The Florida Senate

¹633.0215  Florida Fire Prevention Code.--

(1)  The State Fire Marshal shall adopt, by rule pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54, the Florida Fire Prevention Code which shall contain or incorporate by reference all firesafety laws and rules that pertain to and govern the design, construction, erection, alteration, modification, repair, and demolition of public and private buildings, structures, and facilities and the enforcement of such firesafety laws and rules. The State Fire Marshal shall adopt a new edition of the Florida Fire Prevention Code every third year.

(2)  The State Fire Marshal shall adopt the National Fire Protection Association's Standard 1, Fire Prevention Code but shall not adopt a building, mechanical, or plumbing code. The State Fire Marshal shall adopt the Life Safety Code, Pamphlet 101, current editions, by reference. The State Fire Marshal may modify the selected codes and standards as needed to accommodate the specific needs of the state. Standards or criteria in the selected codes shall be similarly incorporated by reference. The State Fire Marshal shall incorporate within sections of the Florida Fire Prevention Code provisions that address uniform firesafety standards as established in s. 633.022. The State Fire Marshal shall incorporate within sections of the Florida Fire Prevention Code provisions addressing regional and local concerns and variations.

(3)  No later than 180 days before the triennial adoption of the Florida Fire Prevention Code, the State Fire Marshal shall notify each municipal, county, and special district fire department of the triennial code adoption and steps necessary for local amendments to be included within the code. No later than 120 days before the triennial adoption of the Florida Fire Prevention Code, each local jurisdiction shall provide the State Fire Marshal with copies of its local fire code amendments. The State Fire Marshal has the option to process local fire code amendments that are received less than 120 days before the adoption date of the Florida Fire Prevention Code.

(a)  The State Fire Marshal shall review or cause the review of local amendments to determine:

1.  If the local amendment should be adopted as a statewide provision;

2.  That the local amendment does not provide a lesser degree of lifesafety than the code otherwise provides; and

3.  That the local amendment does not reference a different edition of the national fire codes or other national standard than the edition provided or referenced in the uniform or minimum firesafety codes adopted by the State Fire Marshal or prescribed by statute.

(b)  Any local amendment to the Florida Fire Prevention Code adopted by a local government shall be effective only until the adoption of the new edition of the Florida Fire Prevention Code, which shall be every third year. At such time, the State Fire Marshal shall adopt such amendment as part of the Florida Fire Prevention Code or rescind the amendment. The State Fire Marshal shall immediately notify the respective local government of the rescission of the amendment and the reason for the rescission. After receiving such notice, the respective local government may readopt the rescinded amendment. Incorporation of local amendments as regional and local concerns and variations shall be considered as adoption of an amendment pursuant to this ²part.

(c)  Notwithstanding other state or local building and construction code laws to the contrary, locally adopted fire code requirements that were in existence on the effective date of this section shall be deemed local variations of the Florida Fire Prevention Code until the State Fire Marshal takes action to adopt as a statewide firesafety code requirement or rescind such requirements as provided herein, and such action shall take place no later than July 1, 2001.

(4)  The State Fire Marshal shall update, by rule adopted pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54, the Florida Fire Prevention Code every 3 years. Once initially adopted and subsequently updated, the Florida Fire Prevention Code and the Life Safety Code shall be adopted for use statewide without adoptions by local governments. When updating the Florida Fire Prevention Code and the most recent edition of the Life Safety Code, the State Fire Marshal shall consider changes made by the national model fire codes incorporated into the Florida Fire Prevention Code, the State Fire Marshal's own interpretations, declaratory statements, appellate decisions, and approved statewide and local technical amendments.

(5)  The State Fire Marshal may approve technical amendments notwithstanding the 3-year update cycle of the Florida Fire Prevention Code upon finding that a threat to life exists that would warrant such action, subject to chapter 120.

(6)  The Florida Fire Prevention Code does not apply to, and no code enforcement action shall be brought with respect to, zoning requirements or land use requirements. Additionally, a local code enforcement agency may not administer or enforce the Florida Fire Prevention Code to prevent the siting of any publicly owned facility, including, but not limited to, correctional facilities, juvenile justice facilities, or state universities, community colleges, or public education facilities. This section shall not be construed to prohibit local government from imposing built-in fire protection systems or fire-related infrastructure requirements needed to properly protect the intended facility.

(7)  Any local amendment adopted by a local government must strengthen the requirements of the minimum firesafety code.

(8)  Within 30 days after a local government adopts a local amendment, the local government must transmit the amendment to the Florida Building Commission and the State Fire Marshal.

(9)  The State Fire Marshal shall make rules that implement this section and ss. 633.01 and 633.025 for the purpose of accomplishing the objectives set forth in those sections.

(10)  Notwithstanding other provisions of this chapter, if a county or a municipality within that county adopts an ordinance providing for a local amendment to the Florida Fire Prevention Code and that amendment provides a higher level of protection to the public than the level specified in the Florida Fire Prevention Code, the local amendment becomes effective without approval of the State Fire Marshal and is not rescinded pursuant to the provisions of this section, provided that the ordinance meets one or more of the following criteria:

(a)  The local authority has adopted, by ordinance, a fire service facilities and operation plan that outlines goals and objectives for related equipment, personnel, and capital improvement needs of the local authority related to the specific amendment for the next 5 years;

(b)  The local authority has adopted, by ordinance, a provision requiring proportionate reduction in, or rebate or waivers of, impact or other fees or assessments levied on buildings that are built or modified in compliance with the more stringent firesafety standards required by the local amendment; or

(c)  The local authority has adopted, by ordinance, a growth management plan that requires buildings and structures to be equipped with more stringent firesafety requirements required by the local amendment when these firesafety requirements are used as the basis for planning infrastructure development, uses, or housing densities.

Except as provided in s. 633.022, the local appeals process shall be the venue if there is a dispute between parties affected by the provisions of the more stringent local firesafety amendment adopted as part of the Florida Fire Prevention Code pursuant to the authority in this subsection. Local amendments adopted pursuant to this subsection shall be deemed local or regional variations and published as such in the Florida Fire Prevention Code. The act of publishing locally adopted firesafety amendments to the Florida Fire Prevention Code shall not be construed to mean that the State Fire Marshal approves or denies the authenticity or appropriateness of the locally adopted firesafety provision, and the burden of protecting the local fire safety amendment remains solely with the adopting local governmental authority.

History.--s. 58, ch. 98-287; ss. 102, 103, ch. 2000-141.

¹Note.--

A.  Effective July 1, 2001.

B.  Section 111, ch. 2000-141, provides that:

"(1)  The select committee to investigate the feasibility of establishing performance-based criteria for the cost-effective application of fire codes and fire code alternatives for existing educational facilities established by chapter 98-287, Laws of Florida, is authorized to continue its investigation. Committee appointment authority established by chapter 98-287, Laws of Florida, shall continue should any position on the select committee become vacant. Members of the committee shall serve at their own expense except that state employees shall be reimbursed for travel costs incurred from existing budgets in accordance with s. 112.061, Florida Statutes.

"(2)  Funds in the amount of $35,000 are appropriated to the State Fire Marshal from the Insurance Commissioner's Regulatory Trust Fund for the purposes of providing training and education to those impacted by its use on the application of the alternative fire safety standards for educational facilities. The Division of State Fire Marshal shall review the alternative code for existing educational facilities and may adopt such alternative code by rule as part of the Florida Fire Prevention Code as an acceptable alternative for code compliance."

²Note.--Chapter 633 is not divided into parts.