Senate Bill 1288

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    Florida Senate - 1998                                  SB 1288

    By Senator Silver





    38-1375-98

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to public lodging

  3         establishments; amending s. 509.215, F.S.;

  4         revising firesafety requirements for specified

  5         public lodging establishments; deleting

  6         obsolete language; amending s. 509.242, F.S.;

  7         revising classifications for public lodging

  8         establishments; providing that such

  9         classifications are for licensing purposes

10         only; providing classification for "home stay

11         inn"; amending s. 553.895, F.S.; removing

12         obsolete firesafety requirements for public

13         lodging establishments within the Florida

14         Building Codes Act; providing an effective

15         date.

16

17  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

18

19         Section 1.  Section 509.215, Florida Statutes, is

20  amended to read:

21         509.215  Firesafety.--

22         (1)  Any:

23         (a)  public lodging establishment, as defined in this

24  chapter, which is of three stories or more and for which the

25  construction contract has been let after January 1, 1994, must

26  be equipped with an approved automatic sprinkler system

27  installed in compliance with the provisions of chapter 633 and

28  the rules and codes adopted pursuant thereto. This subsection

29  does not preclude the enforcement of any firesafety

30  requirements provided by law.  September 30, 1983, with

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    Florida Senate - 1998                                  SB 1288
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  1  interior corridors which do not have direct access from the

  2  guest area to exterior means of egress, or

  3         (b)  Building over 75 feet in height that has direct

  4  access from the guest area to exterior means of egress and for

  5  which the construction contract has been let after September

  6  30, 1983,

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  8  shall be equipped with an automatic sprinkler system installed

  9  in compliance with the provisions prescribed in the National

10  Fire Protection Association publication NFPA No. 13 "Standards

11  for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems."  The sprinkler

12  installation may be omitted in closets which are not over 24

13  square feet in area and in bathrooms which are not over 55

14  square feet in area, which closets and bathrooms are located

15  in guest rooms.  Each guest room shall be equipped with an

16  approved listed single-station smoke detector meeting the

17  minimum requirements of NFPA-74 "Standards for the

18  Installation, Maintenance and Use of Household Fire Warning

19  Equipment," powered from the building electrical service,

20  notwithstanding the number of stories in the structure or type

21  or means of egress, if the contract for construction is let

22  after September 30, 1983. Single-station smoke detection is

23  not required when guest rooms contain smoke detectors

24  connected to a central alarm system which also alarms locally.

25         (2)  Any public lodging establishment, as defined in

26  this chapter, which is of three stories or more and for which

27  the construction contract was let before December 31, 1993,

28  must October 1, 1983, shall be equipped with:

29         (a)  Be equipped with a A system which complies with

30  subsection (1); or

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  1         (b)  Be equipped with an An approved sprinkler system

  2  for all interior corridors, public areas, storage rooms,

  3  closets, kitchen areas, and laundry rooms, less individual

  4  guest rooms, if the following conditions are met:

  5         1.  There is a minimum 1-hour separation between each

  6  guest room and between each guest room and a corridor.

  7         2.  The building is constructed of noncombustible

  8  materials.

  9         3.  The egress conditions meet the requirements of s.

10  5-3 of the Life Safety Code, NFPA 101.

11         4.  The building has a complete automatic fire

12  detection system which meets the requirements of NFPA-72, the

13  appropriate edition of the publication of the National Fire

14  Protection Association adopted by the State Fire Marshal

15  NFPA-72A and NFPA-72E, including smoke detectors in each guest

16  room individually annunciating to a panel at a supervised

17  location; or.

18         5.  Not be required to be equipped with fire sprinklers

19  in the guest rooms nor in other areas of the facility, unless

20  specifically required by code requirements for areas such as

21  places of assembly, when the public lodging establishment is

22  75 feet or less in height and has its guest rooms exiting

23  directly to an open-air walkway that has direct access to an

24  exterior means of egress.

25         (3)  The Division of State Fire Marshal may prescribe

26  uniform standards for firesafety equipment for public lodging

27  establishments for which the construction contracts were let

28  before October 1, 1983.  An entire building shall be equipped

29  as outlined not later than October 1, 1989, except that the

30  approved sprinkler system may be delayed by the Division of

31  State Fire Marshal until October 1, 1991, on a schedule for

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  1  complete compliance in accordance with rules to be adopted by

  2  the Division of State Fire Marshal, which schedule shall

  3  include a provision for a 1-year extension which may be

  4  granted not more than three times for any individual

  5  requesting an extension. The entire system must be installed

  6  and operational by October 1, 1994.  The Division of State

  7  Fire Marshal shall not grant an extension for the approved

  8  sprinkler system unless a written request for the extension

  9  and a construction work schedule is submitted.  The Division

10  of State Fire Marshal may grant an extension upon

11  demonstration that compliance with this section by the date

12  required would impose an extreme hardship and a

13  disproportionate financial impact.  Any establishment that has

14  been granted an extension by the Division of State Fire

15  Marshal shall post, in a conspicuous place on the premises, a

16  public notice stating that the establishment has not yet

17  installed the approved sprinkler system required by law.

