Bill Text: CT SB00086 | 2016 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: An Act Concerning The Fire Safety Code And One, Two And Three-family Dwellings.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-02-11 - Public Hearing 02/19 [SB00086 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2016-SB00086-Introduced.html

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General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 86
February Session, 2016		LCO No. 1063
		*01063_______PD_*
Referred to Committee on PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Introduced by:
(PD)

AN ACT CONCERNING THE FIRE SAFETY CODE AND ONE, TWO AND THREE-FAMILY DWELLINGS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 29-292 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):

(a) (1) The State Fire Marshal and the Codes and Standards Committee shall adopt and administer a Fire Safety Code and at any time may amend the same. The code shall be based on a nationally recognized model fire code and shall be revised not later than January 1, 2005, and thereafter as deemed necessary to incorporate advances in technologies and improvements in construction materials and any subsequent revisions to the code not later than eighteen months following the date of first publication of such revisions to the code, unless the State Fire Marshal and the committee certify that a revision is not necessary for such purpose. The regulations in said code shall provide for reasonable safety from fire, smoke and panic therefrom, in all buildings and areas adjacent thereto except in private dwellings occupied by one, [or] two or three families and upon all premises, and shall include provision for (A) carbon monoxide detection and warning equipment in (i) new residential buildings not exempt under regulations adopted pursuant to this subsection and designed to be occupied by one, [or] two or three families for which a building permit for new occupancy is issued on or after October 1, 2005, and (ii) all public or nonpublic school buildings, and (B) smoke detection and warning equipment in (i) residential buildings designed to be occupied by two or more families, (ii) new residential buildings designed to be occupied by one family for which a building permit for new occupancy is issued on or after October 1, 1978, requiring equipment complying with the Fire Safety Code, and (iii) new residential buildings designed to be occupied by one or more families for which a building permit for new occupancy is issued on or after October 1, 1985, requiring equipment capable of operation using alternating current and batteries.

Sec. 2. Subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of section 29-292 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):

(2) No certificate of occupancy shall be issued for any (A) new residential building not exempt under regulations adopted pursuant to subsection (a) of this section and designed to be occupied by one, [or] two or three families for which a building permit for new occupancy is issued on or after October 1, 2005, or (B) public or nonpublic school building for which a building permit for new occupancy is issued on or after January 1, 2012, unless the local fire marshal or building official has certified that such residential or school building is equipped with carbon monoxide detection and warning equipment complying with the Fire Safety Code.

Sec. 3. Section 29-296 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):

The State Fire Marshal may grant variations or exemptions from, or approve equivalent or alternate compliance with, particular provisions of any regulation issued under the provisions of section 29-292, as amended by this act, where strict compliance with such provisions would entail practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship, or is otherwise adjudged unwarranted, provided any such variation or exemption or approved equivalent or alternate compliance shall, in the opinion of the State Fire Marshal, secure the public safety. A variation or exemption may be granted where compliance with the code would cause impairment or destruction of the features of a historic structure or landmark, as defined in section 22a-19a, which is used as a private dwelling and occupied by one, two or three families. Any application for a variation or exemption or equivalent or alternate compliance received by a local fire marshal shall be forwarded to the State Fire Marshal by first class mail within fifteen business days of receipt by such local fire marshal and shall be accompanied by a letter from such local fire marshal that shall include comments on the merits of the application.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	October 1, 2016	29-292(a)(1)
Sec. 2	October 1, 2016	29-292(b)(2)
Sec. 3	October 1, 2016	29-296

Statement of Purpose:

To exempt three-family dwellings from Fire Safety Code regulations and provide for variation or exemption where impairment or destruction of a historic structure or landmark being used as a private dwelling and occupied by one, two or three families would result from compliance with said code.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]