Maximum Allowable Quantities (MAQ) Project

Maximum allowable quantities (MAQs) are the maximum amount of hazardous materials allowed to be stored or used within a control area in a building. These limits are established by the California Fire Code (CFC) and are broken down by hazard class. The MAQs are intended to ensure the quantities of hazardous materials in a building are within the safe operating levels for the fire and life safety elements to which the building is designed and operated. Adhering to these limits is essential for ensuring a building is safe for its occupants and first responders.

A control area is a defined space within a building where hazardous materials are stored, dispensed, used or handled. Control areas are constructed with features like fire rated walls that prevent the spread of fire to and from other areas in the building, allowing for safe emergency egress and fire department response. The number of control areas on a floor varies greatly across UC Berkeley buildings, from one to more than ten.

Determining MAQs is complex and relies on several structural and operational factors.

The most common factors that determine MAQs at UC Berkeley are:

► on which floor your chemical inventory is located (see Fig. 1 below)
► whether a fire sprinkler system is installed throughout the building
► use of approved storage cabinets

As emergency response and egress become increasingly difficult with building height, the quantity of hazardous materials that can be safely used and stored decreases. For example, the MAQs on floors 9th and above are 5% of those allowed on the 1st floor. Conversely, if the entire building is equipped with a sprinkler system and approved storage cabinets are used, the MAQs a specific floor can increase. 

EH&S will contact you about your MAQs

EH&S will communicate MAQs to buildings and relevant chemical inventories. Spaces exceeding MAQ may be contacted for discussions about how to meet MAQ requirements. Required actions may include chemical reductions, use of approved storage, or facility modifications. For complex remediation projects, EH&S will be coordinating partnerships with campus leadership. Because inventories and research are dynamic, labs in compliance may be contacted again if their MAQ status changes.

Maintain Accurate Chemical Inventories

Examination of your MAQs depends on accurate chemical inventories. Parties responsible for the storage and use of hazardous materials are required to maintain an accurate chemical inventory by tagging chemical containers and entering them in RSS Chemicals. To learn more about how to tag and add chemical containers, visit the Chemical Inventory webpage

You can help minimize the likelihood of exceeding MAQ by reducing the amount of chemicals you store. 

• Purchase smaller quantities of chemicals (i.e 500g instead of 1kg)

• Limit purchasing duplicate chemicals and cases

• If possible, share chemicals

• Confirm that your chemical inventory is accurate

• Dispose of any expired or unneeded chemicals and update your inventory accordingly. 

  • Routine waste disposal is now free

  • Please see below a more detailed list of which chemicals should be disposed of:

    • Chemicals that are expired, degraded or of questionable integrity

    • Damaged containers: containers should be intact, no damage to bottle or cap

    • Numerous containers of same item: reduce containers that are older if only newer items are in use

    • Bottles with minimal material remaining, especially those with high hazards

    • Any other bottles with no expectation of use, particularly old materials

Since MAQs are largely determined by building construction it can be very costly to increase the limit. Due to their complexity, MAQ increases must be addressed on a case-by-case basis. Please contact the Fire Prevention group for assistance at fireprevention@berkeley.edu.