18         (4)  The provisions for installation of single-station

19  smoke detectors required in subsection (1) and subparagraph

20  (2)(b)4. shall be waived by the Division of State Fire Marshal

21  for any establishment for which the construction contract was

22  let before October 1, 1983, and which is under three stories

23  in height, if each individual guest room is equipped with a

24  smoke detector approved by the Division of State Fire Marshal

25  and the schedule for compliance is not later than October 1,

26  1986.

27         (3)(5)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to

28  the contrary, this section applies only to those public

29  lodging establishments in a building wherein more than 50

30  percent of the units in the building are advertised or held

31  out to the public as available for transient occupancy.

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  1         (4)(6)(a)  Special considerations exception to the

  2  provisions of this section may shall be made for a public

  3  lodging establishment structure that is individually listed in

  4  the National Register of Historic Places pursuant to the

  5  National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended; or is

  6  a contributing property to a National Register-listed

  7  district; or is designated as a historic property, or as a

  8  contributing property to a historic district under the terms

  9  of a local preservation ordinance.

10         (b)  For such structures, provisions may shall be made

11  for a system of fire protection and lifesafety support that

12  would meet the intent of the NFPA standards and be acceptable

13  to, and approved by, a task force composed of the director of

14  the Division of Hotels and Restaurants, the director of the

15  Division of State Fire Marshal, and the State Historic

16  Preservation Officer. When recommending alternative systems,

17  the task force shall consider systems which would not disturb,

18  destroy, or alter the integrity of such historic structures.

19  The director of the Division of State Fire Marshal shall be

20  designated chairperson of the task force and shall record the

21  minutes of each task force meeting, which shall be called in a

22  timely manner to review requests for special provision

23  considerations under this subsection.

24         (c)  The task force may use the document known as the

25  "Historic Building Standard-Chapter 1000" in conjunction with

26  NFPA 914, "Recommended Practices for Fire Protection in

27  Rehabilitation and Adaptive Rescue for Historic Structures,"

28  as a guide for evaluating historic public lodging

29  establishments for alternative fire protection and lifesafety

30  support systems. shall, no later than November 1, 1996, report

31  to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of

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  1  Representatives any legislative recommendations for providing

  2  a standard system of fire protection and lifesafety support

  3  alternatives for historic public lodging establishments,

  4  including bed and breakfast inns, that would meet the intent

  5  of the NFPA standards. In making its report the task force

  6  shall consider which, if any, bed and breakfast inn operations

  7  may be exempted from the firesafety requirements of this

  8  section.

  9         (5)(7)  The Division of State Fire Marshal shall adopt,

10  in accordance with the provisions of chapter 120, any rules

11  necessary for the implementation and enforcement of this

12  section. The Division of State Fire Marshal shall enforce this

13  section in accordance with the provisions of chapter 633, and

14  any establishment licensed under this chapter in violation of

15  this section may be subject to administrative sanctions by the

16  division pursuant to s. 509.261.

17         (6)(8)  Specialized smoke detectors for the deaf and

18  hearing impaired shall be available upon request by guests in

19  public lodging establishments at a rate of at least one such

20  smoke detector per 50 dwelling units or portions thereof, not

21  to exceed five such smoke detectors per public lodging

22  facility.

23         (7)(9)  The National Fire Protection Association

24  publications referenced in this section are the ones most

25  recently adopted by rule of the Division of State Fire Marshal

26  of the Department of Insurance.

27         (8)  Effective January 1, 1999, the provisions of the

28  National Fire Protection Association's "Life Safety Code,"

29  NFPA 101, 1994 edition, Chapter 21, shall be the uniform

30  firesafety code applied pursuant to the provisions of s.

31  633.022 for home-stay inns of no more than three stories in

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  1  height which are limited to first and second story guest

  2  rooms.

  3         (9)  Those licensed public lodging establishments that

  4  had applied for the exception under paragraph (4)(a) by March

  5  1, 1998, must meet the requirements of this section within 5

  6  years after the effective date of this subsection.

  7         Section 2.  Subsection (1) of section 509.242, Florida

  8  Statutes, is amended to read:

  9         509.242  Public lodging establishments;

10  classifications.--

11         (1)  A public lodging establishment shall be classified

12  for licensing purposes only as a hotel, motel, resort

13  condominium, nontransient apartment, transient apartment,

14  roominghouse, bed and breakfast inn, home-stay inn, or resort

15  dwelling if the establishment satisfies the following

16  criteria:

17         (a)  Hotel.--A hotel is any public lodging

18  establishment containing sleeping room accommodations for 25

19  or more guests and providing the services generally provided

20  by a hotel and recognized as a hotel in the community in which

21  it is situated or by the industry.

22         (b)  Motel.--A motel is any public lodging

23  establishment which offers rental units with an exit to the

24  outside of each rental unit, daily or weekly rates, offstreet

25  parking for each unit, a central office on the property with

26  specified hours of operation, a bathroom or connecting

27  bathroom for each rental unit, and at least six rental units,

28  and which is recognized as a motel in the community in which

29  it is situated or by the industry.

