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Home My Public Portal About081-1980 - Amending Chapter 92 - Fire PreventionAMENDED ORDINANCE NO. 81-1980 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 92, FIRE PREVENTION, TITLE IX OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND, INDIANA TO REQUIRE INSTALLATION OF SMOKE DETECTORS AND ADDING THERETO A NEW SECTION 92.11 FIRE DETECTION EQUIPMENT AND FIXING THE TIME WHEN THE SAME SHALL TAKE EFFECT. WHEREAS, over 90% of the nation's building fire deaths occur in residential buildings; and WHEREAS, household fires are especially dangerous at night when the occupants are aleep; and WHEREAS, smoke detectors have the potential of reducing house fire deaths by over 40% by providing early warning to the occupants so they may escape in time; and WHEREAS, the earlier the fire is discovered the less property the fire can destroy before it is extinguished; and WHEREAS, the safety of residents of existing builds could be increased by requiring the installation of smoke detectors in those buildings; and WHEREAS, the sale of a residential property provides a reasonable time for requiring installation of such smoke detectors; and WHEREAS, the Municipal Building Code, Section 1310 (a) requires the install- ation of smoke detectors in apartment houses and guest rooms in a hotel. NOW THEREFORE, the Common Council of the City of Richmond, Indiana does hereby ordain and enact as follows: SECTION 1. That there be added to Chapter 92 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Richmond, Indiana a new Section titled 92.11, Fire Detection Equipment, to read as follows: SECTION 2. Definitions as used in this ordinance: (a) The term "dwelling unit" means a structure, building, area, room, or combination of rooms occupied by persons for sleeping or living excluding privately owned and occupied single family dwellings until time of sale. (b) The term "hospital" means a building or part thereof used for the medical, psychiatric, obstetrical or surgical care, on a twenty-four (24) hour basis, of inpatients. The term "hospital" includes general hospitals, mental hospitals, tuberculosis hospitals, children's hospitals, and any such facilities providing inpatient care. (c) The term "nursing home" means a building or part thereof used for the lodging, boarding and nursing care, on a twenty-four (24) hour basis, of persons who, because of mental or physical incapacity, may be unable to provide for their own needs and safety without the assistance of another person. The term "nursing home" includes nursing and convalescent hones, skilled nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities, and infirmaries of homes for the aged. (d) The term "owner" means any person who, alone, or jointly or severally with other persons, has legal title to any premises. (1) The term "owner" includes any person who has charge, care or control over any premises as (A) an agent, officer, fiduciary, or employee of the owner; (B) the camittee, conservator, or legal guardian of an owner who is non compos mentis, a minor, or otherwise under a disability; (C) a trustee, elected or appointed, or a person required by law to execute a trust, other than a trustee under a deed of trust to secure the payment of money; or (D) an executor, administrator, receiver, fiduciary, officer appointed by any court, or other similar representative of the owner or his estate. (2) The term "owner" does not include a lessee, sublessee or other person who merely has the right to occupy or possess a premises. (e) The term "residential -custodial care facility" means a building, or part thereof, used for the lodging or boarding of persons who are incapable of self-preservation because of age or physical or mental limitations, or who are detained for correctional purposes. (1) The term "residential -custodial care facility" includes homes for the aged, nurseries (custodial care for children under six (6) years of age), institutions for the mentally retarded (care institutions) and halfway houses, as well as sheltered living facilities and halfway houses. (2) The term "residential -custodial care facility" does not include day care facilities that do not provide lodging or boarding for institutional occupants. (f) The term "sleeping area" means a bedroom or room intended for sleeping, or a combination of bedrooms or rooms intended for sleeping within a dwelling unit, which are located on the same floor and are not separated by another habitable room, such as a living room, dining room or kitchen but not a bathroom, hallway or closet. A dwelling unit may have more than one sleeping area. The term "sleeping area" does not include common usage areas in structures with more than one dwelling unit, such as corridors, lobbies and basements. (g) The term "smoke detector" means a device which detects visible or invisible particles of combustion. (h) The term "substantially rehabilitated" means any improvement to a structure which is valued greater than one-half (1/2) of the assessed valuation of the property