Maximum Allowable Quantities (MAQ) Project

MAQs

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.

About MAQ Compliance

The UC MAQ Task Force Report outlines a framework and recommends a structure to ensure execution, tracking, and accountability around MAQs. In response to the University of California Office of President (UCOP) systemwide mandate to fully comply with MAQ requirements by 2030, UC Berkeley is taking a multi-phased approach to meet MAQ requirements. 

The first phase of the project aims to maintain effective chemical management safety practices across all UC Berkeley facilities and reduce potential risks. To accomplish this, EH&S is evaluating all campus locations with hazardous chemicals, including labs, shops, and storage areas. All chemicals will be tagged and scanned into the systemwide chemical inventory system, Chemicals. To learn more about the chemical inventory phase, visit the Chemical Tagging webpage.

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 is working on a plan to communicate MAQs to buildings and relevant chemical inventories. Spaces exceeding MAQ may be contacted for discussions about how to meet MAQ requirements. 

 As part of UC Berkeley’s  MAQ management program,  routine hazardous waste disposal will no longer be charged. Please visit ehs.berkeley.edu/maq for more information.

Additional strategies to reduce the chemicals you store include:

• 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. 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.