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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2198 Fire Safety Requirements for Transient AccommodationsORDINANCE NO. AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING FIRE SAFETY REQUIRE- MENTS FOR TRANSIENT ACCOMMODATIONS CONSISTING OF LESS THAN THREE UNITS WITHIN THE CITY; SET- TING FORTH REGULATIONS AND INSPECT REQUIREMENTS; PROVIDING FOR ENFORCEMENT; AND ESTABLISHING AN EFFECTIVE DATE The City Council of the City of Port Townsend, in regular session assembled, does ordain as follows: Section 1. Purpose. The purpose of this ordinance is to establish minimum fire and life safety requirements necessary for obtaining certification for buildings, or portions thereof, either licensed or applying for license as transient accommoda- tions in the City of Port Townsend. Section 2. Definitions. A. Transient accommodation(s) shall mean any facility such as a hotel, motel, bed and breakfast inn, tourist home, resort, residence, condominium or any other facility or place which offers less than three (3) lodging units to travel- ers or transient guests for compensation for periods of less than one (1) month. B. Automatic fire alarm system is a system which automatically detects a fire condition and actuates a fire alarm system. Section 3. Application and Scope. The provisions of these regulations shall apply to existing conditions as well as to conditions arising after the adoption thereof. Section 4. Inspections and Approval. A. Upon receipt by the City of an application for a license or conditional use permit for any transient accom- modation, the City of Port Townsend Fire Department shall pro- ~ vide inspection for compliance with these regulations relating to fire and life safety. Upon completion of the inspection, and if the building is found to be in substantial compliance with these regulations, a notice of conditional approval shall be filed with the City Building Office, and with the application for license or conditional use permit. B. The Fire Department may deny approval of ORDINANCE - 1 - buildings which are not provided with adequate egress or fire warning system; or by reason of fire hazard, dilapidation, inade- quate maintenance or a condition or conditions representing a clear and present danger to transient persons subject to occu- pancy of the building. Section 5. Historic Buildings. Repairs, alterations and additions necessary for the preservation, rehabilitation or con- tinued use of a building or structure may be made without con- formance to all the requirements of this code when authorized by the Fire Inspector provided that: 1. The building or structure has been desig- nated by official action of the legally constituted authority of this jursidiction as having special historical or architectural significance; 2. Any unsafe conditions as described in this code are corrected; and 3. The restored building or structure will be no more hazardous based on life safety, fire safety and sanita- tion than the existing building. Section 6. Hazardous Areas. Every room containing a boiler or central heating plant, laundry, parking garage, storage room, commercial kitchen~ mechanical room, electrical utility room, maintenance shop and other spaces within the building deemed by the Fire Department to present a hazard to the safety of the guests shall be separated from the guest areas and the exits and exit corridors by at least one-hour fire resistive construction. Communicating openings shall be protected by approved self- closing fire doors. Section 7. Fire Alarm System. A. An approved automatic fire alarm system shall be installed in transient accommodations where the guest room(s) exit into common interior corridors, hallways or passage- ways; or the building is two stories or more in height. The fire alarm system shall include provisions for smoke detection and manual operation in the interior and automatic detection in storage rooms, laundry rooms, utility rooms, furnace rooms, janitorial-maintenance rooms, and toilets opening on exit cor- ridors. Fire alarm system plans and equipment and specifica- tions shall be submitted for review and acceptance before the system is installed. B. Installation, inspection and maintenance of fire alarm systems shall be in accordance with these regulations and Chapter 212-14 WAC. ORDINANCE 2 - C. Signaling devices shall be located and in- stalled to ensure the signal audibility level is not less than sixty (60) decibels at the bed pillow in the most remote guest rooms, with all intervening doors in the closed position. D. An alarm-sending station shall be provided at the desk or other location under continuous supezvision by em- ployees. Additional sending stations shall be located at or near each required exit from each floor. E. Where transient accommodations are equipped with automatic