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| Published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
The 2009 NFPA 1: Fire Code Handbook has the extra information you need to fully understand Code requirements and implement or enforce them effectively.
Give your community the high level of protection it deserves! Make sure you're ready to apply new fire and life safety requirements right the first time with answers and solutions on demand in the 2009 Uniform Fire Code Handbook.
This complete source of expert 2009 Uniform Fire Code support includes:
- The full 2009 Uniform Fire Code text.
- Authoritative commentary with explanations of the rationale behind provisions plus examples of how to apply requirements in specific situations.
- Hundreds of two-color charts, tables, and illustrations plus four-color photographs that clarify concepts.
- A web address linking you to dozens of time-saving interactive forms, ordinances, and checklists.
- Time-saving code and commentary indexes.
- A handy guide on the inside front and back covers that details how to use all the Handbook features.
Whether you're a code official, inspector, fire marshal, AHJ, facility manager, or anyone concerned with public safety, the 2009 NFPA 1 Uniform Fire Code Handbook is your key to solid Uniform Fire Code knowledge for increased public safety and job success.
From the Preface
The 2009 edition of NFPA 1, Uniform Fire Code, contains requirements from updated and additional text extracted from other NFPA codes and standards and from new requirements. Because the Code relies so heavily on extracted text from other documents, the Code has the advantage of reflecting the technical knowledge and expertise of the many committees responsible for the codes and standards from which the text is extracted. This Code is intended to provide local and state jurisdictions with an effective fire code.
The Code is presented in six parts: Administrative, General, Occupancy, Processes, Equipment, and Hazardous Materials, making it more user-friendly. Additional requirements and references were added pertaining to fire safety issues not previously addressed.
This edition of the handbook is based on the 2009 edition of the Code. The Code consists of 73 chapters (18 are reserved for future topics). The new chapters for this edition are Chapter 35, Animal Housing Facilities, and Chapter 40, Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention, which contains expanded provisions from NFPA 654, Standard for the Prevention of Fire and Dust Explosions from the Manufacturing, Processing, and Handling of Combustible Particulate Solids. The new annexes for this edition are Annex O, In-Building Public Safety Radio Enhancement Systems; Annex P, Fire Department Service Delivery Concurrency Evaluation; and Annex Q, Fire Fighter Safety Building Marking System.
The editors developed the explanatory material in this handbook, relying on the expertise of NFPA technical committees, many independent subject matter specialists, and NFPA technical staff. Much of the commentary text clarifies the Code requirements as well as the Annex material in the various codes and standards from which the requirements were extracted.
In previous editions, the handbook contained supplements of occupancy inspection forms for use by the fire inspector. We have reformatted some forms from the Code, including Annex D, Hazardous Materials Management Plan, and Annex C, the Sample Ordinance Adopting the NFPA 1, Fire Code, and put them on NFPA's website.
Some annexes previously in the 2006 edition of the Code were removed from the 2009 edition of the Code, including Annex E, Model Citation Program; Annex F, Model Fees and Charges Program; Annex J, Protection of Outdoor Storage; Annex M, Recommendations for Fighting Rubber Tire Fires in Sprinklered Buildings; and Annex N, AHJ Minimum Qualifications and Job Descriptions for Code Enforcement Personnel. These annexes have been placed on the website for the user to use. Annex H, Fire Flow Requirements for Buildings was incorporated into Chapter 18 as Section 18.4. Duplication and use of these forms are permitted, or they can be used as a basis for developing forms that are relevant to a particular jurisdiction.
The Code has changed significantly since the first issuance in 1925 of NFPA 1L, Fire Prevention Bureau Ordinance. With the first edition, fire departments had regulations for establishing a fire prevention bureau and a means for staffing that bureau. NFPA 1L also defined the bureau’s powers and duties. With the Ordinance in place, a fire department was responsible for enforcing all laws and ordinances covering the prevention of fires, the storage and use of explosives and flammables, the installation and maintenance of fire alarm systems and fire-extinguishing equipment, the maintenance and regulation of fire escapes, and the means and adequacy of exits in case of fire. The fire department was also given responsibility for the investigation of the cause, origin, and circumstances of fires. NFPA 1L remained as an NFPA document until 1973.
NFPA 1, Fire Prevention Code, was developed as a result of NFPA members' requesting a document that would cover all aspects of fire protection and prevention and support the adoption and utilization of other NFPA codes and standards. The NFPA Board of Directors requested that staff initiate work in 1971 to develop such a document. The result of that work was then given to a newly formed technical committee that assumed responsibility for the draft and processed the proposed Code following the NFPA Regulations Governing Committee Projects. The first edition of NFPA 1, Fire Prevention Code, was adopted and published in 1975.
The original 1975 Code served as a guide for the development of a local fire prevention code. The appendixes could be incorporated into the local code as desired by the local officials. Appendix A listed NFPA codes and standards that were suitable for inclusion in a fire prevention code and a recommendation that the codes and standards be adopted in their entirety as a supplement to the code text of NFPA 1.
In the late 1980s, the Fire Marshals Association of North America (FMANA), now known as the International Fire Marshals Association (IFMA), undertook the task of developing a more self-contained code. FMANA added administrative sections, extracted text from many of those codes and standards that fire inspectors would need to use in the field, and incorporated appropriate NFPA codes and standards by reference. That draft was submitted as a proposal to the NFPA Technical Committee on Fire Prevention Code. The committee examined changes impacting the built environment and used input from FMANA to change the scope and content of the Code to provide a comprehensive document for the protection of life and property. A special task group on hazardous materials examined technological changes in the use, handling, and storage of flammable and combustible materials. In chapters in which extracted hazardous materials requirements appear, greater emphasis was placed on protection of life and property from chemical products made and used in industry. This major rewrite resulted in the 1992 edition of the NFPA 1, Fire Prevention Code.
NFPA and WFCA formed an alliance to jointly develop a comprehensive fire code. NFPA and WFCA appointed an Ad Hoc Task Group of ten fire code enforcement officials to review the provisions of UFC and NFPA 1 to identify requirements to be included in the draft of the new code in accordance with the agreement between the organizations. Over the course of nine months, the Ad Hoc Task Group volunteered hundreds of hours of time and expertise to create the draft.
This edition of the handbook provides a complete discussion of the provisions of NFPA 1, Uniform Fire Code. The commentary is not a substitute for the actual requirements in the Code or the text of the many codes and standards that are incorporated by reference in this Code. NFPA's other code handbooks are also valuable sources of information on requirements in this Code.
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