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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 2227. Fire safety systems in federally assisted buildings
(a) Definitions
For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) The term "affordable cost" means the cost to a Federal
agency of leasing office space in a building that is protected by
an automatic sprinkler system or equivalent level of safety,
which cost is no more than 10 percent greater than the cost of
leasing available comparable office space in a building that is
not so protected.
(2) The term "automatic sprinkler system" means an
electronically supervised, integrated system of piping to which
sprinklers are attached in a systematic pattern, and which, when
activated by heat from a fire -
(A) will protect human lives by discharging water over the
fire area, in accordance with the National Fire Protection
Association Standard 13, 13D, or 13R, whichever is appropriate
for the type of building and occupancy being protected, or any
successor standard thereto; and
(B) includes an alarm signaling system with appropriate
warning signals (to the extent such alarm systems and warning
signals are required by Federal, State, or local laws or
regulations) installed in accordance with the National Fire
Protection Association Standard 72, or any successor standard
thereto.
(3) The term "equivalent level of safety" means an alternative
design or system (which may include automatic sprinkler systems),
based upon fire protection engineering analysis, which achieves a
level of safety equal to or greater than that provided by
automatic sprinkler systems.
(4) The term "Federal employee office building" means any
office building in the United States, whether owned or leased by
the Federal Government, that is regularly occupied by more than
25 full-time Federal employees in the course of their employment.
(5) The term "housing assistance" -
(A) means assistance provided by the Federal Government to be
used in connection with the provision of housing,(!1) that is
provided in the form of a grant, contract, loan, loan
guarantee, cooperative agreement, interest subsidy, insurance,
or direct appropriation; and
(B) does not include assistance provided by the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs; the Federal Emergency Management Agency; the
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under the single
family mortgage insurance programs under the National Housing
Act [12 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.] or the homeownership assistance
program under section 235 of such Act [12 U.S.C. 1715z]; the
National Homeownership Trust; the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation under the affordable housing program under section
1831q of title 12; or the Resolution Trust Corporation under
the affordable housing program under section 1441a(c) of title
12.
(6) The term "hazardous areas" means those areas in a building
referred to as hazardous areas in National Fire Protection
Association Standard 101, known as the Life Safety Code, or any
successor standard thereto.
(7) The term "multifamily property" means -
(A) in the case of housing for Federal employees or their
dependents, a residential building consisting of more than 2
residential units that are under one roof; and
(B) in any other case, a residential building consisting of
more than 4 residential units that are under one roof.
(8) The term "prefire plan" means specific plans for fire
fighting activities at a property or location.
(9) The term "rebuilding" means the repairing or reconstructing
of portions of a multifamily property where the cost of the
alterations is 70 percent or more of the replacement cost of the
completed multifamily property, not including the value of the
land on which the multifamily property is located.
(10) The term "renovated" means the repairing or reconstructing
of 50 percent or more of the current value of a Federal employee
office building, not including the value of the land on which the
Federal employee office building is located.
(11) The term "smoke detectors" means single or multiple
station, self-contained alarm devices designed to respond to the
presence of visible or invisible particles of combustion,
installed in accordance with the National Fire Protection
Association Standard 74 or any successor standard thereto.
(12) The term "United States" means the States collectively.
(b) Federal employee office buildings
(1)(A) No Federal funds may be used for the construction or
purchase of a Federal employee office building of 6 or more stories
unless during the period of occupancy by Federal employees the
building is protected by an automatic sprinkler system or
equivalent level of safety. No Federal funds may be used for the
construction or purchase of any other Federal employee office
building unless during the period of occupancy by Federal employees
the hazardous areas of the building are protected by automatic
sprinkler systems or an equivalent level of safety.
(B)(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), no Federal funds may be
used for the lease of a Federal employee office building of 6 or
more stories, where at least some portion of the federally leased
space is on the sixth floor or above and at least 35,000 square
feet of space is federally occupied, unless during the period of
occupancy by Federal employees the entire Federal employee office
building is protected by an automatic sprinkler system or
equivalent level of safety. No Federal funds may be used for the
lease of any other Federal employee office building unless during
the period of occupancy by Federal employees the hazardous areas of
the entire Federal employee office building are protected by
automatic sprinkler systems or an equivalent level of safety.
