Fire Laws

CHAPTER 29

FIRE REGULATIONS IN PLACES OF PUBLIC ASSEMBLY

23-29-1 - 23-29-30. [Repealed.]

CHAPTER 29.1

REHABILITATION BUILDING AND FIRE CODE FOR EXISTING BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES

Section.

23-29.1-1. Legislative findings and purpose.

23-29.1-2. Joint Committee on the rehabilitation building code for existing buildings and structures.

23-29.1-3. Content, adoption, and administration of the rehabilitation building code for existing buildings and structures.

23-29.1-4. Variances and appeals.

23-29.1-5. Technical and staff support.

23-29.1-6. Relief from liability.

23-29.1-7. Severability.

23-29.1-1. Legislative findings and purpose.

The general assembly finds and declares:

(1) That there are throughout Rhode Island existing buildings and structures that are vacant or partially vacant and/or underutilized because rehabilitation of such buildings and structures to conform to the requirements for new structures under building and fire safety codes, is prohibitively expensive or impractical;

(2) That buildings and structures that are vacant or partially vacant constitute a public safety threat because of a lack of occupancy and a lack of investment in modernization and maintenance;

(3) That the presence of vacant and or partially vacant buildings and structures contributes to blight and or to the loss of economic viability of traditional city, town or village centers;

(4) That reinvestment in existing buildings and structures will strengthen local tax bases and provide employment opportunities in construction and building trades;

(5) That it is the purpose of this chapter to provide a code and regulations for repairing, rehabilitating, altering, improving, adding to and changing the use of existing buildings and structures in a manner that assures the health, welfare and safety of occupants and that facilitates designing improvements to existing buildings and structures to the code in an optimum manner with a minimum need to for variances; and

(6) That it is further the purpose of this chapter to provide a single uniform, statewide, harmonious rehabilitation building code with building code and fire safety code elements applicable to existing buildings and structures.

23-29.1-2. Joint Committee on the rehabilitation building code for existing buildings and structures.

(a) Creation and membership. There is created a joint committee on the rehabilitation building and fire code for existing buildings and structures consisting of eleven (11) members: five (5) of whom shall be the chairperson of the building code standards committee established by § 23-27.3-100.1.3 and four (4) members of the building code standards committee appointed by the building code standards committee; five (5) of whom shall be the chairpersons of the fire safety code board of appeal and review, established by § 23-28.3-2, and four (4) members of the fire safety code board of appeal and review appointed by the fire safety code board of appeal and review, and one of whom shall be the executive director of the fire safety code board of appeal and review, who shall be an ex-officio, nonvoting member of the joint committee, and shall act as the executive secretary of the joint committee. From the voting members of the joint committee, the governor shall appoint one member to serve as chairperson and one member to serve as vice-chairperson. The terms of chairperson and vice-chairperson shall be for three (3) years, or until their successors are appointed.

(b) Powers and duties. The joint committee has the power and duty to:

(1) Approve, with any revisions it may deem necessary, the rehabilitation building code for existing buildings and structures following an affirmative vote by the committee on drafting and to recommend building code element of the rehabilitation building code for adoption by the building code standards committee and to recommend the fire safety code element of the rehabilitation building code for adoption by the fire safety code board of appeal and review;

(2) Draft and develop such amendments and revisions to the building code element and to the fire safety code element of the rehabilitation building code for existing buildings and structures as may be necessary or desirable to recommend of those amendments and revisions to the building code standards committee and the fire safety code board of appeal and review, as appropriate; and

(3) Serve as the appeal board to hear and decide requests for variances from the rehabilitation building and fire code for existing buildings and structures; and

(4) Study and make recommendations with regard to coordinated, consistent, efficient, and effective administration of fire safety codes, building codes, and the rehabilitation building and fire code.

23-29.1-3. Content, adoption, and administration of the rehabilitation building code for existing buildings and structures.

(a) Content. The rehabilitation building and fire code for existing buildings and structures shall have a building code element and a fire safety code element and shall make provisions for the repair, renovation, alteration, reconstruction, and change of use of and additions to existing buildings and structures. The code shall set forth standards for different types of uses; and for mixed-use buildings and structures, each portion of the building or structure shall be separately classified as to use. The standards shall include, but not be limited to, standards for building; for load bearing and structural elements; for plumbing, electrical, and mechanical systems; for fire resistant walls and for fire suppression, fire alarm, and fire detection systems; for accessibility, including accessibility for persons with disabilities, means of egress, elevators, escalators, stairways, doors, ramps, fire alarms, floor surfaces, restrooms and corridors; for vents and ventilation systems; and for historic buildings; provided however that such standards shall not affect minimum standards for habitancy.

