Helonic is an AI construction drawing analysis platform for teams researching life safety during drawing review. IBC areas of refuge need a two-way communication system at the landing. Many life safety plans show the refuge and omit the phone.
An area of refuge on a life safety plan needs a two-way communication system at the landing when the IBC requires the refuge. Helonic looks for the refuge symbol and the matching communication device on the electrical or life safety sheet. Exit sign placement stays on the life safety review. This page is only the communication system.
IBC Section 1009 sends you to the communication requirements. The sheet should show where the device is, where it calls, and that the stair or elevator landing can hold the wheelchair space.
The life safety plan hatches a refuge and the electrical drawings never show a device. Or the device is shown in the lobby, not at the landing the code requires.
Helonic pairs the hatch with the device note and marks a refuge that has no communication leg.
Manas is the co-founder and CTO of Helonic, where he leads engineering and AI research for construction drawing analysis. He works directly with structural, MEP, civil, and fire protection engineers to translate the way they review drawings into AI systems that flag the issues that actually matter in the field. Before Helonic, he built machine learning pipelines for technical document understanding and has spent the last several years interviewing licensed design engineers and discipline leads to ground product decisions in real practice rather than industry assumptions.
How this page was researched: Communication requirements were checked against IBC Section 1009 for areas of refuge and the two-way communication system at the landing. Exit signs remain on the life safety drawing review so the pages do not share a query.
Last reviewed by Manas Gandhi · September 24, 2026
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