(ii) The first sentence of clause (i) shall not apply to the
lease of a building the construction of which is completed before
October 26, 1992, if the leasing agency certifies that no suitable
building with automatic sprinkler systems or an equivalent level of
safety is available at an affordable cost.
(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to -
(A) a Federal employee office building that was owned by the
Federal Government before October 26, 1992;
(B) space leased in a Federal employee office building if the
space was leased by the Federal Government before October 26,
1992;
(C) space leased on a temporary basis for not longer than 6
months;
(D) a Federal employee office building that becomes a Federal
employee office building pursuant to a commitment to move Federal
employees into the building that is made prior to October 26,
1992; or
(E) a Federal employee office building that is owned or managed
by the Resolution Trust Corporation.
Nothing in this subsection shall require the installation of an
automatic sprinkler system or equivalent level of safety by reason
of the leasing, after October 26, 1992, of space below the sixth
floor in a Federal employee office building.
(3) No Federal funds may be used for the renovation of a Federal
employee office building of 6 or more stories that is owned by the
Federal Government unless after that renovation the Federal
employee office building is protected by an automatic sprinkler
system or equivalent level of safety. No Federal funds may be used
for the renovation of any other Federal employee office building
that is owned by the Federal Government unless after that
renovation the hazardous areas of the Federal employee office
building are protected by automatic sprinkler systems or an
equivalent level of safety.
(4) No Federal funds may be used for entering into or renewing a
lease of a Federal employee office building of 6 or more stories
that is renovated after October 26, 1992, where at least some
portion of the federally leased space is on the sixth floor or
above and at least 35,000 square feet of space is federally
occupied, unless after that renovation the Federal employee office
building is protected by an automatic sprinkler system or
equivalent level of safety. No Federal funds may be used for
entering into or renewing a lease of any other Federal employee
office building that is renovated after October 26, 1992, unless
after that renovation the hazardous areas of the Federal employee
office building are protected by automatic sprinkler systems or an
equivalent level of safety.
(c) Housing
(1)(A) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, no Federal
funds may be used for the construction, purchase, lease, or
operation by the Federal Government of housing in the United States
for Federal employees or their dependents unless -
(i) in the case of a multifamily property acquired or rebuilt
by the Federal Government after October 26, 1992, the housing is
protected, before occupancy by Federal employees or their
dependents, by an automatic sprinkler system (or equivalent level
of safety) and hard-wired smoke detectors; and
(ii) in the case of any other housing, the housing, before -
(I) occupancy by the first Federal employees (or their
dependents) who do not occupy such housing as of October 26,
1992; or
(II) the expiration of 3 years after October 26, 1992,
whichever occurs first, is protected by hard-wired smoke
detectors.
(B) Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to supersede any
guidelines or requirements applicable to housing for Federal
employees that call for a higher level of fire safety protection
than is required under this paragraph.
(C) Housing covered by this paragraph that does not have an
adequate and reliable electrical system shall not be subject to the
requirement under subparagraph (A) for protection by hard-wired
smoke detectors, but shall be protected by battery operated smoke
detectors.
(D) If funding has been programmed or designated for the
demolition of housing covered by this paragraph, such housing shall
not be subject to the fire protection requirements of subparagraph
(A), but shall be protected by battery operated smoke detectors.
(2)(A)(i) Housing assistance may not be used in connection with
any newly constructed multifamily property, unless after the new
construction the multifamily property is protected by an automatic
sprinkler system and hard-wired smoke detectors.
(ii) For purposes of clause (i), the term "newly constructed
multifamily property" means a multifamily property of 4 or more
stories above ground level -
(I) that is newly constructed after October 26, 1992; and
(II) for which (a) housing assistance is used for such new
construction, or (b) a binding commitment is made, before
commencement of such construction, to provide housing assistance
for the newly constructed property.
(iii) Clause (i) shall not apply to any multifamily property for
which, before October 26, 1992, a binding commitment is made to
provide housing assistance for the new construction of the property
or for the newly constructed property.
