special provisions: emergency power, smoke control, voice/alarm. Data centers above 75 ft trip these requirements.

California Building Code Section 403 governs high-rise buildings (over 75 ft above lowest fire-truck access level). Data centers regularly trip these thresholds. Required: redundant emergency power (60 min minimum, typically diesel + UPS in concert with N+1 redundancy), smoke control system per 909, voice/alarm communication per 907.5.2.2, fire service elevators per 403.6, and a fire command center per 911. Mission-critical occupancies often layer in Group H requirements for battery rooms (gaseous hazard category). Plan reviewers in SF, San Jose, Santa Clara County require N+1 UPS + N+1 generator + 96-hour fuel on-site for any building registered as Tier III or above.

TAGS
data-centerhigh-riseemergency-powermission-critical
DETAILS
edition
2022
use case
["data-center","mission-critical"]
adopted by
["ca-sf","ca-oakland","ca-san-jose","ca-mountain-view","ca-statewide"]
code system
CBC
confidence tier
primary
SOURCES
🔗https://codes.iccsafe.org/codes/california/CABC2022P1
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