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Free fire escape plan · Pennsylvania

Free Fire Escape Plan for Pennsylvania Homes and Shops

From a Pennsylvania rowhouse to a warehouse floor, send the free generator a plan, a photo or a sketch and it draws routes to the doors and stairs plus a place to meet outside. Below are federal OSHA and the state building code, rowhouses with a shop below and an apartment above, long walks in Lehigh Valley warehouses, and three city fire departments.

Draft my Pennsylvania plan Rowhouse shops with apartments
  • No sign-up to preview
  • Both floors of a rowhouse
  • Warehouse layouts welcome

A planning draft, not an inspection or approval. Your municipality, its fire department and OSHA decide what applies to your building.

Last reviewed: October 9, 2026 · Review with a qualified safety professional when required.
Illustration: fictional plans of a rowhouse shop and its upstairs apartment, printed as a blueprint, turned into a fire escape plan draft with green routes on both floors to the front and back doors, safety symbols and a meeting point across the street
Illustration · fictional rowhouse, not a customer plan

Federal OSHA and the UCC

Federal OSHA rules and the Pennsylvania building code

Pennsylvania is one of the states with no plan on OSHA’s list, so private employers here follow federal OSHA (OSHA). For construction, the Department of Labor & Industry says the statewide building code, generally known as the Uniform Construction Code or UCC, has to be followed by builders in the state (Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry).

  • Written plan

    What a federal emergency action plan covers

    Under 1910.38, the plan says how to report a fire, how to evacuate and which routes to use, how to account for everyone afterward and whom to contact. It is kept at work in writing, though employers with 10 or fewer employees may share it orally (OSHA 1910.38).

  • Exit routes

    Two ways out, as a rule

    1910.36 generally calls for at least two exit routes and allows one only where everyone can still get out safely, given the building’s size, occupancy and layout (OSHA 1910.36).

  • Building work

    Redraw after a fit-out

    Builders in Pennsylvania have to follow the UCC (Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry), and a fit-out or an addition can move doors and walls. Update the map once the work is finished.

Before you post a Pennsylvania plan

  • Each floor drawn on its own, with every stair labeled.
  • The door each room should use, and a second way out where there is one.
  • Where everyone meets outside, and who counts heads there.
  • A name to call with questions about the plan, as the federal rule asks.

Lehigh Valley warehouses

Long walks to the exits in Lehigh Valley warehouses

Big distribution warehouses, like the ones around the Lehigh Valley, can put a long walk and many rows of racks between a work area and the nearest door. A map helps people head for the closest exit instead of the door they came in by, especially on a new shift or in a part of the building they rarely visit.

On the warehouse floor

  • Number the aisles on the map so people can tell where they are.
  • Show every personnel door, not only the dock doors.
  • Mark the nearest exit from each zone, the picking area and the break room.

Keeping the aisles open

  • Pallets, carts and rolls of wrap stay out of the marked aisles.
  • Staged loads stay inside their painted lines.
  • Check the map again whenever racks are added or moved.

Aisles and doors under the federal rules

OSHA says aisles used with forklifts and other mechanical handling equipment need safe clearances and must be kept clear, with permanent aisles marked (OSHA 1910.176). A doorway that could be mistaken for an exit needs a “Not an Exit” sign or a sign showing its actual use (OSHA 1910.37).

  • Alarm

    Heard at the far end

    Workplaces need an alarm with a distinctive signal unless employees can promptly see or smell a fire in time to be warned (OSHA 1910.37). At the far end of a long building, people often cannot.

  • Helpers

    One evacuation helper per zone

    The emergency action plan rule asks employers to designate and train employees to help with a safe and orderly evacuation (OSHA 1910.38). Give each zone of the floor its own helper and show the zones on the map.

Assembly point · the generator

Upload your Pennsylvania home, shop or warehouse plan

A floor plan, a phone photo of a sketch or a PDF from a fit-out works. Upload each floor of a rowhouse on its own, or a warehouse plan with its racks; the draft adds routes, exits, safety symbols and a meeting point.

