PORTSMOUTH FIRE CODE MEETING
An Informational Public Meeting on Building and Fire Code Updates will be held on Tuesday, October 31, 2017 at 9:00 am in Conference Room A, City Hall.
PORTSMOUTH FIRE CODE UPDATES INFORMATION
Chapter 5 of the City Ordinances covers Fire Department and Prevention Regulations. Housekeeping updates have been proposed for Articles I – VIII. Articles IV and V have been eliminated as they pertain to segments of the Fire Department that are no longer in existence. The bulk of the proposed updates are found in Article IX as the currently adopted 2006 edition of the International Fire Code is replaced by the 2015 edition. The International Fire Code is developed and published by the International Code Council (ICC).
As directed by NH RSA 152:5 (V.), the Fire Department must also utilize the New Hampshire State Fire Code (Saf-C 6000) which is administered by the Office of the State Fire Marshal. The State Fire Code adopts two standards published and maintained by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). These are NFPA 1 – Fire Code and NFPA 101 – Life Safety Code. The adoption of current editions of these Codes is governed by the NH Legislature. Currently, the State is utilizing the 2009 edition of NFPA 1 and the 2015 edition of NFPA 101. A key point to understand is that while modifications are possible to the State Fire Code, those modifications must be presented to the State Fire Marshal for consideration and, if approved, would be a state-wide change. The city is not proposing any amendments to the State Fire Code at this time.
Since the International Fire Code is not included in the list of state-adopted Codes, it provides a municipality an opportunity to make locally adopted changes to the Code. The proposed modifications to the 2015 edition of the International Fire Code represent our attempt at tailoring the Code to provide guidance that more closely mirrors conditions in Portsmouth. Those changes can be seen in the this document CHAPTER 5 REDLINE.
You have the ability to view NFPA 1 and NFPA 101 on-line, at no charge. Due to copyright laws, NFPA requires that you create an account with them in order to view the Codes. If you proceed to the following website and complete the required steps, you will have access to those Codes: http://www.nfpa.org/Codes-and-Standards/All-Codes-and-Standards/Free-access Be sure to select the appropriate editions of the Codes you wish to view.
You may view the International Fire Code, 2015 edition by visiting: https://codes.iccsafe.org/public/document/toc/546/
Printed copies of all of the Codes are available for review in the Inspections Department Conference Room located on the 3rd floor of City Hall
For those submitting questions or concerns, please fill out the contact form below or call (603) 610-7352.