FIRE ALARM IN APT. & HISTORIC BLDG. - S.B. 337-339: COMMITTEE SUMMARY
sans-serif">Senate Bills 337, 338, and 339 (as introduced 3-25-03)
Sponsor: Senator Shirley Johnson (S.B. 337 & 338)
Senator Michael D. Bishop (S.B. 339)
Committee: Local, Urban and State Affairs
CONTENT
The bills would amend three statutes to require that multiple dwelling units and historic structures be equipped with a fire alarm system. Under each bill, a “fire alarm system” would be a system designed to detect and annunciate the presence of fire, or byproducts of fire, and would include smoke detectors.
Senate Bill 337
The bill would amend the Housing Law of Michigan to require each dwelling unit contained within a class A multiple dwelling to be equipped with a fire alarm system. Under the bill, a “dwelling unit” would be one or more rooms used by one or more individuals living together as a single housekeeping unit containing cooking, living, sanitary, and sleeping facilities. (Under the Law, a class A multiple dwelling is a dwelling “occupied more or less permanently for residence purpose by several families”, in which cooking, toilet, and kitchen sink accommodations are contained within separate apartments, suites, or groups of rooms. Class A multiple dwellings include tenement houses, apartment houses, duplex apartments, apartment hotels, and similarly occupied dwellings.)
A person owning or managing a class A multiple dwelling would have to comply with the bill. A person who violated the bill would be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500, imprisonment for up to 90 days, or both.
A class A multiple dwelling constructed before the bill’s effective date would have one year from that date to comply with the bill. An existing building that was converted to a class A multiple dwelling after the bill’s effective date would have to comply with the bill subject to the requirements that could be imposed by the Single State Construction Code Act.
Under the bill, the fire alarm system in a dwelling unit would have to comply with the standards prescribed in the National Fire Prevention Code published by the National Fire Prevention Association. The bill also provides that a fire alarm system could be battery operated by a self-motivated battery; operated in a plug-in outlet that was fitted with a plug restrainer device, provided the outlet was not controlled by a switch other than the main electric power supply; or wired directly to the building electric supply and not controlled by a switch other than the main electric power supply.
Senate Bill 338
The bill would amend the downtown development authority Act to provide that the preservation of facilities, buildings, or structures determined by a municipality to be historic sites would have to include, at a minimum, equipping the site with a fire alarm system.
Under the Act, a public facility, building, or structure that is determined by the municipality to have significant historical interests must be preserved in a manner as considered necessary by the municipality, in accordance with laws relative to the preservation of historical sites.
Senate Bill 339
The bill would amend the Local Historic Districts Act to prohibit a historic district study committee from recommending the establishment of any historic district unless each building, facility, or structure within the proposed district was equipped with a fire alarm system.
Under the Act, a local unit may establish a historic district; that is, an area or group of areas that contain resources that are related by history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, or culture. To establish a historic district, a local unit must appoint a historic district study committee, which must comply with the Act.
Proposed MCL 125.482a (S.B. 337) - Legislative Analyst: George Towne
MCL 125.1651 & 125.1679 (S.B. 338)
399.201 a & 399.203 (S.B. 339)
FISCAL IMPACT
The bills would have no fiscal impact on State or local government.
- Fiscal Analyst: David ZinS0304\s337sa
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.