Enacts the "educational buildings balanced fire safety act"

1 Co-sponsor

• Liz Krueger

Purpose

To require all new educational construction shall be of noncombustible fire resistive construction.

Summary of provisions

Section 1 - This act shall be known as the "educational building balanced fire safety act." Section 2 - Creates new Article l8A with subsections as follows: Section 385 - Legislative Findings Section 385a - Definitions Section 385b - The State fire administrator shall take the appropriate steps to make the requirements of this legislation part of the state building and fire code. The regulations are as follows:

* All new educational construction and any additions, alteration or repairs to existing buildings shall be constructed of noncombustible fire resistive construction.

* A fire partition shall be required in all new buildings and remodeling in the following locations: between each individual living unit, all exit corridors, all exit stairways, occupancy separations, exterior load bearing walls, interior load bearing walls, and walls separating classrooms for educational purposes.

* Buildings that have automatic sprinklers and meet the requirements above can be of unlimited area and their height can be increased up to 25% over similar buildings that do not meet these requirements. Section 385-d. This article supersedes all local laws or ordinances and does not supersede or alter the requirements for sprinklers, early warning systems and fire alarm systems. This article does not relieve a person from complying with OSHA.

Justification

Schools should be the safest place for our kids yet due to the high density of students of various ages and capabilities, a fire at a school has the potential to be devastating. To minimize the impact a fire can have on both life and property, fire safety should be addressed with a balanced approach. A fire safety plan should involve prevention measures; detection and alarm systems; sprinklers or extinguishers; and compartmentation. Compartmentation is when the building construction isolates and contains the spread of fire and toxic smoke, while maintaining the structural integrity of the building. Compartmentation can be done by the use of masonry walls.

Masonry walls provide students and teachers extra time to evacuate, a temporary area of refuge and provide more time for emergency responders to engage in rescue efforts. Fire resistive construction does not contribute to the fire load or toxic quantities of smoke or gas and can also hold up to the heat and impact of water from firefighters' hose streams. In the event of a fire, fire resistive construction will remain structurally intact throughout the duration of the fire protecting not only those trapped inside but also the firefighters involved in the rescue. Fire resistive walls are also inherently sound limiting and not susceptible to deterioration from mold growth making the day to day educational environment healthy and free from distractions.

The goal of this legislation is to emphasize the need for a balance approach to fire safety in what can be considered our "high risk" populations. Fire resistive building can enhance current fire safety measure to ensure that property loss is minimized and more importantly there is no loss of life.

Legislative history

2007/2008 - S.799/A.1408 Remained in the Senate Committee on Finance and the Assembly Committee on Governmental Operations 2005/2006 - S.6370/A.10558 Remained in the Senate Committee on Finance and the Assembly Committee on Governmental Operations

Fiscal implications

To be determined.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the 90th day after it shall become law.