[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of West
Haven 1-27-1969 by Ord. No. 95. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Amended 2-27-1989 by Ord. No. 278]
There is hereby adopted by the City of West Haven, for the purpose of prescribing regulations governing conditions hazardous to life and property from fire or explosion, that certain code known as the "Fire Prevention Code," recommended by the American Insurance Association, being particularly the 1976 Edition thereof and the whole thereof, and the October 1976 revision thereof and such further revisions and/or republications as may hereafter take place, save and except such portions as are hereinafter deleted, modified or amended by § 105-4 of this chapter, and the same are hereby adopted and incorporated as fully as if set out at length herein, and, from the date on which this chapter shall take effect, the provisions hereof shall be controlling within the corporate limits of the City of West Haven.
A.
The Fire Prevention Code shall be enforced by the Bureau of Fire
Prevention in the Fire Departments of the respective fire districts
of the City of West Haven.
B.
A report of the Bureau of Fire Prevention shall be made annually
and transmitted to the Board of Fire Commissioners of the respective
fire districts.
As used in the Fire Prevention Code, the following terms shall
have the meanings indicated:
The Fire Marshal.
The Corporation Counsel of the City of West Haven or any
of his assistants duly authorized to act for him.
The City of West Haven.
(Reserved)
[1]
Editor's Note: Amendments, revisions and deletions to
the 1965 Edition of the Fire Prevention Code and the 1986 revision
thereof were not included at the time of publication of the Code as
amendments, revisions and deletions to the 1976 revision of the Fire
Prevention Code are under review of the City Council. Upon completion
of said review, such amendments, revisions and deletions to the 1976
revision will be included herein.
The Fire Marshal shall have power to modify any of the provisions
of the Fire Prevention Code upon application, in writing, by the owner
or lessee or his duly authorized agent when there are practical difficulties
in the way of carrying out the strict letter of the code, provided
that the spirit of the code shall be observed, public safety secured
and substantial justice done. The particulars of such modification,
when granted or allowed, and the decision of the Fire Marshal thereon
shall be entered upon the records of the Department, and a signed
copy shall be furnished to the applicant.
Whenever the Chief of the Bureau of Fire Prevention shall disapprove
an application or refuse to grant a permit applied for or when it
is claimed that the provisions of the code do not apply or that the
true intent and meaning of the code have been misconstrued or wrongly
interpreted, the applicant may appeal from the decision of the Chief
of the Bureau of Fire Prevention to an Appeals Board of the three
District Fire Chiefs within 30 days from the date of the decision
appealed.
Any person, firm or corporation selling or leasing fire-prevention
material, fire-extinguishment equipment or fire-detection systems
not connected to the municipal fire alarm systems shall first register
with the Chief of the Bureau of Fire Prevention and receive a permit
to solicit in the City of West Haven.
A.
Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of the code hereby
adopted or shall fail to have complied herewith or who shall violate
or fail to comply with any order made thereunder or who shall build
in violation of any detailed statement of specifications or plans
submitted and approved thereunder or any certificate or permit issued
thereunder and from which no appeal has been taken or who shall fail
to comply with such an order as affirmed or modified by the Appeals
Board of the three District Fire Chiefs or by a court of competent
jurisdiction, within the time fixed herein, shall severally, for each
and every such violation and noncompliance respectively, be guilty
of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than $50 or by
imprisonment. The imposition of one penalty for any violation shall
not excuse the violation or permit it to continue, and all such persons
shall be required to correct or remedy such violations or defects
within a reasonable time; and when not otherwise specified, each 10
days that prohibited conditions are maintained shall constitute a
separate offense.
B.
The application of the above penalty shall not be held to prevent
the enforced removal of prohibited conditions.
[Added 10-27-2014]
The owner of any commercial, industrial, multifamily or one-
or two-family residential structure having an identified wooden truss
assembly shall be required to mount warning signs meeting the following
minimum requirements.
A.
Size and construction. Each sign required to be installed shall be
a minimum of four-inch-by-six-inch piece of aluminum or stainless
steel stock plate with a minimum thickness of 1/8 inch. On said sign
shall be a firefighter Maltese cross symbol and in the center of the
cross either the letters "R" "F" or "RF" to symbolize roof truss construction,
floor truss construction or roof and floor truss construction respectively.
B.
Mounting locations and height from finished grade. A sign shall be
mounted directly to the right of each series of entrance doors (front,
rear and sides of the building or structure) of a commercial structure
at a height of five feet up from the finished grade. Additional signs
may be required by the Fire Marshal when the distance between doors
would require additional warning signs for visibility by Fire Department
personnel. A sign shall be noticed directly to the right of the electric
service drop of a residential structure. If the property has a Knox
Box® on site, then a sign shall be located directly above the
Knox Box®. The local Fire Marshal reserves the right to change
the mounting location.
It shall be the responsibility of each property owner to mount,
maintain and prevent obstruction of any warning signs required to
be mounted on the building or structure.
[Added 10-27-2014]
The identification of a structure with truss construction will
be through either a building permit or Fire Department pre-planning.
The applicant of a building permit will be directed to the appropriate
Fire Marshal's office.