sprinkler systems, an electrical interconnection shall be provided between the sprinkler system and the fire alarm system, whereby activation of the sprinkler system will re- suit in an alarm signal. F. The fire alarm system shall be under the supervision of a responsible person, who shall cause proper tests and inspections to be made at least once each month. G. Every guest room in a transient accommoda- tion used for sleeping purposes shall be provided with at least one (1) Underwriters Laboratories (UL) listed smoke detector. This requirement shall apply retroactively to transient accommo- dations previously inspected and approved as well as to transient accommodations inspected after the effective date of these regu- lations. In new construction, required smoke detectors shall re- ceive their primary power from the building wiring when such wir- ing is served from a commercial source. Wiring shall be permanent and without a disconnecting switch other than those required for overcurrent protection. Smoke detectors may be battery-operated when installed in existing building~ or buildings without commer- cial power. Smoke detectors shall be installed and maintained in accordance with the manufacturers'/instructions and these regula- tions. Section 8. Exit Corridors, Guest Room Doors. When used in these regulations, the term "corridor" shall include exterior exit balconies and any covered or enclosed exit passageway in- cluding walkways and tunnels. Corridors serving as the required exit for an occupant load of ten (10) or more shall meet the fol- lowing requirements: 1. Exit corridors shall not be interrupted by intervening rooms, except that foyers, lobbies or reception rooms constructed as required for corridors shall not be construed as intervening rooms. 2. Corridors shall be not less than thirty-six (36) inches in width. The required width of corridors shall be ORDINANCE - 3 - unobstructed except for handrails and doors swinging to the fully opened position. 3. Corridor walls, except exterior sides of ex- terior exit balconies, should be not less than one-hour fire re- sistive construction, and ceilings should be not less than that required for one-hour fire resistive floor or roof system. 4. Corridors and exterior exit balconies should have clear height of seven (7) feet measured from the lowest pro- jection from the ceiling. 5. When more than one (1) exit is required, the exits shall be so arranged that it is possible to go in either direction from any point in a corridor to a separate exit, except for dead ends not exceeding twenty (20) feet in length. 6. ~ere corridor walls are required to be of one-hour fire resistive construction, every door opening shall be protected with a tight-fitting smoke and draft control door assem- bly having a fire protection rating of not less than twenty (20) minutes. Doors shall be maintained self-closing or may be auto- matic closing by actuation of a smoke detector electrically inter- connected to an approved fire alarm system. a. Exception: Protection of openings in the interior walls of exterior exit balconies is not required. b. Exception: Previously approved one and three-quarter (1-3/4) and one and three-eighth' (1-3/8) inch solid wood core doors, and doors upgraded to meet minimum requirements for fire resistance by the installation of fire resistive materials securely fastened to the door rails. 7. Where corridor walls are required to be of one-half-hour fire resistive construction, interior openings for other than doors or ducts shall be protected by fixed approved one-fourth inch thick wired glass installed in steel frames. The total area of all openings, other than doors, in any portion of an interior corridor shall not exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of the area of the corridor wall of the room which it is separating from the corridor, except that protection of openings in the in- walls of exterior exit balconies 15 not required. 8. Corridor walls not required to be one-hour fire resistive construction may be surfaced with wood lath and plaster in good condition or one-half inch gypsum wallboard. Pene- etrations shall be repaired using materials commensurate with the surrounding wall construction. Transoms shall be fixed in the closed position, and the opening covered with five-eighths inch ORDINANCE - 4 - gypsum wallboard securely fastened in the corridor and room side of the opening. Section 9. Number of Exits, Arrangements, Exit Doors. A. Occupied floors above the first story having an occupant load of ten (10) or more, floors above the second story, and basements shall have not less than two (2) separate exits from the floor or basement, with the following exceptions: 1. Floors and basements used exclusively for service of the building may be served by one exit. 2. Storage rooms, laundry rooms and main- tenance