TITLE 23
Health and Safety
CHAPTER 23-28.1
Fire Safety CodeGeneral Provisions
SECTION 23-28.1-2
§ 23-28.1-2 Purposes.
(a) Effective January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2012, the Uniform Fire Code
(NFPA 1) and the Life Safety Code (NFPA 101) of the National Fire Protection
Association, Inc., 2003 editions, with annexes, except as updated, amended,
altered or deleted and by the addition of certain provisions, as indicated in
the rules and regulations adopted by the fire safety code board, is hereby
adopted as the "Rhode Island Fire Safety Code". Effective January 1, 2013, the
Fire Code (NFPA 1) and the Life Safety Code (NFPA 101) 2012 editions, and the
National Fire Alarm & Signaling Code (NFPA 72), 2010 edition of the National
Fire Protection Association, Inc., with annexes, except as updated, amended,
altered or deleted and by the addition of certain provisions, as indicated in
the rules and regulations adopted by the fire safety code board, is hereby
adopted as the "Rhode Island Fire Safety Code."
The Fire Safety Code Board of Appeal & Review is hereby
granted the authority to adopt and implement any or all of the above National
Fire Protection Association codes, with amendments, prior to the January 1,
2013, pursuant to its rulemaking authority.
The Fire Safety Code Board of Appeal and Review shall
consider the following when promulgating the aforementioned rules and
regulations:
(1) For business, storage, mercantile and industrial
occupancies, the board shall consider alternative methods of code compliance,
including, but not limited to, the use of vertical and horizontal fire
separation when determining the square footage for fire alarm and sprinkler
requirements; allowing non-monitored fire alarm systems to be installed in
accordance with the methods outlined in NFPA 72, 2010 edition, and shall
further consider alternative methods to ensure the consistent enforcement of
the code.
(2) For occupancy groups previously granted relief including,
but not limited to, existing apartments, places of worship, marinas and the
marine trade industry, funeral homes, restaurants and non-residential barns,
the board shall consider the appropriateness of the reincorporation of this
relief into the 2012 codes.
This code shall be liberally construed and applied to promote
its underlying purposes and policies.
(b) The underlying purposes and policies of these chapters
are:
(1) To simplify, clarify and modernize the law governing
fires and fire prevention;
(2)(i) To specify reasonable minimum requirements for fire
safety in new and existing buildings and facilities, except in private
dwellings occupied by one, two (2) or three (3) families, in the various cities
or towns in this state; provided, however, this code shall provide reasonable
standards for the installation of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in
private dwellings occupied by one, two (2), and three (3) families; provided,
further, that after July 1, 2008, three (3) family dwellings shall be equipped
with hard wired or supervised interconnected UL approved wireless smoke and
carbon monoxide detectors, in accordance with standards established by the Fire
Safety Code Board of Appeal and Review; provided further that
(ii) The local fire authority that performs smoke detector
and carbon monoxide detector plan review and inspection for the installation of
smoke detector and/or carbon monoxide detection in any new and existing private
dwelling occupied by one, two (2) and three (3) families shall charge no more
than a seventy-five dollar ($75.00) fee for a one family unit, a one hundred
twenty-five dollar ($125) fee for a two (2) family unit and a one hundred
seventy-five dollar ($175) fee for a three (3) family unit for the smoke
detector and carbon monoxide detector plan review together with any subsequent
detection inspections.
(3) Except as provided in subdivision (b)(5) of this section,
to permit the cities and towns to enact ordinances and orders relating to fire
safety provided those ordinances and orders impose requirements equal to,
additional to, or more stringent than those contained in this code which
ordinances and orders shall be effective only upon the approval by rule of the
Fire Safety Code Board of Appeal and Review. Any ordinance or order relating to
fire safety enacted by any city or town shall be prospective in its application
and shall be enacted after public hearing. The city or town shall cause printed
notices of the time, place, and subject matter of the hearing to be posted in
three (3) public places in the city or town, for three (3) weeks next preceding
the time of the hearing, and shall advertise in a newspaper circulated in the
city or town, if any there be, at least once a week for the same period of time;
(4) Jurisdiction for the interpretation of any city or town
ordinance or order relating to fire safety shall be vested in the Fire Safety
Code Board of Appeal and Review; provided, however, that the responsibility for
the enforcement of the ordinance or order shall be with the local authorities
and petitions for variations from the ordinance or order shall be heard by the
state fire safety board of appeal and review in the manner prescribed in
chapter 28.3 of this title; and
(5) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained
herein, no city or town may enact any ordinance or order relating to the
requirement for the handling of explosives pursuant to chapter 28.28 of this
title or for the installation of, or specifications for, the fire alarm
sections of this code, the fire protection systems as prescribed by chapter
28.25 of this title, or for the possession and display of commercial fireworks
or pyrotechnics pursuant to chapter 28.11 of this title, which chapter shall
exclusively govern the requirements for the installation of, and specification
for, fire protection systems, the handling of explosives and possession and
display of commercial fireworks or pyrotechnics. All such ordinances or orders
relating to the requirements for the installation of and specifications for
such fire protection systems, the handling of explosives, or possession and
display of commercial fireworks or pyrotechnics heretofore enacted by any city
or town are of no force and effect.
(c) In this code, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) Words in the singular number include the plural, and in
the plural include the singular; and
(2) Words of the masculine gender include the feminine and
the neuter and, when the sense so indicates words of the neuter gender may
refer to any gender.
History of Section.
(P.L. 1966, ch. 216, § 1; P.L. 1968, ch. 2, § 1; P.L. 1975, ch. 165,
§ 1; P.L. 1981, ch. 229, § 1; P.L. 1982, ch. 269, § 1; P.L.
1994, ch. 354, § 1; P.L. 1994, ch. 425, § 1; P.L. 2003, ch. 106,
§ 3; P.L. 2003, ch. 107, § 3; P.L. 2004, ch. 220, § 1; P.L.
2004, ch. 225, § 1; P.L. 2007, ch. 255, § 1; P.L. 2007, ch. 291,
§ 1; P.L. 2012, ch. 294, § 2; P.L. 2012, ch. 337, § 2.)