including the land. SECTION 3. General Requirements. The owner of an existing dwelling unit, hotel, motel, hospital, nursing home and residential -custodial care facility shall install smoke detectors as required by this ordinance. (a) The owner of each dwelling unit, hotel, motel, hospital, nursing home, jail, prison and residential -custodial care facility which is constructed or substantially rehabilitated under a building permit issued after the date of this ordinance shall install smoke detectors as required by law. (b) The owner of each dwelling unit, hotel, motel, hospital, nursing home, jail, prison and residential -custodial care facility, except as provided in subsections (a) of this section, shall install smoke detectors as required by this ordinance within one hundred eighty (180) days from the effective date of this ordinance. SECTION 4. Locations. (a) The owner of each dwelling unit shall install at least one (1) smoke detector to protect each sleeping area. In an efficiency, the owner shall install the smoke detector in the room used for sleeping. In all other dwelling units, the owner shall install the smoke detector outside the bedrooms but in the immediate vicinity of the sleeping area. (b) The owner of each hotel and motel shall install at least one (1) smoke detector to protect each guest room or guest suite. For the purpose of this paragraph, "guest suite" means a combination of rooms that are always -2- occupied as a single unit. The owner of the hotel or motel shall install the smoke detectors as directed by the Fire Chief of Richmond, Indiana. (c) The owner of each hospital, nursing home, jail, prison and residential -custodial care facility shall install smoke detectors as directed by the Fire Chief of Richmond, Indiana and as follows: (1) in each corridor that is adjacent to a room used for sleeping but in no case may the smoke detectors be spaced further apart than thirty (30) feet or more than fifteen (15) feet from any wall; or (2) in each roan used for sleeping. (d) An owner subject to this ordinance shall install each smoke detector on the ceiling at a minimum of six (6) inches from the wall, or on a wall at a minimum of six (6) inches from the ceiling. (e) An owner subject to this ordinance may not install a smoke detector in a dead air space, such as where the ceiling meets the wall. SECTION S. Equipment. An owner subject to this ordinance shall install a smoke detector which is capable of sensing visible or invisible particles of combustion and emitting an audible signal. The owner shall install a smoke detector which is of a type approved by the Fire Chief of Richmond, Indiana consistent with any appropriate federal regulations. SECTION 6. Installation. (a) The owner of each dwelling unit, hotel, motel, hospital, nursing home, jail, prison and residential -custodial care facility may directly wire the smoke detector to the power supply of the building; or (b) In each dwelling unit, hotel, motel, hospital, nursing home, jail, prison and residential -custodial care facility which is in existence on date of ordinance, or which is constructed under a building permit issued before one hundred eighty (180) days of date of ordinance, or which is substantially rehabilitated, the owner may install a smoke detector which operates from a plug-in outlet fitted with a plug restrainer device if the outlet is not controlled by an on -off switch and if the cord connecting the smoke detector with the outlet is not controlled by an on -off switch; or (c) In each dwelling unit, hotel, motel, hospital, nursing home, jail, prison and residential -custodial care facility which is in existence on date of ordinance, the owner may install a monitored battery powered smoke detector. SECTION 7. Maintenance. An owner subject to this ordinance shall maintain each smoke detector in a reliable operating condition and shall make periodic inspections and tests to insure that each smoke detector is in proper working condition. SECTION 8. Permits. No owner may permanently wire a smoke detector to the electrical system of a structure without first obtaining an electrical permit from the building commissioner. SECTION 9. No residential property may be sold or traded in the City of Richmond, Indiana unless and until the seller installs or provides for the installation of smoke detectors in accordance with Section 3, above, as applicable. This requirement may be met by the seller placing in the escrow account for the use of the buyer sufficient finds to pay for said installation. SECTION 10. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage and signing by the Mayor and publication as required by law. -3- PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Common Council of the City of Richmond, Indiana, this glz( day of ; 1980. J r ATTEST • , •lit)r'Cler PRESENTED by me, JoEllen Trimble, City,Clerk, to the Mayor of the City of Richmond, Indiana this 8-64 day of .�,. �, 1980. t ILJ APPROVED by me, Clif rd J. Dickman, Mayor of the City of Richmond, Indiana, this day of ��c?�,✓, 1980. Yo ATTEST: -4-