Session Laws

RESOLVED, That a special commission, to consist of three members of the senate, one of whom shall serve as co-chairman, three members of the house of representatives, one of whom shall serve as co-chairman, the state fire marshal or his designee, the commissioner of public health or his designee, the chairman of the state building code commission or his designee, and nine persons to be appointed by the governor, each of whom shall be qualified by training or experience and interest in the fields of fire safety, combustion toxicology or the combustibility of materials, and one of whom shall be a member of the Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts, Inc., one of whom shall be a member of the Professional Firefighters Association of Massachusetts, one of whom shall be a member of the Massachusetts Fire Prevention Association, one of whom shall be the member of the board of fire prevention regulations who sits as graduate fire chemist with fire testing experience and a full member of a national organization of chemists pursuant to section fourteen of chapter twenty-two of the General Laws, three of whom shall be professional scientists who have affiliations with academic institutions, expertise and experience in the areas of combustion toxicology, combustibility or public health, and shall be independent of any entities which have any commercial interest in the results of said investigation and study, and two of whom shall be concerned citizens of the commonwealth, is hereby established for the purpose of making an investigation and study relative to the serious fire safety problem caused by the combustibility of materials used in building construction and furnishings, and by the toxic smoke and gases produced by the combustion of such materials and furnishings.

Such investigation and study shall include a complete analysis of test methods in the fields of both combustion toxicology and combustibility, of all building materials and furnishings used in or as a part of high density human occupancy buildings, such buildings being those as are determined by the commission to pose, by virtue of their size, height, use, public access, density of human occupancy, location or any other relevant characteristic, a potential danger of injury or loss of life as a result of a fire.

Said commission shall further study and investigate test methods relative to the combustibility and toxicity of materials used in building construction and furnishings in order to assure that such testing shall demonstrate an acceptable level of accuracy and reproducibility based upon principles of scientific research; shall be relevant to actual building fire scenarios; and shall be used in conjunction with other appropriate fire tests in an overall hazard analysis, including, but not limited to, ignitability, flame spread, rate of heat release, and rate and extent of smoke propagation. Such hazard analysis shall take into account other fire protection measures such as the use of early detection and fast acting suppression systems.

Before making recommendations, said commission shall hold at least one public hearing and shall consult with, receive evidence from, and solicit the opinions of, the board of fire prevention regulations, interested state agencies, professional firefighters, fire chiefs, firefighters' unions, other fire professionals, the health professions, industries which manufacture or supply such building materials and furnishings, public interest groups, and the general public as it may determine appropriate.

Said commission may also request that officials of the commonwealth or its various subdivisions or that officials of the federal government and its various agencies or that other state governments and their agencies provide it with information it may desire to study. Said commission may expend for expenses and for expert, legal, clerical and other assistance such funds as may be appropriated therefor.

Said commission shall make such recommendations with respect to fire safety measures needed to achieve a greater degree of fire safety in high density human occupancy buildings as it determines appropriate.

Said commission shall report to the general court the results of its investigation and study, and its recommendations, together with drafts of legislation necessary to carry its recommendations into effect, by filing the same with the clerk of the house of representatives on or before the first Wednesday in December, nineteen hundred and eighty-six.