1

A bill to be entitled

2

An act relating to firesafety; providing a short title;

3

creating s. 633.027, F.S., requiring owners of certain

4

structures with light-frame truss-type construction to

5

mark such structures with signs or symbols; requiring the

6

State Fire Marshal to adopt rules governing the size,

7

color and placement of such signs and symbols; providing

8

for enforcement; providing penalties; amending s.

9

663.0215, F.S., requiring the State Fire Marshal to

10

conduct a study on the use of voice over Internet protocol

11

telephone service for monitoring fire alarm systems;

12

requiring rulemaking under certain conditions; amending s.

13

633.022, F.S.; revising provisions relating to uniform

14

firesafety standards to include application to tunnels;

15

revising requirements pertaining to supervised automatic

16

sprinkler systems within nursing homes; requiring a

17

nursing home licensee to submit complete sprinkler

18

construction documents to the Agency for Health Care

19

Administration by a specified date; requiring such

20

licensee to gain final approval from the agency to start

21

construction by a specified date; authorizing the agency

22

to extend the deadline under certain circumstances;

23

amending s. 633.0245, F.S.; changing the application

24

deadline for participation in the State Fire Marshal

25

Nursing Home Loan Guarantee Program; providing an

26

effective date.

27

28

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

29

30

     Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Aldridge/Benge

31

Firefighter Safety Act."

32

     Section 2.  Section 633.027, Florida Statutes, is created to

33

read:

34

     633.027 Structures built with light-frame truss-type

35

construction; notice requirements; enforcement.--

36

     (1) The owner of any commercial or industrial structure, or

37

any multiunit residential structure of three units or more, that

38

uses light-frame truss-type construction shall mark the structure

39

with a sign or symbol approved by the State Fire Marshal in a

40

manner sufficient to warn persons conducting fire control and

41

other emergency operations of the existence of light-frame truss-

42

type construction in the structure.

43

     (2) The State Fire Marshal shall adopt rules pursuant to

44

ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement the provisions of this

45

section, including, but not limited to:

46

     (a) The dimensions and color of such sign or symbol.

47

     (b) The time within which commercial, industrial, and

48

multiunit residential structures that use light-frame truss-type

49

construction shall be marked as required by this section.

50

     (c) The location on each commercial, industrial, and

51

multiunit residential structure that uses light-frame truss-type

52

construction where such sign or symbol must be posted.

53

     (3) The State Fire Marshal, and local fire officials in

54

accordance with s. 633.121, shall enforce the provisions of this

55

section. Any owner who fails to comply with the requirements of

56

this section is subject to penalties as provided in s. 633.161.

57

     Section 3.  Subsection (12) is added to section 633.0215,

58

Florida Statutes, to read:

59

     633.0215  Florida Fire Prevention Code.--

60

     (12) Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, the

61

State Fire Marshal must study the use of managed, facilities-

62

based voice over Internet protocol telephone service for

63

monitoring fire alarm signals. If the study determines that voice

64

over Internet protocol telephone service technology provides a

65

level of protection equivalent to that required by NFPA 72:

66

National Fire Alarm Code, the State Fire Marshal must initiate

67

rulemaking pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 by December 1,

68

2008, to allow the use of this technology as an additional method

69

of monitoring fire alarm systems.

70

     Section 4.  Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) and paragraph

71

(a) of subsection (4) of section 633.022, Florida Statutes, are

72

amended to read:

73

     633.022  Uniform firesafety standards.--The Legislature

74

hereby determines that to protect the public health, safety, and

75

welfare it is necessary to provide for firesafety standards

76

governing the construction and utilization of certain buildings

77

and structures. The Legislature further determines that certain

78

buildings or structures, due to their specialized use or to the

79

special characteristics of the person utilizing or occupying

80

these buildings or structures, should be subject to firesafety

81

standards reflecting these special needs as may be appropriate.

82

     (1)  The department shall establish uniform firesafety

83

standards that apply to:

84

     (b)  All new, existing, and proposed hospitals, nursing

85

homes, assisted living facilities, adult family-care homes,

86

correctional facilities, public schools, transient public lodging

87

establishments, public food service establishments, elevators,

88

migrant labor camps, mobile home parks, lodging parks,

89

recreational vehicle parks, recreational camps, residential and

90

nonresidential child care facilities, facilities for the

91

developmentally disabled, motion picture and television special

92

effects productions, tunnels, and self-service gasoline stations,

93

of which standards the State Fire Marshal is the final

94

administrative interpreting authority.

95

96

If In the event there is a dispute between the owners of the

97

buildings specified in paragraph (b) and a local authority

98

requiring a more stringent uniform firesafety standard for

99

sprinkler systems, the State Fire Marshal shall be the final

100

administrative interpreting authority and the State Fire

101

Marshal's interpretation regarding the uniform firesafety

102

standards shall be considered final agency action.

103

     (4)(a)  Notwithstanding any provision of law to the

104

contrary, each nursing home licensed under part II of chapter 400

105

shall be protected throughout by an approved, supervised

106

automatic sprinkler system in accordance with s. 9 of National

107

Fire Protection Association, Inc., Life Safety Code, in

108

accordance with the following schedule:

109

     1. Each hazardous area of each nursing home shall be

110

protected by an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system

111

by no later than December 31, 2008.

112

     2. Each entire nursing home shall be protected by an

113

approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system by no later than

114

December 31, 2010. A nursing home licensee shall submit complete

115

sprinkler construction documents to the Agency for Health Care

116

Administration for review by December 31, 2008, and the licensee

117

must gain final approval to start construction from the agency by

118

June 30, 2009. The agency shall grant a 6-month extension to a

119

nursing home licensee if the completion and submission of the

120

sprinkler construction documents are contingent upon the approval

121

of the application for the loan guarantee program authorized

122

under s. 633.0245. In such case, the agency may extend the

123

deadline for final approval to begin construction beyond June 30,

124

2009, but the deadline may not be extended beyond December 31,

125

2009.

126

     Section 5.  Subsection (9) of section 633.0245, Florida

127

Statutes, is amended to read:

128

     633.0245  State Fire Marshal Nursing Home Fire Protection

129

Loan Guarantee Program.--

130

     (9) An No application for participation in the State Fire

131

Marshal Nursing Home Fire Protection Loan Guarantee Program may

132

not be accepted by the State Fire Marshal after July 1, 2009 June

133

30, 2006.

134

     Section 6.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2008.