Maryland Adopts Latest ‘Uniform Fire’ and ‘Life Safety’ Codes

The state of Maryland has adopted the most recent editions of the following codes: NFPA 1, Uniform Fire Code; NFPA 101, Life Safety Code; the latest edition of NFPA 70, National Electrical Code and several other NFPA documents.

All codes became effective for the state Jan. 1, 2007.

Recognized worldwide and adopted statewide in 20 states, NFPA 1, Uniform Fire Code provides requirements necessary to establish a reasonable level of fire safety and property protection from hazards created by fire and explosion. Its primary purposes are to address basic fire prevention requirements and to reference or extract the fire prevention and protection aspects of many other NFPA codes and standards.
 
“Maryland’s implementation of the lat¬est editions of NFPA 1, NFPA 101 and several other documents provides us with the tools necessary to continue providing the highest level of protection for the peo¬ple of our state,” said William E. Barnard, Maryland state fire marshal.

NFPA’s Life Safety Code, used in every U.S. state and adopted statewide in 39 states, sets minimum building design, construction, operation and maintenance requirements necessary to protect building occupants from dangers caused by fire, smoke and toxic fumes. The Life Safety Code also provides prompt escape require¬ments for new and existing buildings.

Maryland has already participated in a training program developed by NFPA and offered to states that have adopted NFPA 1, NFPA 101 and other key NFPA codes and standards.
 

NFPA Board Appoints Four to Standards Council

The National Fire Protection Associa­tion (NFPA) board of directors has ap-Association’s Standards Council. They are: James W. Carpenter of Plano, TX; Ronald R. Farr of Otsego, MI; Roland J. Huggins of Dallas, TX; and Fred M. Leber of Toronto, Canada.

All appointments were effective January 1, 2007.

Carpenter is CEO and executive direc­tor of the International Association of Electrical Inspectors and is the chair of NFPA’s Technical Correlating Commit­tee of the National Electrical Code. He most recently served as chief electrical engineer and state electrical inspector for the North Carolina Dept. of Insurance where he has over 20 years experience as an electrical inspector in North Carolina during which he administered and con­sulted on the requirements of the state electrical code.

Huggins, vice president of engineering and technical services for the American Fire Sprinkler Association, directs a staff charged with providing technical support. His responsibilities include directing ac­tivities of over 30 AFSA representatives codes and standards process.

National activities include: chair of NFPA’s Building Fire Safety Systems section, on the National Fire Protection Research Foundation Research Advisory Council for Suppression Systems and a variety of their research projects, the UL Standards Technical Panel responsible for eight UL test standards, and the SFPE task group that developed the Perfor­mance Based Design Guide. Huggins is a Vietnam-era veteran.

Leber is co-founder and chief executive officer of Leber/Rubes, Inc., a consulting engineering firm offering fire protection engineering services. During his 30 years in the fire protection and security industry, he gained expertise in large scale elec­tronic and mechanical systems application, early warning fire detection systems and special hazard applications engineering.

Leber chairs several technical commit­tees, is a fellow of the Society of Fire Pro­tection Engineers and Canadian Chair of ISO/TC21 and ISO/TC21/SC3.

Farr, fire chief/fire marshal in Kalamazoo

nearly 40 years of experience with the fire service and is chair of NFPA’s Technical Committee on Uniform Fire Code. In 2002, he served as deputy director of the Olympic Fire Marshals Task Group for the Winter Olympics in the Park City, Utah area. Farr is a past president of the International Fire Marshals Association, past president and current secretary/trea-surer of Michigan Fire Inspectors Soci­ety and a former recipient of the NFPA President’s Award and the IFMA Percy Bugbee Award.

NFPA’s Standards Council is made up of 13 individuals whose primary respon­sibility is to oversee the development ac­tivities of NFPA codes and standards, administer the rules and regulations, and serve as an appeals body.

Steelcase Certified for Low Emissions IAQ

Steelcase Inc., an office environments manufacturer, has announced that over 20 of its product lines have received In­door Advantage certifications from Sci­entific Certification Systems (SCS), an independent third-party certifier.

The Indoor Advantage certification program confirms adherence to specific indoor air quality emission requirements and recognizes companies that excel in this environmental initiative.

The Indoor Advantage certification program is applicable to any non-flooring product generally used within an enclosed indoor environment including wall cov­erings, systems furniture, casegoods and insulation.

Indoor Advantage offers two different certifications — Indoor Advantage and Indoor Advantage Gold. Indoor Advan­tage demonstrates conformance with the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association (BIFMA) and

U.S. Green Building Council’s Leader-ship in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criterion.

In addition to BIFMA and LEED, In­door Advantage Gold also demonstrates conformance to California 01350 crite­rion. California 01350 is a special envi­ronmental standard specification developed by the state of California to cover key environmental performance is­sues related to the selection and handling of building materials.

The SCS Indoor Advantage Certifica­tion program offers a highly transparent and independent indoor air quality test­ing and certification method. It follows strict auditing protocols, accepts data only from pre-qualified laboratories, and has a proven track record in verifying manufacturer’s environmental claims.