Chapter 337
2012 -- S 2564 SUBSTITUTE B
Enacted 06/20/12
A N A C T
RELATING TO
HEALTH AND SAFETY-STATE FIRE CODE
Introduced By: Senators Walaska, Paiva Weed, Lynch, Bates, and Miller
Date Introduced: February 28, 2012
It is enacted by the General
Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Sections 23-28.01-4 of the General Laws in
Chapter 23-28.01 entitled
“Comprehensive Fire Safety
Act” is hereby amended to read as follows:
23-28.01-4. Powers
and duties. – The powers necessary to implement
the provisions of
this act shall be vested in the fire marshal, as provided
for in chapter 28.2 of this title as amended,
who shall have, except as specifically provided otherwise
in this title, all of the powers of the
authority having jurisdiction as are set forth in the Uniform
Fire Code (NFPA 1) and the Life
Safety Code (NFPA 101) of the National Fire Protection
Association, Inc., 2003 editions, until
December 31, 2012, with annexes, as those are updated, amended, altered, or deleted, and
by the
addition of certain provisions of the fire safety code board
of appeal and review, and who may
delegate authority as provided by law, and in the Fire Safety
Code Board of Appeal and Review,
as provided for in chapter 28.3 of this title, which
shall provide by rules and regulations for the
efficient and reasonable implementation of the provisions of
the fire safety code. Effective
January 1, 2013, the powers necessary to implement the
provisions of this act shall be vested in
the fire marshal, as provided for in chapter 28.2 of this
title as amended, who shall have, except as
specifically provided otherwise in this title, all of the powers
of the authority having jurisdiction
as are set forth in the Fire Code (NFPA 1) and the Life Safety
Code (NFPA 101), 2012 editions,
and the National Fire Alarm & Signaling Code (NFPA
72), 2010 edition, of the National Fire
Protection Association, Inc., with annexes, except as
updated, amended, altered or deleted and by
the addition of certain provisions, as indicated in the
rules and regulations adopted by the fire
safety code board. The Fire Safety Code Board of Appeal
& Review is hereby granted the
authority to adopt and implement any or all of the above
National Fire Protection Association
codes, with amendments, prior to January 1, 2013, pursuant
to its rulemaking authority. If one or
more of the above-referenced NFPA codes is so adopted by
the board, prior to January 1, 2013,
the state fire marshal shall have the above enforcement
power on the effective date of the rules
and regulations adopted by the fire safety board.
SECTION 2. Sections 23-28.1-2 and 23-28.1-7 of the General
Laws in Chapter 23-28.1
entitled “Fire Safety Code–General Provisions” are hereby
amended to read as follows:
23-28.1-2.
Purposes. – (a) Effective January 1, 2004 through
December 31, 2012, the
Uniform Fire Code (NFPA 1) and the Life Safety Code
(NFPA 101) of the National Fire
Protection Association, Inc., 2003 editions, with
annexes, except as updated, amended, altered or
deleted and by the addition of certain provisions, as
indicated in the rules and regulations adopted
by the fire safety code board, is hereby adopted as the
"Rhode Island Fire Safety Code".
Effective January 1, 2013, the Fire Code (NFPA 1) and
the Life Safety Code (NFPA 101) 2012
editions, and the National Fire Alarm & Signaling Code
(NFPA 72), 2010 edition of the National
Fire Protection Association, Inc., with annexes,
except as updated, amended, altered or deleted
and by the addition of certain provisions, as indicated
in the rules and regulations adopted by the
fire safety code board, is hereby adopted as the "
The Fire Safety Code
Board of Appeal & Review is hereby granted the authority to adopt
and implement any or all of the above National Fire
Protection Association codes, with
amendments, prior to the January 1, 2013, pursuant to its
rulemaking authority.
The Fire Safety Code Board
of Appeal and Review shall consider the following when
promulgating the aforementioned rules and regulations:
(1) For business,
storage, mercantile and industrial occupancies, the board shall consider
alternative methods of code compliance, including, but not
limited to, the use of vertical and
horizontal fire separation when determining the square footage
for fire alarm and sprinkler
requirements; allowing non-monitored fire alarm systems to be
installed in accordance with the
methods outlined in NFPA 72, 2010 edition, and shall further
consider alternative methods to
ensure the consistent enforcement of the code.
(2) For occupancy
groups previously granted relief including, but not limited to, existing
apartments, places of worship, marinas and the marine trade
industry, funeral homes, restaurants
and non-residential barns, the board shall consider the
appropriateness of the reincorporation of
this relief into the 2012 codes.
This code shall be
liberally construed and applied to promote its underlying purposes and
policies.
(b) The underlying
purposes and policies of these chapters are:
(1) To simplify, clarify
and modernize the law governing fires and fire prevention;
(2) To specify reasonable
minimum requirements for fire safety in new and existing
buildings and facilities, except in private dwellings occupied
by one, two (2) or three (3) families,
in the various cities or towns in this state; provided,
however, this code shall provide reasonable
standards for the installation of smoke and carbon monoxide
detectors in private dwellings
occupied by one, two (2), and three (3) families; provided,
further, that after July 1, 2008, three
(3) family dwellings shall be
equipped with hard wired or supervised interconnected UL
approved wireless smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, in
accordance with standards
established by the Fire Safety Code Board of Appeal and Review;
provided further that
(ii) The local fire
authority that performs smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector
plan review and inspection for the installation of smoke
detector and/or carbon monoxide
detection in any new and existing private dwelling occupied by
one, two (2) and three (3) families
shall charge no more than a seventy-five dollar ($75.00)
fee for a one family unit, a one hundred
twenty-five dollar ($125) fee for a two (2) family unit and a
one hundred seventy-five dollar
($175) fee for a three (3) family unit for the smoke detector
and carbon monoxide detector plan
review together with any subsequent detection inspections.
