Community/Commercial Safe Rooms
A Community tornado safe room is defined as any safe room not defined as a residential safe room. These safe rooms include both public safe rooms and private safe rooms for business and other types of organizations. Community tornado safe rooms have been designed and constructed to the highest criteria set forth in FEMA P-361 and the standards set forth in the ICC/NSSA 500. Any group involved in designing and constructing community tornado safe rooms should also obtain the latest guidance from the appropriate FEMA regional office.
FEMA defines a community safe room as providing: “near absolute protection based on their current knowledge of tornadoes and hurricanes. The occupants of a safe room built according to FEMA criteria (including operational and emergency planning criteria) will have a very high probability of being protected from injury or death.”
Community/Commercial Safe Rooms
The NSSA prefers to use the terminology Community/Commercial when referring to safe rooms that qualify as Community Safe Rooms under the NSSA/ICC 500 Standard and FEMA P-361 guidelines given above. The reason we do this is because it best describes the real world uses of these safe rooms.
Many businesses both public and private provide safe rooms for their employees for protection from tornadoes. Highway departments, oil companies, wind farms and others provide remote rural locations with safe rooms.
Simply put safe rooms are not only used for community based projects like schools, rest areas, parks, and community shelters, but they have been adopted for many commercial reasons as well.
Community/Commercial Tornado Safe Room Options
Option 1 – Pre-Manufactured Safe Rooms
Pre-Manufactured Advantages
- Flexibility – Can serve multiple purposes and provide storm protection
- Archive Storage – Communications Control Rooms – Equipment Rooms
- Mobility – Ability on most models to be relocated to help expansion or new locations
- Wide Variety – Sizes, construction materials and accessories such as heating, cooling, and lavatories.
- Adaptability – Can normally be added on to or connected to an additional safe rooms.
Pre-Manufactured Community/Commercial Safe Room Listings
Option 2 – Site Built Safe Rooms
Site Built Safe Room Advantages
- Design – Meet your architectural preferences and provide for multi-purpose use.
- Construction – Ability to bid or choose contractor of choice.
- Control – Hire a general contractor to provide all your needs or put together a team of professionals.
Site Built Community/Commercial Safe Room Professional Listings
Producer Members- Serve the role of a general contractor and can provide planning, design and construction service.
Provide supervision, labor and equipment for construction.
Planning, Design and Inspection services.
Planning and Design services.
Provide peer review of original designs.
Provide required special Inspection services.