  • Shop and apartment, one upload each
  • Number the warehouse aisles
  • Show the yard gate
📊 5 Free Maps Left

Create Your Evacuation Map

See the safety plan from every angleWatch a sketch become a polished map, then step inside.Watch demo Need to start from a rough layout?Sketch rooms and exits, then turn it into a clear safety map.Draw your map
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High ContrastUse dark ink on white paper. Bold lines help our AI detect walls accurately
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Top-Down AnglePhotograph from directly above — tilted angles distort the geometry
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Label RoomsWrite "Exit", "Storage", "Breakroom" etc. — our AI reads your labels for compliance
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Full Floor PlanCapture the entire layout including all walls, doors, and exits — no cropping
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Mark ExitsCircle or label exit doors with a red dot or "EXIT" text for best detection
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Good LightingAvoid shadows and glare — even lighting produces the sharpest results
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Drag & drop your floor plan here

or

PNG, JPG, HEIC, TIFF, BMP, SVG, AVIF, WebP, PDF, DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX, XLS, XLSX, ODT, ODP, ODS, DXF, DWG - Hand-drawn sketches work too!

or

No floor plan handy? Try the included floor plan with real AI generation — no upload needed. This may take a minute or longer.

Edit your map for free.
Move, resize, and recolor every exit sign, route, and icon.
Create a free account to save and download in HD. No credit card required.FREE
🔒Your files are private: never shared, stored temporarily, deleted automatically.

Compliance Options

🔥 NEW✨

Customize Your Map

Add special requests for your safety map - tell our AI exactly what you need!

  • 🎯Add specific details like "Mark fire extinguisher near kitchen"
  • 📍Request specific zones: "Highlight assembly point in parking lot"
  • 🏥Add safety equipment: "Include AED location near reception"
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Quick Add:

Automatic (recommended)

Redraw the architecture from your floor plan first, then add editable safety markings. The original upload remains a reference, not the map background.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this evacuation map generator really free?

Yes — you can generate your first OSHA-aligned evacuation map draft completely free. Just upload a floor plan and our AI drafts a professional map in about 30 seconds. No credit card required.

Are the generated maps aligned with OSHA?

Our AI drafts maps that follow OSHA 29 CFR 1910.36–37 and NFPA 101 Life Safety Code standards. Every map includes clearly marked exits, fire extinguisher locations, assembly points, and directional evacuation arrows. Supervisor review is required before posting to your facility.

What file formats can I upload?

We accept PNG, JPG, GIF, WebP, BMP, TIFF, AVIF, HEIC, SVG, PDF, DOC/DOCX, PPT/PPTX, XLS/XLSX, ODT, ODP, ODS, DXF, and DWG floor plans. Office and CAD files are converted securely before processing; PDF uploads let you choose the source page.

How long does map generation take?

Most maps are generated in 20–40 seconds. Complex multi-floor plans may take slightly longer. You see the preview instantly — create a free account (no credit card) to download the file.

Can I edit the map after generation?

Yes — every generated map opens in a free drag-and-drop editor where you can move, resize, and recolor exit signs, routes, and equipment icons. Enterprise features like multi-floor support and branded maps are available on paid plans.

Is my floor plan data secure?

Yes. All uploads are encrypted in transit (TLS 1.3) and processed in secure cloud environments. We do not share your floor plans with third parties.

Every result is a draft. Walk each route, from the upstairs bedroom to the far racks, before you post it.

Before and after

From a rowhouse floor plan to a posted draft

The plain plan shows a rowhouse between its neighbors: a shop with a back room on the ground floor, and an apartment upstairs with a bedroom, kitchen and living room. The apartment has its own stair down to a separate street door; the shop has a front door and a back door to a yard with a gate to the alley. The draft routes every room on both floors to a door or the stair and everyone to a meeting point across the street.

Fictional plain floor plans of a rowhouse: a shop with a back room on the ground floor between two neighbors, and an apartment upstairs with a bedroom, kitchen, living room and a stair down to its own street door, but no routes or safety symbols
BeforePlain plans of a fictional rowhouse shop and its apartment.
The same fictional rowhouse as an illustrative fire escape plan draft with green routes on both floors to the shop doors and the apartment stair, outside routes from the yard gate along the alley and from the front doors to an assembly point in the plaza across the street, exit signs, extinguishers, a pull station, a first aid kit, smoke detectors in the apartment, a You are here marker and a legend
After · illustrationDrawn for this page with OSHAMap’s map frame and symbols. The rowhouse, the tenants and every placement are fictional, not a Pennsylvania customer plan or a live result.

