Title
An Ordinance Amending Ordinance 20-2005 to Update the Fire Codes to the International Fire Code, 2021 Edition
Summary
Council may choose to suspend the rules for the immediate adoption of this ordinance.
Body
Whereas, the State of Alabama has updated and adopted the State Fire Code from the 2015 to the 2021 Edition of the International Fire Code, and
Whereas, the Foley Fire Department needs to upgrade the Fire Code Section of the City of Foley Technical Codes Adopted to the 2021 edition of the International Fire Code in order to be compatible with the State Fire Code, and
Whereas, the 2021 Edition of the International Fire Code can be viewed in its entirety at:
https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IFC2021P2
BE IT ORDAINED by the Mayor and Council of the City of Foley, Alabama at its meeting on the 17th day of January, 2023 as follows:
SECTION 1: The following code or portions of codes be, and the same are hereby, approved and adopted by reference, except for the changes and exclusions listed (if any):
Fire Codes:
(e) International Fire Code, 2021 Edition; and Appendices A, B, C, D, F, H and I; provided, however, the following sections are amended to read as follows and/or added to said code:
Section 110.4 Fire Code Violations amended to Section 112.4
Section 112.4 Failure to comply amended to Section 113.4
SECTION 2: Approves and adopts the following Fire Code upgrades:
International Fire Code: 2021 Codes
The 2021 International Fire Code revises the 2018 edition of the same document. It has gone through the following changes of note:
Requirements for additive manufacturing (3D printing) operations were provided.
• Flame propagation performance of permanently installed artificial combustible vegetation on roofs or in close proximity to buildings is now required to be verified when surpassing certain heights.
• High-rise retrofits. This change adds language in IFC Chapter 11 that requires existing high-rise buildings over 120’ to retrofit with fire sprinklers. High-rise less than 120’ (to 75’) have the option to provide a second stairway, a full fire alarm system, or a retrofit with fire sprinklers.
• High-piled storage frequency inspections. This change added text to IFC that requires an anneal nine-point inspection of high-piled storage buildings to maintain the approved storage arrangement, commodities, and fire protection.
• Revisions were made to provisions for emergency responder communications to reflect their expansion beyond radio systems.
• Clarifications were made to sprinkler requirements for the storage, manufacture, and sale of upholstered furniture and mattresses.
• New requirement was added for an automatic sprinkler system in open parking garages exceeding a certain fire area threshold.
• Energy storage system (ESS) requirements were refined. New Chapter 40, “Storage of Distilled Spirits and Wines” was added.
• Construction fire safety provisions were reorganized and expanded with an emphasis on the owner’s responsibilities.
International Fire Code: 2018 Changes
For anyone needing to make use of the previous edition of this code, some of the major changes to the 2018 International Fire Code included:
• Hazards related to outdoor pallet storage, higher education laboratories, mobile food
trucks, and plant processing and extraction activities were addressed by new
provisions.
• New thresholds related to fire areas have been introduced for sprinkler protection of Group E occupancies.
• Manual fire alarm systems in Group A occupancies became needed not only when the
occupant load is 300 or more but also where the occupant load exceeds 100 above
or below the lowest level of exit discharge.
• A manual fire alarm system and an automatic smoke detection system became no longer needed in Group R-4 occupancies.
• Mass Notification Requirements for college and university buildings was added. New
Chapter 12 on Energy Systems - for the installation, operation and maintenance of
energy systems used for generating or storing energy - was added.
• Guidelines for gas detection systems were revised to more accurately reflect industry
practice.