Florida Senate - 2023 CS for SB 1614
By the Committee on Banking and Insurance; and Senator Rodriguez
597-03562-23 20231614c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to public safety emergency
3 communications systems; amending s. 553.79, F.S.;
4 requiring a licensed contractor to submit a certain
5 design if an interior radio coverage and signal
6 strength assessment of a new building determines a
7 two-way radio communications enhancement system
8 installation is required; specifying restrictions on a
9 local jurisdiction’s withholding issuance of a
10 temporary certificate of occupancy for the building;
11 requiring the local jurisdiction to require
12 installation of such a system within a certain
13 timeframe; amending s. 633.202, F.S.; requiring new
14 and existing buildings to meet certain minimum radio
15 signal strength requirements, except under certain
16 circumstances; specifying the authority of local
17 authorities having jurisdiction relating to two-way
18 radio communications enhancement systems; specifying
19 requirements for, and restrictions on, such
20 authorities; providing requirements for obtaining and
21 maintaining the consent of frequency license holders;
22 exempting certain occupancies and buildings from
23 certain signal strength and assessment requirements;
24 providing applicability and construction; requiring
25 the State Fire Marshal to incorporate provisions in
26 the Florida Fire Prevention Code; authorizing the
27 State Fire Marshal to adopt rules; amending s. 843.16,
28 F.S.; exempting certain installations of two-way radio
29 communications enhancement systems from prohibitions
30 against the installation or transportation of certain
31 radio equipment; amending s. 440.103, F.S.; conforming
32 a cross-reference; providing an effective date.
33
34 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
35
36 Section 1. Present subsections (23), (24), and (25) of
37 section 553.79, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as
38 subsections (24), (25), and (26), respectively, and a new
39 subsection (23) is added to that section, to read:
40 553.79 Permits; applications; issuance; inspections.—
41 (23) If an assessment of a new building’s interior radio
42 coverage and signal strength under the Florida Fire Prevention
43 Code determines that installation of a two-way radio
44 communications enhancement system is required, a contractor
45 having the appropriate license issued by the department must
46 submit a design for a two-way radio communications enhancement
47 system to correct noncompliant radio coverage. The local
48 jurisdiction may not withhold issuance of a temporary
49 certificate of occupancy for the building based solely on the
50 need for a two-way radio communications enhancement system. Upon
51 approval of the design by the local authority having
52 jurisdiction, the jurisdiction must require the installation of
53 the two-way radio communications enhancement system within 180
54 days after the issuance of a temporary certificate of occupancy.
55 A temporary certificate of occupancy extension may not be
56 unnecessarily withheld.
57 Section 2. Subsection (18) of section 633.202, Florida
58 Statutes, is amended to read:
59 633.202 Florida Fire Prevention Code.—
60 (18)(a) The authority having jurisdiction shall determine
61 the minimum radio signal strength for fire department
62 communications in all new and existing buildings. Two-way radio
63 communication enhancement systems or equivalent systems may be
64 used to comply with the minimum radio signal strength
65 requirements. However, two-way radio communication enhancement
66 systems or equivalent systems are not required in apartment
67 buildings 75 feet or less in height that are constructed using
68 wood framing, provided that the building has less than 150
69 dwelling units and that all dwelling units discharge to the
70 exterior or to a corridor that leads directly to an exit as
71 defined by the Florida Building Code. Evidence of wood frame
72 construction shall be shown by the owner providing building
73 permit documentation which identifies the construction type as
74 wood frame. Existing high-rise buildings as defined by the
75 Florida Building Code are not required to comply with minimum
76 radio strength for fire department communications and two-way
77 radio communication enhancement systems as required by the
78 Florida Fire Prevention Code until January 1, 2025. However, by
79 January 1, 2024, an existing high-rise building that is not in
80 compliance with the requirements for minimum radio strength for
81 fire department communications must apply for an appropriate
82 permit for the required installation with the local government
83 agency having jurisdiction and must demonstrate that the
84 building will become compliant by January 1, 2025. Existing
85 high-rise apartment buildings are not required to comply until
86 January 1, 2025. However, existing high-rise apartment buildings
87 are required to apply for the appropriate permit for the
88 required communications installation by January 1, 2024.
89 (b) Except as modified in this subsection, all new and
90 existing buildings must meet the minimum radio signal strength
91 requirements for public safety agency communications as provided
92 in the Florida Fire Prevention Code.
93 (c) The local authority having jurisdiction as defined in
94 the Florida Fire Prevention Code may:
95 1. Require the installation of a two-way radio
96 communications enhancement system in a new or existing building
97 if the interior of the building does not meet the minimum radio
98 signal strength as required in the Florida Fire Prevention Code.
