VILLE DE MONTRÉAL BY-LAW RCG 12-003 BY-LAW CONCERNING THE SERVICE DE SÉCURITÉ INCENDIE DE MONTRÉAL In view of section 62 of the Municipal Powers Act (R.S.Q., chapter C-47.1); In view of the Civil Protection Act (R.S.Q, chapter S-2.3), namely sections 12, 13 and 15; In view of subparagraph (a) of paragraph (8) of section 19 and section 54 of the Act respecting the exercise of certain municipal powers in certain urban agglomerations (R.S.Q., chapter E-20.001); In view of sections 48, 51 and 80 of schedule C to the Charter of Ville de Montréal (R.S.Q., chapter C-11.4); In view of paragraph (6) of article 1 of the By-law concerning departments (05-013); In view of the risk coverage plan adopted by the urban agglomeration council on December 18, 2008 (CG08 0657), namely program 2 titled Réglementation municipale aiming for the adoption and application of an urban agglomeration fire safety by-law; At its meeting of January 26, 2012, the urban agglomeration council enacts: CHAPTER I APPLICATION AND INTERPRETATION 1. This by-law applies to the territory of the urban agglomeration of Montréal. 2. In this by-law, the following words mean: director : the director of the Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal or any employee authorized to act on their behalf; dwelling unit : suite operated as a housekeeping unit, used or intended to be used by one or more persons and usually containing cooking, eating, living, sleeping and sanitary facilities; suite : a single room or series of rooms of complementary use, operated under a single tenancy, including single family homes, dwelling units, individual guest rooms in motels, hotels, boarding houses, rooming houses and dormitories as well as individual stores and individual or complementary rooms for business and personal services occupancies. RCG 12-003/1
CHAPTER II DIRECTOR S JURISDICTION 3. The director has jurisdiction to give notice to city departments, reconstituted municipalities, or third parties, in regard of fire safety, civil protection or any other topic under their expertise: (1) access routes for emergency vehicles and rescue delivery; (2) access to firefighting equipment, facilities and buildings; (3) the maximum permissible occupant load; (4) fire safety plans, emergency procedures and other documents necessary to coordinate interventions; (5) water supply for firefighting; (6) fire protection and rescue systems; (7) special fire risk protection; (8) storage and handling of dangerous materials; (9) fire safety and public safety measures as well as those for the protection of built heritage, those prior to the filming of a movie, special events or public meetings that present a risk of fire; (10) prior to the implementation of an equivalent measure, a different measure, or an alternate solution concerning requirements with respect to objects having an impact on fire safety or prevention; (11) civil protection elements in regard of territory development; (12) civil protection risk analysis and communication; (13) all other prevention, preparedness, intervention and restoration in case of a fire. CHAPTER III DIRECTOR S POWERS 4. The director may have access to any building, equipment, construction, facility or other premises, enter, visit and examine for the purposes of the application of any by-law provision regarding objects under their expertise. RCG 12-003/2
5. The director may, for the purposes of the application of any provision of a law or by-law regarding objects under their expertise, require any information, as well as any related document. 6. The director may carry out trials or take pictures or recordings in any building, equipment, construction facility or other premises. 7. The director may, following an intervention for the purposes of application of any by-law provision regarding objects under their expertise, require that a trial, an analysis or verification of a material, building, equipment, construction, facility or other premises be carried out so as to ensure compliance with the by-law. 8. In order to verify a fire safety plan or any other emergency measure under his expertise, the director may carry out drills or simulations. 9. All persons must allow the director to exercise the powers under this by-law, under any by-law that he is responsible for applying or under any provision of the Fire Safety Act (R.S.Q., Chapter S-3.4) and of the Civil Protection Act (R.S.Q, chapter S-2.3). Impeding or hindering in any way the exercise of powers under the first paragraph, namely by denying access to premises to the director, refusing to provide information or providing false information, constitute offences. 10. In case of grave or imminent danger, the director may issue a notice ordering the evacuation and closing of all or part of premises, a building, or a building not complying with the provision of a law or by-law concerning fire safety or prevention. 