House Bill 0993

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                 HB 993

        By Representatives Brown, Futch and Trovillion






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to fire protection systems;

  3         amending s. 553.79, F.S.; revising provisions

  4         relating to fire sprinkler documents required

  5         for issuance of certain building construction

  6         permits; raising the threshold for which such

  7         documents are required; providing permitting

  8         requirements for installation of fire sprinkler

  9         systems; amending s. 633.021, F.S.; revising

10         definitions relating to fire protection system

11         contractors and sprinkler system

12         point-of-service, to conform; providing

13         legislative findings with respect to fire

14         protection system design and installation;

15         providing effective dates.

16

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

18

19         Section 1.  Subsection (6) of section 553.79, Florida

20  Statutes, is amended to read:

21         553.79  Permits; applications; issuance; inspections.--

22         (6)  No permit may be issued for any building

23  construction, erection, alteration, repair, or addition unless

24  the applicant for such permit provides to the enforcing agency

25  which issues the permit any of the following documents which

26  apply to the construction for which the permit is to be

27  issued:

28         (a)  Electrical documents for any new building or

29  addition which requires an aggregate service capacity of 600

30  amperes (240 volts) or more on a residential electrical system

31  or 800 amperes (240 volts) or more on a commercial or

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  1  industrial electrical system and which costs more than

  2  $50,000.

  3         (b)  Plumbing documents for any new building or

  4  addition which requires a plumbing system with more than 250

  5  fixture units or which costs more than $50,000.

  6         (c)1.  Fire sprinkler design criteria documents for any

  7  new building, for a new fire sprinkler system in an existing

  8  building, or for any addition to an existing fire sprinkler

  9  system when the which includes a fire sprinkler system or

10  addition to be installed which contains 100 50 or more

11  sprinkler heads, which must be prepared by or under the

12  supervision of, and bear the seal of, a professional engineer

13  registered in this state who is qualified to perform such

14  work.

15         a.  The fire sprinkler design criteria documents

16  required by this subparagraph shall include, where applicable,

17  the following:

18         (I)  National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) hazard

19  classifications.

20         (II)  Prescriptive National Fire Protection Association

21  (NFPA) standards.

22         (III)  Water supply characteristics and requirements.

23         (IV)  Special fire department requirements, if any.

24         (V)  Special water purveyor requirements, if any.

25         (VI)  Special insurance requirements, if any.

26         (VII)  Interface direction with other building

27  components.

28

29  However, the engineer of record may determine that the

30  National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards adopted

31  by the State Fire Marshal provide sufficient design parameters

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  1  for the project's fire sprinkler system without further

  2  engineer involvement and, therefore, may specify such

  3  prescriptive standards as the design criteria for that

  4  project. In such event, the fire sprinkler design criteria

  5  documents are not required to be sealed by the engineer of

  6  record as otherwise required by this subparagraph.

  7         b.  Upon review and approval of the fire sprinkler

  8  design criteria documents by the permitting authority, the

  9  permit for construction of the building may be issued.

10  Thereafter, a permit for the installation of the fire

11  sprinkler system shall be requested by and issued to a fire

12  protection system contractor certified under s. 633.521, upon

13  review and approval by the permitting authority of the

14  technical installation drawings and installation hydraulic

15  calculations. Such technical installation drawings and

16  installation hydraulic calculations are not required to be

17  sealed by a registered professional engineer.

18         2.  A Contractor I, Contractor II, or Contractor IV,

19  certified under s. 633.521, may design a fire sprinkler system

20  of 99 49 or fewer heads and may design the alteration of an

21  existing fire sprinkler system if the alteration consists of

22  the relocation or, addition, or deletion of not more than 99

23  49 heads, notwithstanding the size of the existing fire

24  sprinkler system. Such plans may not be required by any local

25  permitting authority to be sealed by a registered professional

26  engineer.

27         (d)  Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning

28  documents for any new building or addition which requires more

29  than a 15-ton-per-system capacity which is designed to

30  accommodate 100 or more persons or for which the system costs

31  more than $50,000.  This paragraph does not include any

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  1  document for the replacement or repair of an existing system

  2  in which the work does not require altering a structural part

  3  of the building or for work on a residential one-family,

  4  two-family, three-family, or four-family structure.

  5         (e)  Any specialized mechanical, electrical, or

  6  plumbing document for any new building or addition which

  7  includes a medical gas, oxygen, steam, vacuum, toxic air

  8  filtration, halon, or fire detection and alarm system which

  9  costs more than $5,000.