offices not exceeding three hundred (300) square feet in floor area may be served by one exit. 3. Previously approved fire escapes may serve one required exit if well maintained and access thereto is not obstructed. B. If only two exits are required, they shall be placed a distance apart equal to not less than one-half the length of the maximum overall diagonal dimension of the building or area to be served measured in a straight line between exits. When three or more exits are required, they shall be arranged a reasonable distance apart so that if one becomes blocked others will be available. C. When the occupant load is ten (10) or more above the first story, exterior exit balconies shall be provided with not less than two (2) remote stairways to ground level. Dead ends shall not exceed twenty (20) feet in depth. D. Every sleeping room below the fourth story shall have at least one (1) operable window or exterior door ap- proved for emergency escape or rescue. The units shall be oper- able from the inside to provide a full clear opening without the use of separate tools. All escape or rescue windows from sleep- ing rooms shall have a minimum net clear opening of five and seven- tenths (5.7) square feet. The minimum net clear opening height dimension shall be twenty-four (24) inches. The minimum net clear opening width dimension shall be twenty (20) inches. Where win- dows are provided as a means of escape or rescue, they shall have a finished sill height not more than forty-four (44) inches above the floor. Section 10. Access to Exits. Ail exits shall be accessible from public areas or corridors without having to pass through in- tervening rooms. In other than lodging houses, exits shall not pass through kitchens, storerooms, restrooms, closets or spaces used for similar purposes. Foyers, lobbies and reception rooms approved as corridors shall not be construed as intervening rooms. ORDINANCE - 5 - Section 11. Exit Doors. A. Exit doors shall be openable from the inside without the use of a key or any special knowledge or effort, ex- cept that exit doors from guest rooms of Group R, Division 1, and Group R, Division 3, occupancies having an occupant load of ten (10) or less may be provided with a night latch, dead bolt or se- curity chain, provided such devices are openable from the inside without the use of a key or tool and mounted at a height not to exceed forty-eight (48) inches above the finished floor. B. Exit doors should swing in the direction of exit travel. Except for approved power-operated doors metting re- quirements of Uniform Building Code standards, revolving, sliding and overhead doors shall not be used as required exits. Section 12. Exit Signs. A. Exit signs shall be installed, when required, at exit doorways and where otherwise necessary to clearly indicate the direction of egress. B. The color and design of lettering, arrows and other symbols on exit signs shall be in high contrast with their background. Words on the sign shall be in block letters six (6) inches in height with a stroke of not less than three-fourths (3/4) inch. C. Signs shall be internally or externally il- luminated by two (2) electric lamps or shall be of an approved self-luminous type. When the luminance on the face of an exit sign is from an external source, it shall have an intensity of not less than five (5.0) footcandles from either lamp. Internally il- luminated signs shall provide equivalent luminance. D. Separate branch circuits are required for exit illumination. Current supply to one of the lamps for exit signs shall be from a circuit having outlets only for other exit signs or exit illumination. Power to the other lamp shall be from a separate circuit that may supply other outlets. E. When separate sources of power are required for exit illumination, power to one of the lamps for exit signs shall be from storage batteries or an on-site generator set, and the system shall be installed in accordance with the State of Washington electrical code requirements. Section 13. Corridor Lighting, Exit Illumination. A. Except within guest rooms and sleeping rooms, ORDINANCE - 6 exits shall be illuminated at any time the building is occupied with light having intensity of not less than one (1) footcandle at floor level. B. The power supply for exit illumination shall be provided by two (2) separate branch circuits of the normal premises wiring system, unless an emergency system is installed. One of the required circuits shall supply only fixtures used for exit illumination or exit signs; the other circuit may supply to other outlets. C. The power supply for exit illumination shall normally be provided by the premises wiring system. In the event of its failure, illumination shall be automatically provided from an emergency system where the occupant load served by an interior exit corridor system exceeds