(B)(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), housing assistance may
not be used in connection with any rebuilt multifamily property,
unless after the rebuilding the multifamily property complies with
the chapter on existing apartment buildings of National Fire
Protection Association Standard 101 (known as the Life Safety Code)
or any successor standard to that standard, as in effect at the
earlier of (I) the time of any approval by the Department of
Housing and Urban Development of the specific plan or budget for
rebuilding, or (II) the time that a binding commitment is made to
provide housing assistance for the rebuilt property.
(ii) If any rebuilt multifamily property is subject to, and in
compliance with, any provision of a State or local fire safety
standard or code that prevents compliance with a specific provision
of National Fire Protection Association Standard 101 or any
successor standard to that standard, the requirement under clause
(i) shall not apply with respect to such specific provision.
(iii) For purposes of this subparagraph, the term "rebuilt
multifamily property" means a multifamily property of 4 or more
stories above ground level -
(I) that is rebuilt after the last day of the second fiscal
year that ends after October 26, 1992; and
(II) for which (a) housing assistance is used for such
rebuilding, or (b) a binding commitment is made, before
commencement of such rebuilding, to provide housing assistance
for the rebuilt property.
(C) After the expiration of the 180-day period beginning on
October 26, 1992, housing assistance may not be used in connection
with any other dwelling unit, unless the unit is protected by a
hard-wired or battery-operated smoke detector. For purposes of this
subparagraph, housing assistance shall be considered to be used in
connection with a particular dwelling unit only if such assistance
is provided (i) for the particular unit, in the case of assistance
provided on a unit-by-unit basis, or (ii) for the multifamily
property in which the unit is located, in the case of assistance
provided on a structure-by-structure basis.
(d) Regulations
The Administrator of General Services, in cooperation with the
United States Fire Administration, the National Institute of
Standards and Technology, and the Department of Defense, within 2
years after October 26, 1992, shall promulgate regulations to
further define the term "equivalent level of safety", and shall, to
the extent practicable, base those regulations on nationally
recognized codes.
(e) State and local authority not limited
Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the power of
any State or political subdivision thereof to implement or enforce
any law, rule, regulation, or standard that establishes
requirements concerning fire prevention and control. Nothing in
this section shall be construed to reduce fire resistance
requirements which otherwise would have been required.
(f) Prefire plan
The head of any Federal agency that owns, leases, or operates a
building or housing unit with Federal funds shall invite the local
agency or voluntary organization having responsibility for fire
protection in the jurisdiction where the building or housing unit
is located to prepare, and biennially review, a prefire plan for
the building or housing unit.
(g) Reports to Congress
(1) Within 3 years after October 26, 1992, and every 3 years
thereafter, the Administrator of General Services shall transmit to
Congress a report on the level of fire safety in Federal employee
office buildings subject to fire safety requirements under this
section. Such report shall contain a description of such buildings
for each Federal agency.
(2) Within 10 years after October 26, 1992, each Federal agency
providing housing to Federal employees or housing assistance shall
submit a report to Congress on the progress of that agency in
implementing subsection (c) of this section and on plans for
continuing such implementation.
(3)(A) The National Institute of Standards and Technology shall
conduct a study and submit a report to Congress on the use, in
combination, of fire detection systems, fire suppression systems,
and compartmentation. Such study shall -
(i) quantify performance and reliability for fire detection
systems, fire suppression systems, and compartmentation,
including a field assessment of performance and determination of
conditions under which a reduction or elimination of 1 or more of
those systems would result in an unacceptable risk of fire loss;
and
(ii) include a comparative analysis and compartmentation using
fire resistive materials and compartmentation using
noncombustible materials.
(B) The National Institute of Standards and Technology shall
obtain funding from non-Federal sources in an amount equal to 25
percent of the cost of the study required by subparagraph (A).
Funding for the National Institute of Standards and Technology for
carrying out such study shall be derived from amounts otherwise
authorized to be appropriated, for the Building and Fire Research
Center at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, not
to exceed $750,000. The study shall commence until receipt of all
matching funds from non-Federal sources. The scope and extent of
the study shall be determined by the level of project funding. The
Institute shall submit a report to Congress on the study within 30
months after October 26, 1992.
(h) Relation to other requirements
In the implementation of this section, the process for meeting
space needs in urban areas shall continue to give first
consideration to a centralized community business area and adjacent
areas of similar character to the extent of any Federal requirement
therefor.
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