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June 21, 2007

Bill to ease fire code hits some snags

PROVIDENCE — A bill to ease some fire code restrictions on businesses hit opposition today from the fire services professionals who would have to enforce it, sending the architects of the legislation into new rounds of meetings to pound out the differences.

The bill’s lead sponsor, state Rep. Peter T. Ginaitt, D-Warwick, said late this afternoon that after several hours of meetings with members of the fire services, the bill was “almost there.”

He sounded optimistic that the General Assembly would have a chance to pass the legislation before the end of the session. “We don’t want to leave here without something approved,” he said.

The bill struck opposition at a hearing before the House Finance Committee today.

Providence Fire Chief George Farrell, a former Rhode Island state fire marshal, suggested the legislation had been rushed. “We haven’t clearly looked at all the issues in this bill,” he said. “There has not been enough time to address the drastic changes...I’m just not in favor of this piece of legislation.”

The bill filed last week proposes a variety of changes to address complaints from businesses. Under the bill, business owners forced to install sprinklers or new fire alarms would be entitled to a tax credit of up to $10,000, retroactive to 2003, though a business owner could not claim it until 2009. It would provide a 10-percent credit on Rhode Island income tax for safety improvements totaling up to $100,000.

The bill also proposes that “performances theaters” that hold 800 or fewer patrons and stage events without alcohol, such as the Odeum in East Greenwich and the Columbus in Providence, would be exempt from sprinkler requirements — if they double their exit capacity.

-- Journal staff writer Mark Arsenault

Representatives of the fire sprinkler industry objected today to a section of the bill calling on the Department of Labor and Training to create a new license to allow pipe fitters to install a properly designed, retrofitted sprinkler system in buildings smaller than 10,000 square feet. That work, several representatives said, should be done by people specially trained to install lifesaving fire protection systems.

Farrell objected to language in the bill to extend deadlines for businesses that haven’t complied with new fire alarm standards.

Under the legislation as it was proposed, certain businesses with older alarms in working order would have until 2012 to upgrade to a new system that meets modern standards. Owners of buildings with no alarm would have until 2009 to install a system. Owners of small, mixed-use buildings that include residents would have one year to upgrade existing alarms.

The bill would compel local fire inspectors to attend at least two training sessions per year to be conducted by the state fire marshal’s office. This regular training is an effort to even out the enforcement, addressing what has been a persistent complaint since the new laws were passed — that enforcement is inconsistent among the cities and towns. Farrell questioned if the state fire marshal’s office had the resources to provide the training.

The legislation is the work of the House Oversight Commission to Study the Ramifications of the Fire Safety Code, an advisory committee.

The commission’s leaders include Ginaitt and Rep. Joseph A. Trillo, R-Warwick. After The Station nightclub in West Warwick burned down in 2003, killing 100 people and injuring twice that number, Ginaitt and Trillo sat on a 17-member commission that took testimony from dozens of experts and then crafted a new state fire code, which adopted national standards, removed grandfather protection that had shielded older buildings from newer codes, and added special requirements for nightclubs and other places where people gather.

Representatives from a number of local chambers of commerce testified in support of the bill today.

Posted by Andrea Panciera at 7:00 PM | Permalink

June 21, 2007

Bill to ease fire code hits some snags

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