Mechanical room location

[Roy Drangstveit]

In order to get to this mechanical room you have to walk through the master bedroom and through the walkin closet of that bedroom. Should this be written as defective even if the furn & water heater have fan induced flues?
Correction after looking at my picture I don't think the water heater is fan induced.

Roy Drangstveit

[Marcel R. Cyr]

That area looks like a Spear Closet of a typical poor floor plan layout.
And instead of loosing the space, they through the mechanical in there.

In addition to the fire hazard, the ability to maintain a boiler when the room is cluttered with various items is difficult.
Routine visual examinations of the equipment is almost impossible, and when service is needed, the room must be cleaned just to allow access.
Your boiler room or furnace room should:

• Contain no flammable or combustible materials, such as paper, cardboard, paint or other solvents
• Be equipped with a self-closing fire-rated door
• Be equipped with smoke and fire detectors
• Be finished with fire-resistant walls and ceilings
• Contain a C02 or dry chemical fire extinguisher
• Be well ventilated to reduce vapor concentrations
• Remain dry
• Be accessible to firefighters

These are the same features found in a storage room.
The only difference is the ignition source is removed

from the storage room.

My concern here would have been:
Accessibility
Make-up air
Fire resistive protection.
Serviceability

I am sure at times due to this layout, the boiler room could possibly be inaccessible due to the clutter in the walk-in closet.

The IRC also states that Heating and cooling equipment shall be located with respect to building construction and other equipment to permit maintenance, servicing and replacement. Clearances shall be maintained to permit cleaning of heating and cooling surfaces; replacement of filters, blowers, motors, controls and vent connections; lubrication of moving parts and adjustments.

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

Marcel, are those commercial requirements? I've never seen all that in a typical home mechanical room.

I'd certainly refer it to a HVAC contractor if the room size doesn't meet what's required for ventilation, even if a fan is provided.

[Marcel R. Cyr]

You could say a little of both Joe.
The last paragraph is from the IRC Mechanical section and the other parts are from General Requirements, Mechanical Ventilation, Return Air, Smoke and Heat Detection, Fire Safety, and a little Common Sense.
10 years of Residential Design work also steps in I guess.
Commercial requirements are even more stringent.

You would think who ever designed that space would know better than to provide a homeowner with those conditions.
I would have had reservations on this and strong recommendations to go along with it.
But, I guess it is just my honest opinion.