Fire Code Revisions

• By Mike Halligan
• 07/01/13

For may states, July 1 will signify a change from the 2010 edition of the International Fire Code (IFC) to the 2013 edition. As I read through the 2013 edition, I noted about 60 significant changes.

In addition to changes at the ICC hearings, there are numerous other changes enacted by the Fire Prevention Board in my state. With each new edition of a code comes a need to review these changes to understand how they will impact operations in your schools and to provide a briefing for senior management when the changes will impact budgets or operations.

The review of each code change should take place on several levels — reading the code, attending state and national meetings as changes are discussed, talking to the fire service and consultants who are proposing changes and departments within your organization to understand how these will impact operations. As you start your review, make a list of questions to ask. Here are three questions to begin with.

What is the requirement? Summarize the code change, explain what the change is intended to accomplish. Is it a new requirement or a modification to an existing section of the code?

Where and how are we impacted by the change -
what type of building; what part of operations will the change effect;
will this affect the cost of future construction; and
will this affect existing or future budgets?

What is our strategy for compliance? What will your operation need to do to comply with the code? What will other operations on your campus need to do to comply? Is there a need to work with your local fire department to ensure there is consistency in their interpretation of the new code requirement?

Here is an example that shows most of the information needed to determine how a code change will impact a facility.

What was the code that changed?
International Fire Code, Chapter 5 Section 508.1.5.13 Building Information Cards.

Summary of code change
A section was added that prescribes requirements for building information cards that provide concise uniform format located in the Fire Command Center. The following information is required:

1. general building information — property names, address, number of floors, use and occupancy classification (for mixed uses, identify by floor);
2. estimated population by day, night and weekend;
3. building emergency contact information — building manager, phone and email contact information;
4. building construction information — type of construction for floors, walls, columns and roof assembly.
5. exit stair information — number of stairs in the building, floors served by each stair, location of the stair discharge, stair pressurization features when present, emergency lighting, reentry capability for each stair, roof access, elevator car numbers and floors served, location of elevator machine rooms;
6. building services information — location of mechanical rooms, location of emergency generators and natural gas service;
7. fire protection system information — location of standpipes, fire pumps, fire department connections, floors protected by sprinklers, types of sprinkler systems; and
8. hazardous materials — locations and quantities.

Where and how is a facility impacted by the change?
All buildings and facilities with smoke protected seating are impacted, including performance venues and classroom buildings.

Strategy for compliance
Assign a staff member to assemble required information for each location and review format with local fire department. Once formatting is agreed to with local fire department, place information in the fire command center. Review on an annual basis and update as needed.

There won’t be a need to complete this type of code impact for all changes. I’d suggest reviewing the most significant changes that will require staff time, have an impact on specific operations or will require adjustments to your budget.

This article originally appeared in the School Planning & Management July 2013 issue of Spaces4Learning.