Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Fire Medical

 

TO:

David Corliss

City Manager

FROM:

Mark Bradford

Chief

CC:

Debbie Van Saun

Assistant City Manager

Date:

March 8, 2007

RE:

Fire Code Board of Appeals Public Hearing on the IFC

 

Background

The current adopted fire code for the City of Lawrence is the 1997 Uniform Fire Code.  In 2004, the Code Review Committee (CRC) recommended adoption of the International Code Council (ICC) family of codes, commonly referred to as the International Codes.  During the CRC process, it was identified that it will be extremely difficult to reference the Uniform Mechanical Code (UMC) requirements in relation to the International Codes.

 

The Fire Code Board of Appeals met regularly for the past 16 months to review the 2003 and 2006 International Fire Code (IFC).  With the conclusion of the review process, and at the recommendation of the Board, Division Chief Barr and Legal Services prepared a draft ordinance adopting the 2006 IFC.

 

Current Status

On Thursday, January 25, 2007 the Fire Code Board of Appeals convened for a Public Hearing on the Draft Ordinance for the adoption of the 2006 IFC. All Board Members were present as well as Division Chief Barr and Lt. Brickell. Victor Torres, Director of Neighborhood Resources and Scott Miller, Public Safety Attorney of Legal Services to address questions related to other ICC Code adoptions and the adoption process, respectively.

 

In providing notification for the Public Hearing, an email, including a copy of the draft ordinance and a code summary, was sent by Division Chief Barr to contacts in the following areas: architects, engineers, developers, board of realtors, neighborhood associations, Planning Commission, trade boards, Landlord’s Association, and Lawrence Home Builders Association.  Two members from the general public attended, Gwen Klingenberg representing LAN and Jim Elliott representing First Management, Inc.

 

Main points covered in the presentation to the public included several areas of significant change.

1)     The International Fire Code requires “an automatic sprinkler system provided…throughout all (new) buildings with a Group R (Residential) fire area.” However single-family, duplex and certain town homes are permitted to comply with the International Residential Code, if it is adopted by the City.

2)     The IFC allows multi-family occupancies to have sleeping rooms without emergency escape and rescue windows if they are equipped throughout with an approved automatic sprinkler system.

3)     The IFC also requires changes in the regulations regarding fire apparatus access.

a.      Dead-end access roads (cul-de-sacs) greater than 150’ in length will require a turnaround with a radius of at least 48’. Dead ends greater than 500’ will require an access road width of not less than 26’.

b.      In one and two-family developments, areas of more than 30 dwelling units must have two separate access roads or they must be equipped throughout with an approved automatic sprinkler system.

c.      Multiple-family Residential Developments of more than 100 dwelling units must be provided with two separate fire apparatus access roads or they must be equipped throughout with automatic sprinkler systems.

d.      Commercial and Industrial buildings exceeding three stories or 30’ in height must be equipped with at least three (3) means of fire apparatus access that are a minimum of 26’ wide and within 75’ of all portions of the exterior wall of the first floor.

4)     The IFC also allows the Fire/Medical Department to issue a large number of operational and construction permits. While the Department currently issues operational permits for processes such as Blasting, Burning, and Fireworks, the new code would expand those permits for construction of fire protection systems, hazardous material storage, and other processes and construction.

5)     Permits for Open Burning for Land Clearing operations will be allowed to occur within 500’ of occupied buildings, however all burning operations must utilize an “air curtain destructor” to minimize particulate emissions and increase efficiency of the combustion process. Notification of all occupied buildings within 1500’ of the burn site is still required.

6)     Open fires such as campfires, bonfires and other recreational fires will no longer be allowed without a permit. Only fires that are inside approved appliances (such as chimineas, grills and smokers) are allowed without a permit. Additionally, the use of open flame cooking devices on combustible decks and balconies (in multifamily occupancies) is prohibited.

7)     The draft ordinance allows the use of the International Existing Building Code, 2006 edition, to provide guidance in applying the code to various degrees of renovation and construction. Currently there is no written guidance on when to apply new code requirements to partial renovations. The IEBC will provide that guidance.

 

The primary questions from the public pertained to requirements for new and existing residential occupancies, the adoption process, and site plan requirements.  There were no comments from the public directing the Board of Appeals to reconsider amendments in the draft ordinance adopting the 2006 IFC.

 

As illustrated by the requirements for providing sprinkler systems in Residential Occupancies, it is important for the City to adopt the other International Code Council (ICC) Codes in order to provide maximum code enforcement effectiveness. Companion codes should be adopted by the City because of the numbers of times those codes are referenced in the 2006 IFC.  The following information provides the number of references:

·         219 references to the International Building Code

·         71 references to the International Mechanical Code

·         5 references to the International Plumbing Code

·         International Electric Code Administrative Provisions are recognized as the provision for administering the National Electric Code (NEC).

 

Kansas State Fire Marshal Review

The Prevention Division submitted the draft ordinance adopting the 2006 IFC to the Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office on January 4, 2007.  On January 16, 2007 the department received a letter from Mr. Dan McLaughlin, Deputy Chief, State Fire Marshal’s Office indicating the amended section and changes were equivalent to that of the Kansas Fire Prevention Code per state statute 31-134 (b).

 

Recommendations and Commission Action

Staff recommends that all building and fire safety codes adopted by the City of Lawrence utilize the International Code Council family of Codes.  Further, City staff and the Fire Codes Board of Appeals requests the City Commission adopt the IFC.  A draft ordinance prepared by Division Chief Barr and Legal Services is attached.

 

Should the City decide to not adopt the ICC Codes as a family of codes and opt to proceed with a blended code arrangement, then those codes that are adopted which are not ICC will require that the International Fire Code be amended for each of the corresponding individual references cited above. The Fire/Medical Department requests the individual code reference equivalents to be provided by the appropriate trade board to amend the Fire Code.

 

 

Attachments   Draft Ordinance 8055

                   Kansas State Fire Marshal Approval