(b) Committee on drafting. There shall be a sixteen (16) member committee on drafting the rehabilitation building and fire code for existing buildings and structures which shall have as its members the ten (10) voting members of the joint committee, the state fire marshal, the state building code commissioner, a representative of grow smart RI appointed by the chairperson of grow smart RI, a representative of the Rhode Island builders association appointed by the president of the Rhode Island builders association, a representative of the governor's commission on disabilities, appointed by the chairperson of the governor's commission on disabilities, and an historical preservation architect appointed by the executive director of the Rhode Island historical preservation and heritage commission. The executive secretary of the joint committee shall serve as secretary of the committee on drafting and be a nonvoting member of the committee. It shall be the duty of the joint committee to develop a rehabilitation building and fire code for existing buildings and structures, which shall have an element pertaining to fire safety and an element pertaining to building standards, and to recommend said rehabilitation building and fire code for consideration by the joint committee. The committee on drafting shall terminate upon an affirmative vote of the joint committee to recommend the rehabilitation building and fire code for existing buildings and structures for adoption by the building code standards committee and the fire safety code board of appeal and review.

(c) Adoption. The building code element shall be effective upon adoption by the building code standards committee pursuant to § 23-27.3-100.1.3 and the fire safety code element shall be effective upon adoption by the fire safety code board of appeal and review pursuant to § 23-28.3-3. Public hearings required by chapter 35 of title 42 for the adoption, amendment, or revision of the rehabilitation building and fire code for existing buildings and structures and each of the elements thereof shall be conducted by the joint committee.

(d) Administration. Except as set forth in this chapter, the building code element shall be administered as a building code in accordance with the provisions of chapter 27.3 of this title, the fire safety code element shall be administered as a fire safety code by the division of fire safety in accordance with the provisions of chapter 28.2 of this title.

23-29.1-4. Variances and appeals.

(a) Variances. (1) The joint committee on the rehabilitation building and fire code for existing buildings and structures shall serve as the board of standards and variances for the rehabilitation building and fire code. Any building owner may consult the authority having jurisdiction for advice and assistance in complying with the provisions of the rehabilitation building and fire code. In case of practical difficulties, the authority having jurisdiction shall refer any request for variance to the joint committee. The petitioner for the variance shall set forth to the joint committee in the petition the grounds or reasons for requesting the variance.

(2) The joint committee shall fix a day for hearing on the petition and shall give reasonable notice of the day to the petitioner and the property owners within two hundred (200) feet of the petitioner's building or structure when, in the board's discretion, it may have an adverse effect on neighboring properties. A properly indexed record of all variations made shall be kept in the office of the joint committee and shall be open to public inspection. Any building owner may file a petition for a variance to the board by registered mail, and a hearing date shall be set by the joint committee within thirty (30) days of filing a completed application including a filing fee, established in accordance with the following fee schedule:

(3) Petitions related to construction, alteration, renovation, and/or conversion to other use of buildings and structures:

(i) not more than eight thousand (8,000) square feet . . . one hundred dollars ($100) filing fee;

(ii) more than eight thousand (8,000) square feet but not more than twenty-five thousand (25,000) square feet . . . three hundred dollars ($300) filing fee;

(iii) more than twenty-five thousand (25,000) square feet but not more than fifty thousand (50,000) square feet . . . five hundred dollars ($500) filing fee;

(iv) more than fifty thousand (50,000) square feet . . . one thousand dollars ($1,000) filing fee.

(4) The term 'square feet,' as used in this chapter, shall be the total floor space and/or storage capacity of the subject building or structure, as determined and certified by the building code commission or his or her designee, subject to review by the board. The joint committee chairperson may delegate a subcommittee of the joint committee to conduct a hearing and take testimony from the petitioner. The subcommittee shall make recommendations to the joint committee as to their findings, and a decision shall be rendered within ten (10) days of the subcommittee's report. If the petitioner is aggrieved by the subcommittee's recommendations, the petitioner shall have the right of hearing before the entire joint committee within thirty (30) days of the rendered decision.

(5) The application filing fee income shall be deposited as general review.

(b) Appeals, Review of refusal of variation - Review of final order. Any building owner aggrieved by any decision of the joint committee refusing to grant a variation pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) may, within thirty (30) days after the decision, commence an action in district court against the executive secretary of the joint committee, only in his or her official capacity for a review of the decision. The findings of the joint committee shall be conclusive unless clearly erroneous. A party aggrieved by a final order of the court may seek review thereof in the supreme court by petition for writ of certiorari in accordance with the procedures contained in § 42-45-16.

23-29.1-5. Technical and staff support.

The building code commissioner shall provide staff support and assistance to the joint committee on the building code element of the rehabilitation building and fire code and the state fire marshal shall provide staff support and assistance to the joint committee on the fire safety code element of the rehabilitation building and fire code. Any coordination of staff support as the joint committee deems necessary or desirable shall be provided by the building code commissioner.

23-29.1-6. Relief from liability.

Members and employees of the joint committee who are commissioners or employees of the fire safety code board of appeal and review or have responsibility for the administration or enforcement of the fire safety code shall be relieved from liability as provided for in §§ 23-28.2-17 and 23-28.3-11, and members and employees of the joint committee who are members of the building code standards committee or who are charged with the administration or enforcement of the state building code shall be relieved from liability as provided for in § 23-27.3-107.9.

23-29.1-7. Severability.

The provisions of this chapter are severable, and if any of its provisions are held unconstitutional or otherwise invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, the decision of the court shall not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions.