Sec. 29-315. (Formerly Sec. 29-44c). Fire extinguishing system required for certain buildings.
Sec. 29-315. (Formerly Sec. 29-44c). Fire extinguishing system required for
certain buildings. (a)(1) When any building is to be built having more than four stories
and is to be used for human occupancy, such building shall have an automatic fire
extinguishing system approved by the State Fire Marshal on each floor.
(2) When any building is (A) to be built as an educational occupancy, (B) eligible
for a school building project grant pursuant to chapter 173, and (C) put out to bid on or
after July 1, 2004, such building shall have an automatic fire extinguishing system
approved by the State Fire Marshal on each floor. As used in this subsection, "educational
occupancy" has the same meaning as provided in the Fire Safety Code.
(3) The State Fire Marshal and the State Building Inspector may jointly grant variations or exemptions from, or approve equivalent or alternate compliance with, the requirement in subdivision (2) of this subsection, where strict compliance with such requirement would entail practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship or is otherwise
adjudged unwarranted, provided (A) any such variation or exemption or approved equivalent or alternate compliance shall, in the opinion of the State Fire Marshal and the State
Building Inspector, secure the public safety, and (B) the municipality in which such
educational occupancy is located complies with all other fire safety requirements in the
Fire Safety Code and the State Building Code with respect to such occupancy. If either
the State Fire Marshal or the State Building Inspector determines that a variation or
exemption from, or an equivalent or alternate compliance with, said subdivision (2)
should not be permitted, no such variation or exemption, or equivalent or alternate
compliance shall be granted or approved. Any determination made pursuant to this
subdivision by the State Fire Marshal and the State Building Inspector shall be in writing.
Any person aggrieved by any decision of the State Fire Marshal or the State Building
Inspector, or both, may appeal to the Codes and Standards Committee no later than
fourteen days after issuance of the decision. Any person aggrieved by any ruling of the
Codes and Standards Committee may appeal to the superior court for the judicial district
wherein such occupancy is located.
(b) Each hotel or motel having six or more guest rooms and providing sleeping
accommodations for more than sixteen persons for which a building permit for new
occupancy is issued on or after January 1, 1987, shall have an automatic fire extinguishing system installed on each floor in accordance with regulations adopted by the Commissioner of Public Safety.
(c) Not later than October 1, 1992, each hotel or motel having more than four stories
shall have an automatic fire extinguishing system approved by the State Fire Marshal
on each floor.
(d) (1) Not later than January 1, 1995, each residential building having more than
four stories and occupied primarily by elderly persons shall have an automatic fire extinguishing system approved by the State Fire Marshal on each floor. Not later than January
1, 1994, the owner or manager of or agency responsible for such residential building
shall submit plans for the installation of such system, signed and sealed by a licensed
professional engineer, to the local fire marshal within whose jurisdiction such building
is located or to the State Fire Marshal, as the case may be. For the purposes of this
subsection, the phrase "occupied primarily by elderly persons" means that on October
1, 1993, or on the date of any inspection, if later, a minimum of eighty per cent of the
dwelling units available for human occupancy in a residential building have at least one
resident who has attained the age of sixty-five years.
(2) Each residential building having more than twelve living units and occupied
primarily by elderly persons, as defined in subdivision (1) of this subsection, or designed
to be so occupied, for which a building permit for new occupancy is issued or which is
substantially renovated on or after January 1, 1997, shall have an automatic fire extinguishing system approved by the State Fire Marshal on each floor.
(e) No building inspector shall grant a building permit unless a fire extinguishing
system as required by subsection (a) or (b) of this section is included in the final, approved
building plans and no fire marshal or building inspector shall permit occupancy of such
a building unless such fire extinguishing system is installed and operable. The State
Fire Marshal may require fire extinguishing systems approved by him to be installed in
other occupancies where they are required in the interest of safety because of special
occupancy hazards.
(f) (1) Not later than July 31, 2006, each chronic and convalescent nursing home
or rest home with nursing supervision licensed pursuant to chapter 368v shall have a
complete automatic fire extinguishing system approved by the State Fire Marshal installed throughout such chronic and convalescent nursing home or rest home with nursing supervision. Not later than July 1, 2004, the owner or authorized agent of each such
home shall submit plans for the installation of such system, signed and sealed by a
licensed professional engineer, to the local fire marshal and building official within
whose jurisdiction such home is located or to the State Fire Marshal, as the case may
be, and shall apply for a building permit for the installation of such system. The owner
or authorized agent shall notify the Department of Public Health of such submission.
