I have a basement with three hopper windows and a walk-out door. There's also a staircase that connects the basement with the upper (main) floor of the house.
If I build a bedroom, do I need an egress window or is the basement walk-out door acting as such? (Note that there probably be an internal door between the bedroom and the walk-out exterior door.)
You need an egress window in any bedroom. The purpose is to provide an alternate point of exit from inside a bedroom in the event of an emergency. Having an exterior door located nearby but still outside of the bedroom will not qualify. If the bedroom doorway is blocked, the occupant still cannot exit the room.
I don't have an answer based on any existing building code other then to relay my experience dealing with my attic remodel.
I think the point the egress route is a secondary exit if the primary (door) is blocked due to smoke/fire. I would imagine if your door to the outside is in a different location than the stairway to the upstairs (main floor) you may be OK. If it is not "up to code" you may be able to work with your local building department/fire marshal.
We turned our attic into a bedroom and only had 1 exit (the main stairway). The only accessable windows that you could crawl out of where three stories above the ground (too far the jump, at least that is what the fire marshal said). We filed, and received, a variance from the city, it was contingent on the installation of inteconnected smoke detectors on all the floors.
It will highly depend on your local codes. In Ontario, Canada, as an example, an egress exit simply needs to be on the same level as the bedroom - not located directly within it.
