Article VII - Fire Safety Requirements
- Scope. The provisions of this section shall govern the minimum conditions and standards for fire safety relating to structures and exterior premises, including fire safety facilities and equipment to be provided.
- Responsibility. The owner of the premises shall provide and maintain such fire safety facilities and equipment in compliance with these requirements. A person shall not occupy as owner- occupant or permit another person to occupy any premises that do not comply with the requirements of this section.
- General. A safe, continuous and unobstructed path of travel shall be provided from any point in a building or structure outside to the public way. Means of egress shall comply with the North Carolina Fire Prevention Code.
- Aisles. The required width of aisles in accordance with the North Carolina Fire Prevention Code shall be unobstructed.
- Locked Doors. All means of egress doors shall be readily operable from the side from which egress is to be made without the need for keys, special knowledge or effort, except where the door hardware conforms to that permitted by the North Carolina Building Code.
- Emergency Escape Openings. Required emergency escape openings shall be maintained in accordance with the Code in effect at the time of construction, and the following. Required emergency escape and rescue openings shall be operational from the inside of the room without the use of keys or tools. Bars, grilles, grates or similar devices are permitted to be placed over emergency escape and rescue openings provided the minimum net clear opening size complies with the Code that was in effect at the time of construction and such devices shall be releasable or removable from the inside without the use of a key, tool or force greater than that which is required for normal operation of the escape and rescue opening.
- Fire-Resistance-Rated Assemblies. The required fire-resistance rating of fire-resistance-rated walls, fire stops, shaft enclosures, partitions and floors shall be maintained.
- Opening Protective. Required opening protective shall be maintained in an operative condition. All fire and smokestop doors shall be maintained in operable condition. Fire doors and smoke barrier doors shall not be blocked or obstructed or otherwise made inoperable.
- General. All systems, devices and equipment to detect a fire, actuate an alarm, or suppress or control a fire or any combination thereof shall be maintained in an operable condition at all times in accordance with the North Carolina Fire Prevention Code.
- Smoke Alarms. Single or multiple-station smoke alarms shall be installed and maintained per the following:
- Residences constructed prior to June 30, 1999 shall have one battery operated smoke alarm for each floor of the dwelling unit.
- Residences constructed on or after June 30, 1999 shall have one smoke alarm in each bedroom, one smoke alarm within 10 feet of every sleeping area, and at least one smoke alarm on each floor, including basements, but not including crawl spaces and uninhabitable attics. Such smoke alarms shall be electrically operated with a battery backup power source.
- All residential dwelling units shall maintain required smoke alarm and fire protection systems required by the N.C. State Building Code applicable at the time of construction or otherwise applicable State law or regulation.
- For rental dwelling units, the owner shall provide the required smoke alarms, consistent with this ordinance and state law. This shall include functioning smoke alarms with the initial occupancy by a tenant. Tenants shall be required to maintain the batteries for smoke alarms as required by state law.
- Power source. When an electrical power source is required, single-station smoke alarms shall receive their primary power from the building wiring provided that such wiring is served from a commercial source and shall be equipped with a battery backup. Smoke alarms shall emit a signal when the batteries are low. Wiring shall be permanent and without a disconnecting switch other than as required for over current protection.
- Interconnection. For residential dwellings built after June 30, 1999 where more than one smoke alarm is required to be installed, the smoke alarms shall be interconnected in such a manner that the activation of one alarm will activate all of the alarms in the individual unit. The alarm shall be clearly audible in all bedrooms over background noise levels with all intervening doors closed.