11. Where a building, structure, activity or situation creates a dangerous condition due to work, fire, lack of solidity or any other cause, all necessary measures must be taken to suppress that dangerous condition. 12. In the case of an emergency or in the case of failure to comply within the prescribed timeframe, or where the owner is unknown or cannot be found, the director may, in addition to all other recourses provided by a law or by-law, at the owner s expense make or have made any correction deemed necessary in order to comply with the provisions of a law or by-law concerning safety or fire prevention. The costs incurred by the city under the first paragraph constitute a prior claim on the immovable concerned, in the same way and with the same rank as the claims referred to in paragraph (5) of article 2651 of the Civil Code of Québec, and are also secured by a legal hypothec on the immovable. 13. The director may require a certificate of compliance or a signed certificate of inspection, as required by law, by a professional under the Professional Code (R.S.Q., Chapter C-26) authorized to do so, attesting to the compliance of a building element, a building, a facility, equipment or set-up he deems necessary. RCG 12-003/3
14. The director may require a certificate or technical expertise report allowing for the assessment of the safety or risk level of a material, construction element, device, system or technical process. CHAPTER IV ESSENTIAL STANDARDS 15. Means of egress must be maintained in good condition and may not be obstructed. 16. It is forbidden to add any element to a means of egress that reduces public safety 17. Equipment and fire protection and rescue systems must be maintained in good working order. 18. At least one functional smoke detector and in accordance with CAN/ULC-S531-02 must be installed: (1) in every sleeping room that is not part of a dwelling unit, except in care or detention occupancies equipped with a fire alarm system; (2) in every dwelling unit; (3) on every floor of a dwelling unit having more than one floor ; and (4) where a floor contains rooms, between the rooms and the remainder of the floor. If the rooms are accessible from a hallway, the smoke alarm must be installed in that hallway. Smoke alarms required under paragraph 1 must be permanently connected to an electrical circuit without a switch, except for the overcurrent device. 19. Required smoke alarms must: (1) be installed in accordance with CAN/ULC-S553-02; (2) be replaced 10 years after the manufacturing date marked by the manufacturer on the smoke alarm. They must also be replaced if the manufacturing date is not shown on the casing of the alarm, or if they are painted or defective. 20. occupants of a dwelling unit must maintain the smoke alarms and keep them in good working order, namely by replacing the batteries as needed. 21. In a residential building equipped with a fire alarm system, the good working order of smoke alarms must be verified and the results must be recorded at least once a year in accordance with article 29. RCG 12-003/4
22. Fire-department connections and fire hydrants must, at all times: (1) be visible and accessible; (2) be unobstructed for clear access by firefighters and their equipment on a distance of at least 1.5 m. 23. Fire-department connections must be identified so as to show the system they service and, as the case may be, the portion of the building they protect. 24. Where a fire-department connection is not visible on the main façade of a building, posters showing their location from the public thoroughfare must be installed. 25. Where the sign indicating a fire alarm system is not visible from a building s main entrance, a poster must be installed at the main entrance. 26. In a building equipped with a fire alarm system, the contact information of a person in charge in case of an emergency must be provided on or near the system s control panel. 27. The civic number identifying a building must be installed so as to be legible from the public thoroughfare. 28. Any panel, notice, poster or other document posted by the director, or that they are required to post under this by-law, must be maintained in good condition and easily legible. Any person who smudges, alters, tears, removes, or renders illegible in any way a notice covered under the first paragraph, is guilty of an offence. 29. A copy of the records of trials, inspections or operations related to the maintenance or operation of equipment and protection and rescue systems must be kept on the same premises as the equipment an systems they pertain to, in accordance with the following requirements: (1) the results of the initial inspection or the activation report of every system must be kept for the entire useful life of the systems concerned; (2) records of trials, inspections or operations related to the maintenance or operation after the initial trials mentioned in paragraph (1) must be kept in such a way that at least the current and previous record are available; (3) despite paragraphs (1) and (2), no record may be destroyed before the prescribed 2-year term. The records covered by the first paragraph must be accessible on request. RCG 12-003/5
