HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1257        FILED ON: 1/18/2023

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2289

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Ruth B. Balser and Paul J. Donato

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to enhanced fire protection in new one- and two-family dwellings.

_______________

PETITION OF:

 

Name:

District/Address:

Date Added:

Ruth B. Balser

12th Middlesex

1/18/2023

Paul J. Donato

35th Middlesex

1/18/2023

Michael O. Moore

Second Worcester

1/18/2023

Tram T. Nguyen

18th Essex

1/24/2023

Jessica Ann Giannino

16th Suffolk

1/24/2023

Brian W. Murray

10th Worcester

1/25/2023

Margaret R. Scarsdale

1st Middlesex

1/27/2023

Adrianne Pusateri Ramos

14th Essex

1/27/2023

David M. Rogers

24th Middlesex

1/27/2023

Patricia A. Haddad

5th Bristol

1/30/2023

Christopher M. Markey

9th Bristol

2/2/2023

Jeffrey Rosario Turco

19th Suffolk

2/13/2023

Simon Cataldo

14th Middlesex

2/14/2023

James B. Eldridge

Middlesex and Worcester

2/17/2023

Kate Lipper-Garabedian

32nd Middlesex

2/23/2023

Jonathan D. Zlotnik

2nd Worcester

3/2/2023

Adam J. Scanlon

14th Bristol

3/29/2023

Joan B. Lovely

Second Essex

5/23/2023

Michelle L. Ciccolo

15th Middlesex

12/19/2023

William F. MacGregor

10th Suffolk

2/27/2024


HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1257        FILED ON: 1/18/2023

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2289

By Representatives Balser of Newton and Donato of Medford, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2289) of Ruth B. Balser, Paul J. Donato and others relative to the installation of automatic sprinkler systems in certain new family dwellings.  Public Safety and Homeland Security.

 

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 2417 OF 2021-2022.]

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)

_______________

 

An Act relative to enhanced fire protection in new one- and two-family dwellings.

 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Chapter 148 of the General laws, as appearing in the 2012 “Official Edition”, is hereby amended by adding the following new section: -

Section 26J. In any city or town which accepts the provisions of this section, every newly constructed building, designed or used for residential occupancy and containing not more than two dwelling units, shall be protected throughout with an adequate system of automatic sprinklers installed in accordance with the provisions of the state building code. The provisions of this section shall apply to any such newly constructed building for which a building permit is issued on or after one year from the acceptance of this act by a city or town. Nothing in this section shall require any existing building designed or used for residential occupancy, to be required to retrofit said property with an automatic sprinkler system.

The head of the fire department shall enforce the provisions of this section.

Whoever is aggrieved by the head of the fire department’s interpretation, order, requirement, direction or failure to act under the provisions of this section, may, within forty-five days after the service of notice thereof, appeal from such interpretation, order, requirement, direction, or failure to act, to the board of appeals as provided in section 201 of chapter six.

SECTION 2. Section 27A of chapter 148, as so appearing, is amended by inserting, after the word “service”, in lines 17 and 18, the following new sentence: - This section shall not apply to the seasonal shut-off of automatic sprinklers installed in accordance with the provisions of section 26J of chapter 148, when such shut off has been conducted in accordance with the procedures established by the Board of Fire Prevention Regulations. For purposes of this section, the Board shall determine what constitutes a seasonal shutoff of automatic sprinklers.