(2) On or before July 1, 2005, and quarterly thereafter, each chronic and convalescent nursing home or rest home with nursing supervision licensed pursuant to chapter
368v shall submit a report to the local fire marshal describing progress in installing the
automatic fire extinguishing systems required under subsection (a) of this section. In
preparing such report each such nursing home or rest home shall conduct a facility risk
analysis. Such analysis shall include, but not be limited to, an analysis of the following
factors: Type of construction, number of stories and residents, safeguards in the facility,
types of patients, travel distance to exits and arrangement of means of egress. After
review of the report, the local fire marshal may require the nursing home or rest home
to implement alternative fire safety measures to reduce the level of risk to occupants
before installation of automatic fire sprinklers is completed.
(g) Any person who fails to install an automatic fire extinguishing system in violation of any provision of this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than
one thousand dollars for each day such violation continues. The Attorney General, upon
request of the State Fire Marshal, shall institute a civil action to recover such penalty.
(P.A. 73-375; P.A. 81-381, S. 2, 4; P.A. 86-163, S. 1, 3; P.A. 88-80; 88-304, S. 1, 6, 7; P.A. 91-282, S. 1; P.A. 93-106,
S. 1, 2; P.A. 96-138; P.A. 01-173, S. 66, 67; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-3, S. 92; P.A. 05-31, S. 1; 05-187, S. 1; 05-272, S. 37.)
History: P.A. 81-381 made minor changes in wording; Sec. 29-44c transferred to Sec. 29-315 in 1983; P.A. 86-163
divided section into Subsecs. and required the installation of automatic fire extinguishing system in hotels and motels;
P.A. 88-80 amended Subsec. (b), limiting application of provision to hotels or motels having six or more guest rooms and
providing sleeping accommodations for more than sixteen; P.A. 88-304 inserted new Subsec. (c), requiring installation of
automatic fire extinguishing systems in hotels and motels having more than four stories and in housing for the elderly
having more than four stories, relettered former subsection as Subsec. (d) and changed effective date of P.A. 88-80 from
October 1, 1988, to July 1, 1988; P.A. 91-282 amended Subsec. (c) to add a definition of "occupied primarily by elderly
persons"; P.A. 93-106 transferred from Subsec. (c) to (d) provision requiring installation of automatic fire extinguishing
system in housing for the elderly, postponed installation requirement from October 1, 1993, to January 1, 1995, required
owner or manager of or agency responsible for such residential building to submit plans for installation of system to local
or state fire marshal by January 1, 1994, and relettered former Subsec. (d) as (e), effective July 12, 1993; P.A. 96-138
subdivided Subsec. (d) into Subdivs., adding requirement of automatic fire extinguishing system in housing for the elderly
with more than twelve units beginning January 1, 1997; P.A. 01-173 amended Subsec. (a) to designate existing provisions
as Subdiv. (1) and to add Subdiv. (2) re educational occupancy, effective July 1, 2001; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-3 added
Subsec. (f) requiring automatic fire extinguishing systems in licensed chronic and convalescent nursing homes and rest
homes with nursing supervision and added Subsec. (g) re civil penalty for violation of section, effective August 20, 2003;
P.A. 05-31 amended Subsec. (a)(2) to make technical changes in definition of "educational occupancy", and added new
Subsec. (a)(3) allowing State Fire Marshal and State Building Inspector to jointly grant variations or exemptions from, or
approve equivalent or alternate compliance with, requirement that educational occupancy have an automatic fire extinguishing system installed, effective May 2, 2005; P.A. 05-187 amended Subsec. (f) by designating existing provisions as Subdiv.
(1) and amending same by postponing date for installation of automatic fire extinguishing systems in nursing and rest
homes from July 1, 2005, to July 31, 2006, requiring that complete systems be installed throughout the nursing and rest
homes instead of on each floor and that the owner notify the Commissioner of Public Health of submission of plan for
installation, and by adding Subdiv. (2) re submission of quarterly progress reports on installation, effective June 30,
2005; P.A. 05-272 amended Subsec. (f)(1) by clarifying requirement that approved fire extinguishing system be installed
throughout chronic and convalescent nursing homes and rest homes with nursing supervision and requiring Department
of Public Health, rather than Commissioner of Public Health, to be notified of plan for installation of system, effective
July 13, 2005.