Life Safety Codes for Assisted Living Facilities Doug Hohbein Chief Plans Examiner Nebraska State Fire Marshal s Office doug.hohbein@nebraska.gov 402-471-9474 Assisted Living Facilities Receive annual inspections from the State Fire Marshal or Delegated Authority New construction, remodeling, additions or changes to the use of spaces must be approved prior to construction Submit plans to the State Fire Marshal s Office or delegated authority For more information: www.sfm.ne.gov Codes, Codes, Codes 2000 Edition of the Life Safety Code NFPA 101 www.nfpa.org ALF s classified as: Limited Care Facility or Residential Board and Care 1
The Choice is Yours Administrator determines classification Inspector verifies compliance Limited Care Facility (LCF) Requirements similar to Nursing Home Residential Board and Care (RBC) Requirements similar to apartment See Handout A change of occupancy from RBC to LCF requires compliance with the requirements of new construction Limited Care Facility Six foot wide corridors Smoke Barriers Full fire sprinkler system (NFPA 13) Construction type See handout Residential Board and Care No construction limitations NFPA 13R fire sprinkler system Corridor walls ½ hour fire rated Corridor doors 20 minute fire rated See handout 2
RBC Fire Drills Must conduct Six fire drills every year All residents must reach a point of safety in 13 minutes or less All residents must physically participate in drills and reach a point of safety with little to no assistance Must conduct drills at varying times (2 at night) Use different egress path for every drill, if possible Residents may be informed in advance of drill Point of Safety 1. Exterior to, and away from the building 2. Within an exit enclosure (stairway) 3. Within another portion of the building separated by a 20 minute rated smoke barrier # s 2 & 3 can be used only if building is fire sprinkler protected or there is 1 hour structural fire protection Maintaining RBC Classification Will be evaluated annually by inspection of records If a drill takes more than 13 minutes Classification changes to Limited Care Facility or; Improve drill times by; Adding staff to assist Removing resident(s) who are unable to participate in drills Use admission and retention policies to insure compliance as residents age in place 3
Fire Drills, Limited Care Facilities Must be conducted as a Health Care occupancy 12 drills per year (1 per shift quarterly) Drills involve staff only. No evacuation of residents required ALL drills, regardless of occupancy classification must be documented Fire Drills How Not to Run a Fire Drill We Have Issues Alcohol-based hand sanitizers Kitchen hoods/protection Candles Candle Warmers, Space Heaters, etc. Electric Blankets Christmas Trees/decorations Oxygen 4
Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizers Permitted in corridors of Limited Care Facilities with restrictions Not permitted in corridors of Residential Board and Care Occupancies See O.I. 05-04 Kitchen Hoods/Protection Cooking equipment that produces smoke or grease-laden vapors must be protected Residential cooking equipment used only for food warming or limited cooking is not required to be protected unless the occupancy served is an assembly (>50 people) These requirements do not apply to small RBC Occupancies (16 or fewer occupants) Cooking equipment in LCF must be separated from corridors by smoketight construction See O.I. 03-02 Candles Not permitted in Assisted Living Facilities See O.I. 03-03 5
Candle Warmers, Space Heaters, etc. Portable heaters are not permitted in a sleeping rooms Other portable heating devices must be carefully regulated See O.I. 05-06 Electric Blankets and Heating Pads Unless mandated by a physician they are not permitted in a Limited Care Facility Strongly discouraged in Residential Board and Care Occupancies Christmas Trees and Decorations Natural cut trees and live decorations are not permitted in any Assisted Living Facility Artificial trees must be labeled as flame retardant or fire resistant Lights must be UL listed Applies to trees, wreaths and similar decorations http://www.fire.nist.gov/tree_fire.htm 6
Storage and use must meet NFPA 99 in LCF Special provisions for liquid oxygen See handout Oxygen Questions? 7