What the draft adds to a rowhouse plan

  • Routes from the shop, the back room and every apartment room
  • The apartment stair to its own street door, apart from the shop
  • A back way out through the yard gate and along the alley
  • One meeting point in the plaza across the street
  • Exit signs at the shop’s front and back doors
  • Extinguishers in the shop, the back room and the apartment kitchen
  • Smoke detectors in the apartment bedroom and living room

Philadelphia rowhouses

Rowhouses with a shop below and an apartment above

On commercial streets in Philadelphia and older Pennsylvania towns, many rowhouses have a shop on the ground floor and an apartment upstairs. With shared walls on both sides, the ways out are at the front and the back, so both belong on the map, along with the apartment’s own stair.

Animation: a fictional rowhouse with a shop on the ground floor and an apartment upstairs. The shared side walls are marked so the front and back doors are the ways out, routes grow on both floors, the apartment stair and its own street door are highlighted, boxes on the back-room route are crossed out, the yard gate to the alley is circled, outside routes lead to a meeting point in the plaza across the street, and the safety symbols are added
Illustration · fictional rowhouse. The wall and stair highlights, crossed-out boxes and gate ring are teaching marks, not generator symbols.View static frame
  1. Know where the back door leadsOSHA says an exit discharge has to lead outside, or to a street, walkway, refuge area, public way or open space big enough for the people using it (OSHA 1910.36). When the back door opens onto a fenced yard, the gate is part of the route.
  2. Check the gate as you would a doorExit route doors must open from the inside without keys, tools or special knowledge (OSHA 1910.36). Hold the yard gate to the same test: if it needs a key, the back route ends in the yard.
  3. Keep the back room passableExit routes must stay free of materials and equipment, even for a short time (OSHA 1910.37). Deliveries stacked in the back room can block the only rear way out.
  4. Share one meeting place with the apartmentThe U.S. Fire Administration suggests choosing an outside meeting place in front of your home (U.S. Fire Administration). Agree with the tenants upstairs to use the same spot as the shop, so one count covers the whole building.
  5. Say who might still be insideAt the meeting place, the USFA says to stay there, call the fire department and tell them if someone is trapped in the building (USFA). A shop owner who knows whether the apartment is empty can tell the crew right away.

Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown

Fire departments in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Allentown

Your municipality’s fire department or code office can say which rules apply to your building’s exits. These three serve Pennsylvania’s largest cities.

Fire departments in Pennsylvania’s three largest cities
CityPopulation, July 2024 (est.)Topic to raiseFire department contact
Philadelphia1,573,916What to check before renting out the apartment above a shop on a commercial street.Philadelphia Fire Department
Pittsburgh307,668Which stairs to show on the map in a converted industrial building with several tenants.Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire
Allentown127,138What a downtown shop with a stockroom should keep clear near its exits.Allentown Fire Department

Population figures are U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2024 estimates (Census Bureau). Reading, at about 96,000, is fourth. Many Pennsylvanians live in boroughs and townships; there, ask your municipality which fire company and code office serve your address.

Questions

Pennsylvania fire escape plan FAQ

Can I make a Pennsylvania fire escape plan for free?

Yes. A rowhouse with a shop downstairs and an apartment above, or a Lehigh Valley warehouse: upload each floor’s plan, photo or sketch and get a watermarked preview without an account. A free account, no credit card, adds 5 free floor-plan uploads per month, with up to 5 regenerations per upload and the editor. Exports show a draft marking until the posting review is finished.

Which OSHA rules apply to Pennsylvania employers?

Pennsylvania has no state plan on OSHA’s list, so private employers follow the federal OSHA standards, including the exit route and emergency action plan rules.

What is the Pennsylvania UCC?

The Uniform Construction Code is Pennsylvania’s statewide building code, which builders in the state have to follow, according to the Department of Labor & Industry. For questions about an existing building’s exits, ask your municipality’s code office or fire department.

Does the apartment above my shop need its own map?

It helps. An apartment above a shop often has its own stair and street door, so draw its floor separately, and agree with the tenants on one outside meeting place so everyone can be counted.

How do I map a large warehouse?

Upload the floor plan with the racks, number the aisles and make sure every personnel door shows. Keep the marked aisles clear, and name a helper for each zone to guide people out.

Is a back yard with a gate a safe way out?

It can be, if the gate opens from the yard side without a key and leads to an alley or street with room to move away from the building. Otherwise people leaving by the back door can end up stuck in the yard.

Sources

Illustrations on this page use fictional layouts made for this page. They are not customer plans or live generator results.

Ready? Upload a Pennsylvania floor plan, the shop and the apartment separately, and see the free draft.

Draft my Pennsylvania plan