99 2. Require assessment of a new or existing building’s
100 interior radio coverage and signal strength, for purposes of
101 determining the need for a two-way radio communications
102 enhancement system within the building, not more frequently than
103 once every 3 years for existing high-rise buildings and existing
104 buildings over 12,000 total gross square feet and once every 5
105 years for all other existing buildings, unless such building
106 undergoes Level III building alteration or rehabilitation as
107 defined in the Florida Building Code or reconstruction as
108 determined by the Florida Fire Prevention Code or if a public
109 safety agency reports to the local authority having jurisdiction
110 that the agency’s communications devices failed to function
111 correctly inside a building due to poor signal coverage or upon
112 determination of an imminent life safety threat to responders.
113 (d) Any modification to an existing system or any new
114 installation must have the express consent of the frequency
115 license holder of the frequencies for which the device or system
116 is intended to amplify. The consent must be maintained in a
117 recordable format that can be presented to a Federal
118 Communications Commission representative or other relevant
119 agency investigating radio interference.
120 (e) Where public safety agency communications signal
121 strength or delivered audio quality, as defined in the Florida
122 Fire Prevention Code, is determined by the authority having
123 jurisdiction to be inadequate at the exterior of the building, a
124 two-way radio communications enhancement system or minimum radio
125 strength assessment shall not be required.
126 (f) If a jurisdiction modifies its public safety emergency
127 communications system such that modifications to existing two
128 way radio communications enhancement system installations are
129 required, the local authority having jurisdiction must give
130 owners of the two-way radio communications enhancement systems
131 at least 180 days’ notice before requiring any modification.
132 (g) Notwithstanding paragraph (f), a local authority having
133 jurisdiction which requires an existing building to retrofit its
134 two-way radio communications enhancement system after the
135 effective dates in paragraph (a) must give the building owner at
136 least 1 year to complete the retrofit. The 1-year period begins
137 when the local authority having jurisdiction cites the building
138 owner with a notice of code violation in accordance with chapter
139 162.
140 (h) The following occupancies or buildings are not required
141 to meet minimum radio signal strength requirements or have a
142 radio signal strength assessment for public safety agency
143 communications:
144 1. One- and two-family dwellings and townhouses.
145 2. Buildings less than 12,000 square feet with no
146 underground areas.
147 3. Apartments and transient public lodging establishments
148 that are less than three stories and that have direct access
149 from the apartment or guest area to an exterior means of egress.
150 4. Wood frame apartment buildings that are not required to
151 install two-way radio communication enhancement systems or
152 equivalent systems pursuant to paragraph (a).
153 (i) The provisions of s. 633.208 and this section which
154 authorize local adoption of more stringent requirements than
155 those specified in the Florida Fire Prevention Code and minimum
156 firesafety codes do not apply to the requirements of this
157 subsection. The local authority having jurisdiction may not
158 enforce requirements that are more stringent than those
159 specified in the Florida Fire Prevention Code and the provisions
160 of this subsection with respect to the requirement for, design
161 of, or installation of a two-way radio communications
162 enhancement system.
163 (j) The State Fire Marshal shall incorporate this
164 subsection in the Florida Fire Prevention Code and may adopt
165 rules to implement, interpret, and enforce this subsection.
166 Section 3. Paragraph (f) is added to subsection (3) of
167 section 843.16, Florida Statutes, to read:
168 843.16 Unlawful to install or transport radio equipment
169 using assigned frequency of state or law enforcement officers;
170 definitions; exceptions; penalties.—
171 (3) This section does not apply to the following:
172 (f) The installation of a two-way radio communications
173 enhancement system to comply with the requirements of s.
174 633.202(18).
175 Section 4. Section 440.103, Florida Statutes, is amended to
176 read:
177 440.103 Building permits; identification of minimum premium
178 policy.—Every employer shall, as a condition to applying for and
179 receiving a building permit, show proof and certify to the
180 permit issuer that it has secured compensation for its employees
181 under this chapter as provided in ss. 440.10 and 440.38. Such
182 proof of compensation must be evidenced by a certificate of
183 coverage issued by the carrier, a valid exemption certificate
184 approved by the department, or a copy of the employer’s
185 authority to self-insure and shall be presented, electronically
186 or physically, each time the employer applies for a building
187 permit. As provided in s. 553.79(24) s. 553.79(23), for the
188 purpose of inspection and record retention, site plans or
189 building permits may be maintained at the worksite in the
190 original form or in the form of an electronic copy. These plans
191 and permits must be open to inspection by the building official
192 or a duly authorized representative, as required by the Florida
193 Building Code. As provided in s. 627.413(5), each certificate of
194 coverage must show, on its face, whether or not coverage is
195 secured under the minimum premium provisions of rules adopted by
196 rating organizations licensed pursuant to s. 627.221. The words
197 “minimum premium policy” or equivalent language shall be typed,
198 printed, stamped, or legibly handwritten.
199 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.