Florida Senate - 2013                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 264
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Barcode 894358                          
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  02/06/2013           .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————




       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
       The Committee on Community Affairs (Latvala) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Subsections (9), (10), and (11) of section
    6  633.025, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
    7         633.025 Minimum firesafety standards.—
    8         (9) Effective January 1, 2014, any battery-operated smoke
    9  alarm that is newly installed or replaces an existing smoke
   10  alarm must be powered by a nonreplaceable, nonremovable battery
   11  capable of powering the smoke alarm for at least 10 years. This
   12  subsection does not apply to an electrically operated smoke
   13  alarm, a fire alarm system with a smoke detector, a fire alarm
   14  device that connects to a panel, or any similar device that uses
   15  a low-power radio frequency wireless communication signal.
   16         (10)(9) The provisions of the Life Safety Code do shall not
   17  apply to newly constructed one-family and two-family dwellings.
   18  However, fire sprinkler protection may be permitted by local
   19  government in lieu of other fire protection-related development
   20  requirements for such structures. While local governments may
   21  adopt fire sprinkler requirements for one- and two-family
   22  dwellings under this subsection, it is the intent of the
   23  Legislature that the economic consequences of the fire sprinkler
   24  mandate on home owners be studied before the enactment of such a
   25  requirement. After the effective date of this act, any local
   26  government that desires to adopt a fire sprinkler requirement on
   27  one- or two-family dwellings must prepare an economic cost and
   28  benefit report that analyzes the application of fire sprinklers
   29  to one- or two-family dwellings or any proposed residential
   30  subdivision. The report must consider the tradeoffs and specific
   31  cost savings and benefits of fire sprinklers for future owners
   32  of property. The report must include an assessment of the cost
   33  savings from any reduced or eliminated impact fees if
   34  applicable, the reduction in special fire district tax,
   35  insurance fees, and other taxes or fees imposed, and the waiver
   36  of certain infrastructure requirements including the reduction
   37  of roadway widths, the reduction of water line sizes, increased
   38  fire hydrant spacing, increased dead-end roadway length and a
   39  reduction in cul-de-sac sizes relative to the costs from fire
   40  sprinkling. A failure to prepare an economic report shall result
   41  in the invalidation of the fire sprinkler requirement to any
   42  one- or two-family dwelling or any proposed subdivision. In
   43  addition, a local jurisdiction or utility may not charge any
   44  additional fee, above what is charged to a non-fire sprinklered
   45  dwelling, on the basis that a one- or two-family dwelling unit
   46  is protected by a fire sprinkler system.
   47         (11)(10) Before imposing a fire sprinkler requirement on
   48  any one- or two-family dwelling, a local government must provide
   49  the owner of any one- or two-family dwelling a letter
   50  documenting specific infrastructure or other tax or fee
   51  allowances and waivers that are listed in but not limited to
   52  those described in subsection (10) (9) for the dwelling. The
   53  documentation must show that the cost savings reasonably
   54  approximate the cost of the purchase and installation of a fire
   55  protection system.
   56         (12)(11) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (10)
   57  (9), a property owner is shall not be required to install fire
   58  sprinklers in any residential property based upon the use of
   59  such property as a rental property or any change in or
   60  reclassification of the property’s primary use to a rental
   61  property.
   62         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2013.
   63  
   64  
   65  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   66         And the title is amended as follows:
   67         Delete everything before the enacting clause
   68  and insert:
   69                        A bill to be entitled                      
   70         An act relating to firesafety devices; amending s. 633.025,
   71  F.S.; requiring certain battery-operated smoke alarms to meet
   72  specified standards; providing for applicability; conforming
   73  cross-references; providing an effective date.
   74