CHAPTER V SPECIAL EVENTS AND DANGEROUS ACTIVITIES 30. The following activities and those of the same nature are forbidden unless prior authorization is given by the director: (1) bonfires, fireplace fires, brazier fires, pyre fires and other open-air fires; (2) pyrotechnic fireworks; (3) processions using fire, flames, or pyrotechnics; (4) artistic performances using fire, flames or pyrotechnics; (5) visual effects using fire, flames or pyrotechnics, namely for presentations, shows, film shootings or other productions. The first paragraph does not apply to the domestic use of an appliance certified for that purpose, such as a barbecue, a terrace heater and other similar appliances. The director gives the authorization when it is shown, as part of a special event, that the necessary safety measures are planned with respect to civil protection and the safety of built heritage. They may impose, along with the authorization, any condition necessary for the safety of the activity or event. Authorization is conditional upon compliance with those conditions. The authorization obtained under this article does not release the activity from the obligation to comply to any other applicable law or by-law. 31. Where a street or an access way is closed to vehicular traffic, a path of at least 6 m in width and 5 m in height, along the center of the street or access way, must be accessible at all times to emergency vehicles. This article does not apply if the street or pathway is temporarily closed due to work, and that access to emergency vehicles is otherwise ensured. CHAPTER VI FIRE RISK GENERATORS 32. The director s approval is required prior to their implementation: (1) measures planned in order to give notice to the public as required under the Environmental Emergency Regulations (DORS/2003-307); (2) the procedure for warning authorities required under the Civil Protection Act (R.S.Q., Chapter S-2.3). RCG 12-003/6
These measures or procedures are approved by the director if they are compatible with the measures of the Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal. 33. An up-to-date copy of the environmental emergency plan required under the Environmental Emergency Regulations (DORS/2003-307) must be provided to the Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal. CHAPTER VII OFFENCES AND SANCTIONS 34. Unless otherwise provided, the owner of an immovable or their authorized agent must comply with all standards in regard to immovables under this by-law. 35. Any person who refuses or fails to comply, within the prescribed timeframe, to any order or condition imposed under this by-law is guilty of an offence. 36. Subject to article 37, any person who contravenes this by-law is guilty of an offence and is liable: (1) in the case of an individual: a) for a first offence, to a fine of $500 to $1,000; b) for a subsequent offence, to a fine of $1,000 to $2,000; (2) in the case of a corporation : a) for a first offence, to a fine of $1,000 to $2,000; b) for a subsequent offence, to a fine of $2,000 to $4,000. Note: The provision highlighted in gray is not yet in effect as it requires government approval. 37. Any person who contravenes articles 18, 19 or 20 is guilty of an offence and is liable to a fine of $250 for each dwelling unit or room where the offence is committed. For a subsequent offence, the fine is $500 for each dwelling unit or room where the offence is committed. CHAPTER VIII MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 38. This by-law repeals all prior provisions regarding interventions by a fire safety service, its role and responsibilities, namely those pertaining to inspections, visits and the methods of service of documents. RCG 12-003/7
Without restricting the scope of the first paragraph, this by-law repeals: (1) the By-law providing for certain fire prevention and public safety measures (R.B.C.M., Chapter M-3); (2) articles 64.43, 64.44 of the By-law concerning the sanitation and maintenance of dwelling units (03-096). 39. This by-law does not limit normative requirements imposed by other by-laws. 40. In case of a discrepancy between a provision of this by-law and any other applicable by-law provision, the provision of this by-law prevails. The public notice relating to all provisions of this by-law, except paragraph (2) of article 32, was posted at city hall and published in The Gazette on February 1, 2012. Paragraph (2) of article 32 requires government approval, under section 15 of the Civil Protection Act (R.S.Q, chapter S-2.3). RCG 12-003/8