10

11  Documents requiring an engineer seal by this part No such

12  document shall not be valid unless a professional engineer who

13  possesses a valid certificate of registration has signed,

14  dated, and stamped such document as provided in s. 471.025.

15         Section 2.  Effective January 1, 2001, subsection (6)

16  of section 553.79, Florida Statutes, as amended by chapter

17  98-287, Laws of Florida, is amended to read:

18         553.79  Permits; applications; issuance; inspections.--

19         (6)  No permit may be issued for any building

20  construction, erection, alteration, modification, repair, or

21  addition unless the applicant for such permit provides to the

22  enforcing agency which issues the permit any of the following

23  documents which apply to the construction for which the permit

24  is to be issued and which shall be prepared by or under the

25  direction of an engineer registered under chapter 471:

26         (a)  Electrical documents for any new building or

27  addition which requires an aggregate service capacity of 600

28  amperes (240 volts) or more on a residential electrical system

29  or 800 amperes (240 volts) or more on a commercial or

30  industrial electrical system and which costs more than

31  $50,000.

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  1         (b)  Plumbing documents for any new building or

  2  addition which requires a plumbing system with more than 250

  3  fixture units or which costs more than $50,000.

  4         (c)1.  Fire sprinkler design criteria documents for any

  5  new building, for a new fire sprinkler system in an existing

  6  building, or for any addition to an existing fire sprinkler

  7  system when the which includes a fire sprinkler system or

  8  addition to be installed which contains 100 50 or more

  9  sprinkler heads, which must be prepared by or under the

10  supervision of, and bear the seal of, a professional engineer

11  registered in this state who is qualified to perform such

12  work.

13         a.  The fire sprinkler design criteria documents

14  required by this subparagraph shall include, where applicable,

15  the following:

16         (I)  National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) hazard

17  classifications.

18         (II)  Prescriptive National Fire Protection Association

19  (NFPA) standards.

20         (III)  Water supply characteristics and requirements.

21         (IV)  Special fire department requirements, if any.

22         (V)  Special water purveyor requirements, if any.

23         (VI)  Special insurance requirements, if any.

24         (VII)  Interface direction with other building

25  components.

26

27  However, the engineer of record may determine that the

28  National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards adopted

29  by the State Fire Marshal provide sufficient design parameters

30  for the project's fire sprinkler system without further

31  engineer involvement and, therefore, may specify such

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  1  prescriptive standards as the design criteria for that

  2  project. In such event, the fire sprinkler design criteria

  3  documents are not required to be sealed by the engineer of

  4  record as otherwise required by this subparagraph.

  5         b.  Upon review and approval of the fire sprinkler

  6  design criteria documents by the permitting authority, the

  7  permit for construction of the building may be issued.

  8  Thereafter, a permit for the installation of the fire

  9  sprinkler system shall be requested by and issued to a fire

10  protection system contractor certified under s. 633.521, upon

11  review and approval by the permitting authority of the

12  technical installation drawings and installation hydraulic

13  calculations. Such technical installation drawings and

14  installation hydraulic calculations are not required to be

15  sealed by a registered professional engineer.

16         2.  A Contractor I, Contractor II, or Contractor IV,

17  certified under s. 633.521, may design a fire sprinkler system

18  of 99 49 or fewer heads and may design the alteration of an

19  existing fire sprinkler system if the alteration consists of

20  the relocation or, addition, or deletion of not more than 99

21  49 heads, notwithstanding the size of the existing fire

22  sprinkler system. Such plans may not be required by any local

23  permitting authority to be sealed by a registered professional

24  engineer.

25         (d)  Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning

26  documents for any new building or addition which requires more

27  than a 15-ton-per-system capacity which is designed to

28  accommodate 100 or more persons or for which the system costs

29  more than $50,000.  This paragraph does not include any

30  document for the replacement or repair of an existing system

31  in which the work does not require altering a structural part

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  1  of the building or for work on a residential one-family,

  2  two-family, three-family, or four-family structure.

  3         (e)  Any specialized mechanical, electrical, or

  4  plumbing document for any new building or addition which

  5  includes a medical gas, oxygen, steam, vacuum, toxic air

  6  filtration, halon, or fire detection and alarm system which

  7  costs more than $5,000.

  8

  9  Documents requiring an engineer seal by this part shall not be

10  valid unless a professional engineer who possesses a valid

11  certificate of registration has signed, dated, and stamped

12  such document as provided in s. 471.025.