one hundred (100). D. Emergency systems shall be supplied from storage batteries or an on-site generator set, and the system shall be installed in accordance with the requirements of the State of Washington electrical code requirements. Section 14. Fire Extinguishers. A. At least one UL-listed 2A-10BC-rated fire extinguisher shall be provided in the corridor of each guest- occupied floor. Additional extinguishers shall be provided as re- quired, to ensure that one is within twenty-five (25) feet of each guest room door. B. In buildings not having public corridors~ an extinguisher shall be provided at a convenient location near the registration desk in a plainly marked enclosure accessible at all times to guests. C. Additional extinguishers of a size and type commensurate with the hazard presented shall be provided as re- quired in other areas in which a fire would affect guest safety. Section 15. Obstructions. Furniture, appliances or similar objects shall not be placed in corridors, passageways or stair- ways, or in such locations which would result in obstructing the means of egress. Exits, exit signs, fire alarms and fire ex- tinguishers shall be visible and not obstructed by curtains or other decorative materials or fixtures. Section 16. Control of Hazardous Conditions and Practices. A. "NO SMOKING" signs shall be posted in rooms or areas where the fire inspector determines smoking to be hazard- ORDINANCE - 7 - ous. Where smoking is permitted, suitable ashtrays or receptacles shall be provided to deposit used smoking materials. When directed to do so, the licensee or owner shall obtain and install NO SMOKING signs at the locations specified by the City fire inspector. B. Unvented fuel-burning room heaters shall not be installed, used, maintained or permitted to exit in a transient accommodation or lodging house subject to compliance with these regulations. Use of portable electric space heaters or hot plates in guest rooms, without prior written approval from the fire in- spector, is prohibited. C. Flammable liquids shall be stored in flamma- ble liquid storage cabinets meeting the design and construction re- quirements set forth in the Uniform Fire Code. De permanent writing. Extension cords shall not be used in lieu of E. Storage of combustible materials in furnace rooms, boiler rooms, mechanical or utility rooms is prohibited. F. Self-closing doors shall be maintained in the closed position during occupancy hours, unless they are held open on approved door holders electrically interconnected to the fire alarm system. Installation of kick-down door stops or use of wedges on fire doors is prohibited. G. Electric baseboard heaters shall be fre- quently cleaned as required to preclude accumulation of dust, lint and debris. Combustible materials shall not be pi'aced or installed within eighteen (18) inches of electric baseboard heaters. H. Fireplaces shall not be used without a serv- iceable fireplace screen installed in the fireplace opening. I. The use of other solid fueled heating appli- ances shall be subject to certification by the City fire inspector. Section 17. Maintenance. Fire protection systems, equipment and devices shall be maintained in accordance with these regula- tions and Chapter 212-14 WAC. A. Sprinkler systems, standpipe systems, fire alarm systems, automatic fire detection systems, engineered or pre- engineered fixed fire-extinguishing systems, portable fire ex- tinguishers, exit lighting, fire doors, fire door hardware, closing mechanisms and any other fire protection system or device required by these regulations shall be maintained in operative condition at all times. ORDINANCE 8 - B. At annual intervals, every fire protection system and appliance shall undergo certification testing and in- spection. Certification testing and inspection shall be accom- plished by a person specializing in the fire protection system or appliance being tested and inspected. The person performing the certification testing and inspection shall possess the license or credentials required by Washington State law. Results of certifi- cation inspection and testing shall be verified. With respect to portable fire extinguishers, maintenance is a "thorough check" of the extinguisher. It is intended to give maximum assurance that the extinguisher will operate effectively and safely. It includes a thorough examination and any necessary repair or replacement. It will normally reveal the need for hydrostatic testing. C. Visual inspections and tests of fire protec- tion systems and appliances, within the capability of the licensee or owner, shall be performed in accordance with manufacturers in- structions or NFPA standards. Records of licensee or owner testing shall be maintained, and the subject system or appliance shall be tagged with the date of service and signature. D. Wall and ceiling penetrations