This article originally appeared in the October 2024 issue of Security Business magazine. Don’t forget to mention Security Business magazine on LinkedIn and @SecBusinessMag on Twitter if you share it.
The United States does not have a federally mandated set of rules for the fire alarm industry; instead, we have a patchwork of rules that vary across all 50 states and more than 80,000 jurisdictions.
Over the last year, I’ve explained five essential types of fire alarm rules. I’ll get to the sixth and final type in my December column, but this month, let’s examine ways that rules become enforceable.
First, let’s review the five categories so far.
- Manufacturers use product rules, which primarily consist of rules for devices and equipment. These are evidenced by a product listing, like UL 864 for fire alarm control units.
- Fire alarm engineers use what rules. These rules dictate what needs to be installed in a building. A common example is the International Fire Code (IFC).
- How rules are used by anyone installing, inspecting, or servicing a fire alarm system. NFPA 72 – National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code is a prime example.
- Many individuals are required to operate under a license and comply with licensing rules. The rules for individuals vary by location and there is not much conformity around the U.S. Independent certification organizations like NICET are trying to improve the standardization of these rules.
- In my last column, I introduced regulations that apply to companies. These are often enforced at the state level and tend to focus more on registration and insurance.
Each of the rule books that have been mentioned – UL 864, NFPA 72, the IFC, and so on – are all “model” codes. The organizations that write these rules have zero authority to enforce them. Note: I covered Uniform Facilities Criteria (UFC) in my column on what rules. The UFC isn't a model code. The UFC was written by and for the federal government. The federal government has authority to enforce its own rules on its own property.
Rule Enforcement
The only way any set of rules, codes or even specifications can be enforced is if an organization with authority chooses to use those rules. There are two ways an organization can gain authority: By government and by contract.
Governmental authorities have jurisdiction over a specific area. This is where the term “authority having jurisdiction” comes from (AHJ for short). You will hear that term a lot.
When an AHJ – like a city or a state – passes a law adopting a model code or any of the first five categories of rules, it becomes enforceable in their jurisdiction. At the state level, this is typically a statute. At the city level, it is usually called an ordinance.
Some states legislate fire alarm rules that govern everywhere the state has authority – basically everywhere in the state except for federal property and tribal lands. Other states prefer a more decentralized approach and leave it up to individual counties, parishes, cities, and towns to set their own fire alarm rules.
The responsibility for enforcing an AHJ’s fire alarm rules is typically assigned to an individual with the title or role of Fire Marshal. The Fire Marshal's job is to interpret and enforce the rules of their AHJ. It is also common to refer to the Fire Marshal as the AHJ since they have both authority and jurisdiction.
Model codes are either adopted directly or by reference. Often, just adopting a what code like the IFC or NFPA 101 is enough. Other model codes – particularly the how codes like NFPA 70 and NFPA 72 – will get brought in via reference from within the what code.
When working on a fire alarm job, it is important to know what jurisdiction you are in and every specific set of fire alarm rules that jurisdiction has adopted. You aren’t likely to find a law adopting “The IFC” in blanket terms. Instead, the statute or ordinance will refer to a specific edition. Most model codes – including the I-Codes and the NFPA codes – are updated every three years. It is not uncommon for an AHJ to be enforcing an outdated edition of the code.
It is also common for model what codes to be amended. There are even model amendments, like those published by the North Central Texas Council of Governments (https://www.nctcog.org/envir/regional-building-codes/amendments). If you’re bidding or designing a system, watch out for more strict requirements that may be in the amendments.
In my next column, I’ll explore the last category of rules: contracts.
