The Florida Senate

509.215  Firesafety.--

(1)  Any:

(a)  Public lodging establishment, as defined in this chapter, which is of three stories or more and for which the construction contract has been let after September 30, 1983, with interior corridors which do not have direct access from the guest area to exterior means of egress, or

(b)  Building over 75 feet in height that has direct access from the guest area to exterior means of egress and for which the construction contract has been let after September 30, 1983,

shall be equipped with an automatic sprinkler system installed in compliance with the provisions prescribed in the National Fire Protection Association publication NFPA No. 13 "Standards for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems." The sprinkler installation may be omitted in closets which are not over 24 square feet in area and in bathrooms which are not over 55 square feet in area, which closets and bathrooms are located in guest rooms. Each guest room shall be equipped with an approved listed single-station smoke detector meeting the minimum requirements of NFPA-74 "Standards for the Installation, Maintenance and Use of Household Fire Warning Equipment," powered from the building electrical service, notwithstanding the number of stories in the structure or type or means of egress, if the contract for construction is let after September 30, 1983. Single-station smoke detection is not required when guest rooms contain smoke detectors connected to a central alarm system which also alarms locally.

(2)  Any public lodging establishment, as defined in this chapter, which is of three stories or more and for which the construction contract was let before October 1, 1983, shall be equipped with:

(a)  A system which complies with subsection (1); or

(b)  An approved sprinkler system for all interior corridors, public areas, storage rooms, closets, kitchen areas, and laundry rooms, less individual guest rooms, if the following conditions are met:

1.  There is a minimum 1-hour separation between each guest room and between each guest room and a corridor.

2.  The building is constructed of noncombustible materials.

3.  The egress conditions meet the requirements of s. 5-3 of the Life Safety Code, NFPA 101.

4.  The building has a complete automatic fire detection system which meets the requirements of NFPA-72A and NFPA-72E, including smoke detectors in each guest room individually annunciating to a panel at a supervised location.

(3)  The Division of State Fire Marshal may prescribe uniform standards for firesafety equipment for public lodging establishments for which the construction contracts were let before October 1, 1983. An entire building shall be equipped as outlined not later than October 1, 1989, except that the approved sprinkler system may be delayed by the Division of State Fire Marshal until October 1, 1991, on a schedule for complete compliance in accordance with rules to be adopted by the Division of State Fire Marshal, which schedule shall include a provision for a 1-year extension which may be granted not more than three times for any individual requesting an extension. The entire system must be installed and operational by October 1, 1994. The Division of State Fire Marshal shall not grant an extension for the approved sprinkler system unless a written request for the extension and a construction work schedule is submitted. The Division of State Fire Marshal may grant an extension upon demonstration that compliance with this section by the date required would impose an extreme hardship and a disproportionate financial impact. Any establishment that has been granted an extension by the Division of State Fire Marshal shall post, in a conspicuous place on the premises, a public notice stating that the establishment has not yet installed the approved sprinkler system required by law.

(4)  The provisions for installation of single-station smoke detectors required in subsection (1) and subparagraph (2)(b)4. shall be waived by the Division of State Fire Marshal for any establishment for which the construction contract was let before October 1, 1983, and which is under three stories in height, if each individual guest room is equipped with a smoke detector approved by the Division of State Fire Marshal and the schedule for compliance is not later than October 1, 1986.

(5)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, this section applies only to those public lodging establishments in a building wherein more than 50 percent of the units in the building are advertised or held out to the public as available for transient occupancy.

(6)(a)  Special exception to the provisions of this section shall be made for a public lodging establishment structure that is individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places pursuant to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended; or is a contributing property to a National Register-listed district; or is designated as a historic property, or as a contributing property to a historic district under the terms of a local preservation ordinance.

(b)  For such structures, provisions shall be made for a system of fire protection and lifesafety support that would meet the intent of the NFPA standards and be acceptable to, and approved by, a task force composed of the director of the Division of Hotels and Restaurants, the director of the Division of State Fire Marshal, and the State Historic Preservation Officer. When recommending alternative systems, the task force shall consider systems which would not disturb, destroy, or alter the integrity of such historic structures. The director of the Division of State Fire Marshal shall be designated chairperson of the task force and shall record the minutes of each task force meeting, which shall be called in a timely manner to review requests for special provision considerations under this subsection.

(7)  The Division of State Fire Marshal shall adopt, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 120, any rules necessary for the implementation and enforcement of this section. The Division of State Fire Marshal shall enforce this section in accordance with the provisions of chapter 633, and any establishment licensed under this chapter in violation of this section may be subject to administrative sanctions by the division pursuant to s. 509.261.

(8)  Specialized smoke detectors for the deaf and hearing impaired shall be available upon request by guests in public lodging establishments at a rate of at least one such smoke detector per 50 dwelling units or portions thereof, not to exceed five such smoke detectors per public lodging facility.

(9)  The National Fire Protection Association publications referenced in this section are the ones most recently adopted by rule of the Division of State Fire Marshal of the Department of Insurance.

History.--ss. 1, 3, 4, ch. 83-194; s. 91, ch. 85-81; s. 7, ch. 86-174; s. 32, ch. 88-90; s. 1, ch. 88-209; ss. 22, 51, 52, ch. 90-339; s. 8, ch. 91-40; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 11, ch. 96-384; s. 59, ch. 99-5.