shall be re- paired with materials commensurate with the surrounding wall or ceiling construction. E. Outside fire escapes sarving as required exits shall be maintained in good repair. Fire escapes detected with rusted, twisted or broken components shall be required to undergo structural and load testing as may be necessary to verify their serviceability. F. One or more fire watchmen shall be required at any time a fire alarm system, automatic fire detection system or automatic sprinkler system is impaired or inoperative. Fire watchment shall be obtained from professional security firms or may be fire service personnel. The establishment may utilize their own employees, provided they are full-time security staff employees with no other duties during their period of employment as fire watchmen. Fire watchmen shall perform fire surveillance patrols throughout the affected portions of the building between the hours of four o'clock (4:00) p.m. through eight o'clock (8:00) a.m. Fire surveillance patrols shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following actions: 1. Patrolling corridors, stairways and passageways, observing for smoke or any suspicious smoke odors; 2. Ensuring that corridors, stairways and passageways are free of obstructions; ORDINANCE - 9 - 3. Ensuring that fire doors are maintained in the closed position; 4. Ensuring that any firefighting appliances are at their proper location; 5. Monitoring gatherings of persons in assembly areas to preclude overcrowding; and 6. Maintaining a record of surveillance patrols. Section 18. Emergency Procedures Plan. A. Each licensed transient accommodation shall develop and maintain a written fire emergency plan, specifying actions to be taken by the staff in the event of a fire emergency. The procedures shall include: 1. The actions to be taken by the staff upon being notified of a fire; 2. The actions to be taken for summoning the Fire Department; 3. The actions to be taken for assisting guests or others endangered by fire; and 4. The actions reqUired for guest safety as directed by the Fire Department or a procedure for evacuating the building. B. The licensee or facility manager is respon- sible for assuring the staff is familiar with their duties as de- fined in the emergency plan. Training classes, covering each element of the emergency plan, shall be conducted at the time of employment and at annual intervals thereafter. An employee training record, indicating the date of training and names of em- ployees receiving training, shall be maintained. C. Transient accommodations two (2) stories or more in height, where exit travel is through interior corridors, shall develop and post a fire safety information placard. The placard shall contain information intended to enhance the per- sonal safety of the guest during a fire incident. The placard shall be fabricated from a durable material and securely fastened to the room side of each guest room at approximately eye level. The placard shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following information: 1. The routes to primary and alternative exit doors or exit stairways; ORDINANCE - 10 - 2. Location of manual fire alarm devices; 3. Fire reporting telephone number; 4. Type of fire alarm signaling device, such as bell, horn, buzzer, chime, electronic tone device and/or voice speaker~ 5. List of actions the guest should take for personal safety during a fire incident, actions to take prior to leaving the guest room and actions when confined to the guest room; and 6. Information for fire reporting. Section 19. Enforcement. An annual inspection shall be provided by the Fire Department to ascertain continued compliance with the regulations contained herein. Non-complance orders will be provided the owner and/or manager of the transient accommoda- tion citing deficiencies in writing, together with the remedy re- quired and the time frame for compliance. The Fire Department shall cause any unfulfilled non-compliance inspection orders to be forwarded to the Planning and Building Department for action under license or conditional use recision or denial procedures. Section 20. Severability. If any provision of these regu- lations or their application to any person is held invalid, the remainder of the regulations or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected. Section 21. Effective Date. This ordinance shall take effect upon its passage, approval and publication in the form and manner provided by law. Read for the first, second and third times, passed by the City Council for the City of Port Townsend and signed and ap- proved by the Mayor this ~ day of ~ , 1990. Attest: David A Grove, City Clerk ORDINANCE - 11 - Appro 'd as to form: Kei-fil~ C. Harper, C±ty Atto y Passed by City Council: Signed by Mayor: Published: Effective date: 1990 1990 1990 1990 ORDINANCE - 12 -