(3) Except as provided
in subdivision (b)(5) of this section, to permit the
cities and towns
to enact ordinances and orders relating to fire safety
provided those ordinances and orders impose
requirements equal to, additional to, or more stringent than those
contained in this code which
ordinances and orders shall be effective only upon the approval
by rule of the Fire Safety Code
Board of Appeal and Review. Any ordinance or order relating to fire safety
enacted by any city or
town shall be prospective in its application and shall be
enacted after public hearing. The city or
town shall cause printed notices of the time, place, and
subject matter of the hearing to be posted
in three (3) public places in the city or town, for
three (3) weeks next preceding the time of the
hearing, and shall advertise in a newspaper circulated in the
city or town, if any there be, at least
once a week for the same period of time;
(4) Jurisdiction for the
interpretation of any city or town ordinance or order relating to
fire safety shall be vested in the Fire Safety Code Board
of Appeal and Review; provided,
however, that the responsibility for the enforcement of the
ordinance or order shall be with the
local authorities and petitions for variations from the
ordinance or order shall be heard by the
state fire safety board of appeal and review in the manner
prescribed in chapter 28.3 of this title;
and
(5) Notwithstanding
anything to the contrary contained herein, no city or town may enact
any ordinance or order relating to the requirement for
the handling of explosives pursuant to
chapter 28.28 of this title or for the installation of, or
specifications for, the fire alarm sections of
this code, the fire protection systems as prescribed by
chapter 28.25 of this title, or for the
possession and display of commercial fireworks or pyrotechnics
pursuant to chapter 28.11 of this
title, which chapter shall exclusively govern the
requirements for the installation of, and
specification for, fire protection systems, the handling of
explosives and possession and display
of commercial fireworks or pyrotechnics. All such
ordinances or orders relating to the
requirements for the installation of and specifications for such
fire protection systems, the
handling of explosives, or possession and display of
commercial fireworks or pyrotechnics
heretofore enacted by any city or town are of no force and
effect.
(c) In this code, unless
the context otherwise requires:
(1) Words in the
singular number include the plural, and in the plural include the
singular; and
(2) Words of the
masculine gender include the feminine and the neuter and, when the
sense so indicates words of the neuter gender may refer to
any gender.
23-28.1-7. Conformity
required. – (a) No building shall be constructed for, used for, or
converted to, any occupancy regulated by the code, and no
addition shall be made to a building
except in accordance with the applicable provisions of the
code or the rehabilitation building and
fire code for existing buildings and structures, as
applicable.
(b) Any existing
structure that is not in conformity with the provisions of this code is
governed by the following:
(1) The authority having
jurisdiction is authorized to give building owners a reasonable
notice of fire safety code violations and establish a
timetable for compliance or, in cases of
practical difficulty, establish a time by which the owner must
petition to the fire safety code board
for a variation.
(2)
The fire marshal, or his or her designee within the division, or a nonsalaried deputy
state fire marshal in accordance with guidelines
established by the fire marshal, has the authority
to summarily abate any condition which presents
immediate danger to life, these conditions shall
include improper management or use of flammable and
combustible materials, liquids and gasses,
pyrotechnics, fireworks or explosives, malfunctioning automatic
sprinklers, fire alarms and
emergency lighting, malfunctioning heating and electrical
systems, and blocked or inadequate
exits or means of egress, and such other conditions as may
be established by the Fire Safety Code
Board of Appeal and Review. A failure to abate a condition that presents a clear
and immediate
danger to life shall be grounds for the person issuing the
order to abate, to require that the
premises be vacated, this action shall be either authorized by
the fire marshal or a designee of the
fire marshal who has been given advanced written authority
by the fire marshal to approve such
actions.
(3) All new buildings
and structures, for which a building permit is issued on or after
February 20, 2004, shall be subject to the provisions
of the Rhode Island Fire Safety Code
addressing the new occupancy. All existing buildings and
structures, and those buildings and
structures for which a building permit was issued prior to
February 20, 2004, shall be subject to
the provisions of the Rhode Island Fire Safety Code
addressing the existing occupancy. Any
existing building or structure, subject to the provisions of
the
Code for
provisions of the Rhode Island Fire Safety Code addressing the
current or proposed occupancy.
All active fire protection systems, including but not
limited to sprinklers, fire alarms, emergency
lighting, smoke detectors and exit signs, previously required
and installed in existing buildings,
shall continue to be required under the Rhode Island
Fire Safety Code and shall be properly
maintained.
(4) Any building
and/or structure that is in compliance on December 31, 2012 with the
2003 edition of the NFPA 1 and 101 as adopted and/or
amended under the 2003 Comprehensive
Fire Safety Act shall be deemed compliant. Such
compliant building and/or structure shall not be
required to comply with the 2012 edition of the NFPA 1 and 101
as adopted and/or amended
pursuant to
expenditures until December 31, 2015. The aforementioned compliant
buildings and/or structures
shall not be further required to comply with the 2010
edition of the NFPA 72 until December 31,
2015.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC01796/SUB B/3
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