Means of egress are intended to allow occupants to safely exit a building in an emergency. Egress facilities should be wide enough to allow pedestrian traffic to flow unimpeded and should be designed so that occupants are protected while exiting and can quickly reach an area of safety. Escape routes need to be clearly designated and must not house any activity or item that could hamper evacuation or create a fire hazard.
A means of egress has two distinct components:
(1) an access to an exit, and
(2) an exit.
The access to an exit originates at any occupied location in a floor area and terminates at the exit door through which occupants leave the floor area. The access to an exit is the total path of travel from the occupied location to the exit door, including any intervening rooms or spaces.
The exit begins at the door through which occupants leave the floor area and ends at an exit door that provides access to a separate building, an open public thoroughfare, or an exterior open space protected from fire exposure from the building and having access to an open public thoroughfare. The exit may include enclosed stairways, ramps and passageways. For example, in a multi-level building, the exit may include the door into an exit stairway, the exit stairway, the door out of the stairway, and the exit door to a place of safety outside the building (or in another building). In a simple single-storey building, the exit may consist of only the exterior door, without any other intervening exit facilities. A stair within a dwelling unit is not considered to be part of an exit, but as part of an access to an exit.
Quoted from Illustrated Users' Guide - NBC2015
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