30         (c)  Resort condominium.--A resort condominium is any

31  unit or group of units in a condominium, cooperative, or

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  1  timeshare plan which is rented more than three times in a

  2  calendar year for periods of less than 30 days or 1 calendar

  3  month, whichever is less, or which is advertised or held out

  4  to the public as a place regularly rented for periods of less

  5  than 30 days or 1 calendar month, whichever is less.

  6         (d)  Nontransient apartment.--A nontransient apartment

  7  is any apartment building in which 75 percent or more of the

  8  units are available for rent to nontransient tenants.

  9         (e)  Transient apartment.--A transient apartment is any

10  apartment building in which units are advertised or held out

11  to the public as available for transient occupancy.

12         (f)  Roominghouse.--A roominghouse is any public

13  lodging establishment that may not be classified as a hotel,

14  motel, resort condominium, nontransient apartment, bed and

15  breakfast inn, home-stay inn, or transient apartment under

16  this section.  A roominghouse includes, but is not limited to,

17  a boardinghouse.

18         (g)  Resort dwelling.--A resort dwelling is any

19  individually or collectively owned one-family, two-family,

20  three-family, or four-family dwelling house or dwelling unit

21  which is rented more than three times in a calendar year for

22  periods of less than 30 days or 1 calendar month, whichever is

23  less, or which is advertised or held out to the public as a

24  place regularly rented for periods of less than 30 days or 1

25  calendar month, whichever is less.

26         (h)  Bed and breakfast inn.--A bed and breakfast inn is

27  a family home structure, with sleeping room accommodations for

28  24 or fewer guests and no more than 12 15 sleeping rooms,

29  which has been modified to make these sleeping room

30  accommodations available for rent to guests in transient

31  occupancy serve as a transient public lodging establishment,

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  1  which provides the accommodation and meal services generally

  2  offered by a bed and breakfast inn, and which is recognized as

  3  a bed and breakfast inn in the community in which it is

  4  situated or by the hospitality industry.

  5         (i)  Home-stay inn.--A home-stay inn is a family home

  6  structure with sleeping accommodations for five or fewer

  7  guests which has been modified to make these sleeping room

  8  accommodations available for rent to guests, which provides

  9  the accommodations and meal services generally offered by a

10  home-stay inn, and which is recognized as a home-stay inn in

11  the community in which it is situated or by the hospitality

12  industry.  Guest rooms in a home-stay inn are limited to first

13  and second stories only.

14         Section 3.  Section 553.895, Florida Statutes, is

15  amended to read:

16         553.895  Firesafety.--

17         (1)  Any transient public lodging establishment, as

18  defined in chapter 509 and used primarily for transient

19  occupancy as defined in s. 83.43(10), or any timeshare unit of

20  a timeshare plan as defined in chapters 718 and 721, which is

21  of three stories or more and for which the construction

22  contract has been let after September 30, 1983, with interior

23  corridors which do not have direct access from the guest area

24  to exterior means of egress and on buildings over 75 feet in

25  height that have direct access from the guest area to exterior

26  means of egress and for which the construction contract has

27  been let after September 30, 1983, shall be equipped with an

28  automatic sprinkler system installed in compliance with the

29  provisions prescribed in the National Fire Protection

30  Association publication NFPA No. 13 (1985), "Standards for the

31  Installation of Sprinkler Systems."  Each guest room and each

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  1  timeshare unit shall be equipped with an approved listed

  2  single-station smoke detector meeting the minimum requirements

  3  of NFPA 74 (1984) "Standards for the Installation, Maintenance

  4  and Use of Household Fire Warning Equipment," powered from the

  5  building electrical service, notwithstanding the number of

  6  stories in the structure, if the contract for construction is

  7  let after September 30, 1983.  Single-station smoke detectors

  8  shall not be required when guest rooms or timeshare units

  9  contain smoke detectors connected to a central alarm system

10  which also alarms locally.

11         (2)  Except for single-family and two-family dwellings,

12  any building which is of three stories or more and for which

13  the construction contract is let after January 1, 1994,

14  regardless of occupancy classification and including any

15  building which is subject to s. 509.215, shall be equipped

16  with an automatic sprinkler system installed in compliance

17  with the provisions of chapter 633 and the rules and codes

18  adopted pursuant thereto.  A stand-alone parking garage

19  constructed with noncombustible materials, the design of which

20  is such that all levels of the garage are uniformly open to

21  the atmosphere on all sides with percentages of openings as

22  prescribed in the applicable building code, and which parking

23  garage is separated from other structures by at least 20 feet,

24  is exempt from the requirements of this subsection.

25         Section 4.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

26  law.

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  2                       LEGISLATIVE SUMMARY

  3
      For the purposes of part I of ch. 509, F.S., relating to
  4    public lodging establishments and public food service
      establishments, revises firesafety requirements for
  5    specified public lodging establishments.  Revises
      classifications for public lodging establishments and
  6    provides a classification for "home stay inn." Provides
      that such classifications are for licensing purposes
  7    only.

  8
      Removes obsolete firesafety requirements for public
  9    lodging establishments within the Florida Building Codes
      Act.
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