Senate Bill 1090
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 1999 SB 1090
By Senator Forman
32-1075-99 See HB
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to fire safety; amending s.
3 471.003, F.S.; exempting licensed fire
4 protection contractors from certain engineer
5 registration requirements; amending s. 553.79,
6 F.S.; clarifying required documents for fire
7 sprinkler systems for building permit purposes;
8 amending s. 633.021, F.S.; clarifying a
9 limitation on certain definitions; clarifying
10 authorization of certain persons to design fire
11 protection systems; providing an effective
12 date.
13
14 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15
16 Section 1. Paragraph (j) is added to subsection (2) of
17 section 471.003, Florida Statutes, 1998 Supplement, to read:
18 471.003 Qualifications for practice, exemptions.--
19 (2) The following persons are not required to register
20 under the provisions of ss. 471.001-471.037 as a registered
21 engineer:
22 (j) Any fire protection contractor licensed under
23 chapter 633 who prepares planning, design, or layout drawings
24 for a fire protection system that is within the limits of the
25 contractor licensure and is solely in connection with the
26 products of such contractor.
27 Section 2. Subsection (6) of section 553.79, Florida
28 Statutes, 1998 Supplement, is amended to read:
29 553.79 Permits; applications; issuance; inspections.--
30 (6) No permit may be issued for any building
31 construction, erection, alteration, repair, or addition unless
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Florida Senate - 1999 SB 1090
32-1075-99 See HB
1 the applicant for such permit provides to the enforcing agency
2 which issues the permit any of the following documents which
3 apply to the construction for which the permit is to be
4 issued:
5 (a) Electrical documents for any new building or
6 addition which requires an aggregate service capacity of 600
7 amperes (240 volts) or more on a residential electrical system
8 or 800 amperes (240 volts) or more on a commercial or
9 industrial electrical system and which costs more than
10 $50,000.
11 (b) Plumbing documents for any new building or
12 addition which requires a plumbing system with more than 250
13 fixture units or which costs more than $50,000.
14 (c) Documentation of fire sprinkler system design
15 criteria, such documentation to be prepared by a qualified
16 professional engineer or a licensed fire protection documents
17 for any new building or addition which includes a fire
18 sprinkler system which contains 50 or more sprinkler heads. A
19 Contractor I, Contractor II, or Contractor IV, as defined in
20 chapter 633 certified under s. 633.521, may design a fire
21 sprinkler system of 49 or fewer heads and may design the
22 alteration of an existing fire sprinkler system if the
23 alteration consists of the relocation, addition, or deletion
24 of not more than 49 heads, notwithstanding the size of the
25 existing fire sprinkler system.
26 (d) Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning
27 documents for any new building or addition which requires more
28 than a 15-ton-per-system capacity which is designed to
29 accommodate 100 or more persons or for which the system costs
30 more than $50,000. This paragraph does not include any
31 document for the replacement or repair of an existing system
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Florida Senate - 1999 SB 1090
32-1075-99 See HB
1 in which the work does not require altering a structural part
2 of the building or for work on a residential one-family,
3 two-family, three-family, or four-family structure.
4 (e) Any specialized mechanical, electrical, or
5 plumbing document for any new building or addition which
6 includes a medical gas, oxygen, steam, vacuum, toxic air
7 filtration, halon, or fire detection and alarm system which
8 costs more than $5,000.
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10 Documents requiring an engineer seal by this part No such
11 document shall not be valid unless a professional engineer who
12 possesses a valid certificate of registration has signed,
13 dated, and stamped such document as provided in s. 471.025.
14 Section 3. Subsection (5) of section 633.021, Florida
15 Statutes, 1998 Supplement, is amended to read:
16 633.021 Definitions.--As used in this chapter:
17 (5)
18 (a) "Contractor I" means a contractor whose business
19 includes the execution of contracts requiring the ability to
20 lay out, fabricate, install, inspect, alter, repair, and
21 service all types of fire protection systems, excluding
22 preengineered systems.
23 (b) "Contractor II" means a contractor whose business
24 is limited to the execution of contracts requiring the ability
25 to lay out, fabricate, install, inspect, alter, repair, and
26 service water sprinkler systems, water spray systems,
27 foam-water sprinkler systems, foam-water spray systems,
28 standpipes, combination standpipes and sprinkler risers, all
29 piping that is an integral part of the system beginning at the
30 point where the piping is used exclusively for fire
31 protection, sprinkler tank heaters, air lines, thermal systems
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Florida Senate - 1999 SB 1090
32-1075-99 See HB
1 used in connection with sprinklers, and tanks and pumps
2 connected thereto, excluding preengineered systems.
3 (c) "Contractor III" means a contractor whose business
4 is limited to the execution of contracts requiring the ability
5 to lay out, fabricate, install, inspect, alter, repair, and
6 service CO2 systems, foam extinguishing systems, dry
7 chemical systems, and Halon and other chemical systems,
8 excluding preengineered systems.
9 (d) "Contractor IV" means a contractor whose business
10 is limited to the execution of contracts requiring the ability
11 to lay out, fabricate, install, inspect, alter, repair, and
12 service automatic fire sprinkler systems for detached
13 one-family dwellings, detached two-family dwellings, and
14 mobile homes, excluding preengineered systems and excluding
15 single-family homes in cluster units, such as apartments,
16 condominiums, and assisted living facilities or any building
17 that is connected to other dwellings.
18 (e) "Contractor V" means a contractor whose business
19 is limited to the execution of contracts requiring the ability
20 to lay out, fabricate, install, inspect, alter, repair, and
21 service the underground piping for a fire protection system
22 using water as the extinguishing agent beginning at the point
23 at which the piping is used exclusively for fire protection
24 and ending no more than 1 foot above the finished floor.
25
26 The definitions in this subsection do must not be construed to
27 include fire protection engineers or architects and do not
28 limit or prohibit a licensed fire protection engineer or
29 architect from designing any type of fire protection system.
30 However, Persons certified as a Contractor I, Contractor II,
31 or Contractor IV under this chapter may design a fire
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Florida Senate - 1999 SB 1090
32-1075-99 See HB
1 protection system systems of 49 or fewer heads, and may design
2 the alteration of an existing fire sprinkler system if the
3 alteration consists of the relocation, addition, or deletion
4 of not more than 49 heads, notwithstanding the size of such
5 the existing fire sprinkler system. Such plans may not be
6 required by any local permitting authority to be sealed by a
7 registered professional engineer.
8 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 1999.
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11 HOUSE SUMMARY
12
Exempts licensed fire protection contractors from
13 engineer registration requirements. Clarifies required
documents for fire sprinkler systems for building permit
14 purposes and clarifies an authorization for certified
fire protection contractors to design fire protection
15 systems.
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