Wall Decals

Q: We are a nursing home and I have a resident that has these Fat-Head decals on her walls, which takes up a lot of the wall space. We told her that she can have only so much on her walls. She also has on the outside of her door a couple little stick-up things. How much can they have on their walls and/or doors?

A: Assuming your facility is fully protected with sprinklers, section 19.7.5.6(4) of the 2012 Life Safety Code says she can have up to 30% of the total surface area of the door and corridor walls on the outside of her room, and up to 50% of the total surface area of the door and corridor walls inside her room. If the door happens to be a fire-rated door, then she can only have up to 5% of the door surface area with stick-up decals.

With the adoption of the 2012 Life Safety Code in 2016, changes have been made to allow more combustible decorations on the surface of the walls in healthcare occupancies. This is one of the many changes to the code encouraged by the nursing home lobbyists.