13         Section 3.  Subsections (5) and (17) of section

14  633.021, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:

15         633.021  Definitions.--As used in this chapter:

16         (5)(a)  "Contractor I" means a contractor whose

17  business includes the execution of contracts requiring the

18  ability to lay out, fabricate, install, inspect, alter,

19  repair, and service all types of fire protection systems,

20  excluding preengineered systems.

21         (b)  "Contractor II" means a contractor whose business

22  is limited to the execution of contracts requiring the ability

23  to lay out, fabricate, install, inspect, alter, repair, and

24  service water sprinkler systems, water spray systems,

25  foam-water sprinkler systems, foam-water spray systems,

26  standpipes, combination standpipes and sprinkler risers, all

27  piping that is an integral part of the system beginning at the

28  point where the piping is used exclusively for fire

29  protection, sprinkler tank heaters, air lines, thermal systems

30  used in connection with sprinklers, and tanks and pumps

31  connected thereto, excluding preengineered systems.

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  1         (c)  "Contractor III" means a contractor whose business

  2  is limited to the execution of contracts requiring the ability

  3  to lay out, fabricate, install, inspect, alter, repair, and

  4  service CO2 systems, foam extinguishing systems, dry

  5  chemical systems, and Halon and other chemical systems,

  6  excluding preengineered systems.

  7         (d)  "Contractor IV" means a contractor whose business

  8  is limited to the execution of contracts requiring the ability

  9  to lay out, fabricate, install, inspect, alter, repair, and

10  service automatic fire sprinkler systems for detached

11  one-family dwellings, detached two-family dwellings, and

12  mobile homes, excluding preengineered systems and excluding

13  single-family homes in cluster units, such as apartments,

14  condominiums, and assisted living facilities or any building

15  that is connected to other dwellings.

16         (e)  "Contractor V" means a contractor whose business

17  is limited to the execution of contracts requiring the ability

18  to lay out, fabricate, install, inspect, alter, repair, and

19  service the underground piping for a fire protection system

20  using water as the extinguishing agent beginning at the point

21  at which the piping is used exclusively for fire protection

22  and ending no more than 1 foot above the finished floor.

23

24  The definitions in this subsection must not be construed to

25  include fire protection engineers or architects and do not

26  limit or prohibit a licensed fire protection engineer or

27  architect from designing any type of fire protection system.

28  However, persons certified as a Contractor I, Contractor II,

29  or Contractor IV under this chapter may design fire protection

30  systems of 99 49 or fewer heads, and may design the alteration

31  of an existing fire sprinkler system if the alteration

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  1  consists of the relocation or, addition, or deletion of not

  2  more than 99 49 heads, notwithstanding the size of the

  3  existing fire sprinkler system. Such plans may not be required

  4  by any local permitting authority to be sealed by a registered

  5  professional engineer. Furthermore, the Legislature recognizes

  6  and finds that for the safety and welfare of the public the

  7  State Fire Marshal has been authorized under this chapter to

  8  establish fire protection system design criteria, that the

  9  State Fire Marshal has adopted and may continue to adopt

10  nationally recognized fire protection system design criteria

11  pursuant to the authority granted under this chapter, that the

12  repetitive and routine process of preparing technical drawings

13  and installation hydraulic calculations for the layout of a

14  fire protection system based on the adopted national fire

15  protection design standards and engineer design criteria does

16  not require the use of engineering principles and knowledge,

17  and that preparing the technical drawings and installation

18  hydraulic calculations for the installation or alteration of a

19  fire protection system by a fire protection system contractor

20  as defined and certified under this chapter, when such

21  contractor follows the engineer design criteria or the fire

22  sprinkler design criteria adopted by the State Fire Marshal or

23  both, does not constitute the practice of engineering.

24         (17)  "Point-of-service" means the point at which the

25  underground piping for a sprinkler system using water as the

26  extinguishing agent becomes used exclusively for the sprinkler

27  system.  The point-of-service is designated by the engineer

28  who sealed the plans for a system of 100 50 or more heads or

29  by the contractor who designed the plans for a system of 99 49

30  or fewer heads.

31

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  1         Section 4.  Except as otherwise provided herein, this

  2  act shall take effect July 1, 2000.

  3

  4            *****************************************

  5                          HOUSE SUMMARY

  6
      Revises provisions relating to fire sprinkler documents
  7    required for issuance of certain building construction
      permits. Raises the threshold for which such documents
  8    are required. Provides permitting requirements for
      installation of fire sprinkler systems. Revises
  9    definitions relating to fire protection system
      contractors and sprinkler system point-of-service, to
10    conform. Provides legislative findings with respect to
      fire protection system design and installation. See bill
11    for details.

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