Virginia Law

A. The following changes shall be made to Section 701, General:

1. Change Section 701.1 to read:

701.1 Scope. The provisions of this chapter shall govern maintenance of the materials, systems, and assemblies used for structural fire resistance and fire-resistance-rated construction separation of adjacent spaces to safeguard against the spread of fire and smoke within a building and the spread of fire to or from buildings.

2. Change Sections 701.6 and 701.7 to read:

701.6 Maintenance. The required fire-resistance rating of fire-resistance-rated construction, including walls, firestops, shaft enclosures, partitions, smoke barriers, floors, protected mass timber elements, fire-resistive coatings, and sprayed fire-resistant materials applied to structural members and fire-resistant joint systems shall be maintained. Such elements shall be visually inspected by the owner annually and properly repaired, restored, or replaced where damaged, altered, breached, or penetrated. Records of inspections and repairs shall be maintained. Where concealed, such elements shall not be required to be visually inspected by the owner unless the concealed space is accessible by the removal or movement of a panel, access door, ceiling tile, or similar movable entry to the space. Openings made therein for the passage of pipes, electrical conduit, wires, ducts, air transfer openings, and holes made for any reason shall be protected with approved methods capable of resisting the passage of smoke and fire. Openings through fire-resistance-rated assemblies shall be protected by self-closing or automatic-closing doors of approved construction meeting the fire protection requirements for the assembly.

Exception: When requested by the building owner and approved by the fire official, the visual inspection required by 701.6 may be modified to a time period greater than annually based on the history of the previous inspections.

701.7 Unsafe conditions. Where any components in this chapter are not maintained and do not function as intended or do not have the fire resistance required by the code under which the building was constructed, remodeled, or altered, such components or portion thereof shall be deemed an unsafe condition in accordance with Section 110.1. Components or portions thereof determined to be unsafe shall be repaired or replaced to conform to that code under which the building was constructed, remodeled, or altered or this chapter, as deemed appropriate by the fire code official.

Where the extent of the conditions of components is such that any building, structure, or portion thereof presents an imminent danger to the occupants of the building, structure, or portion thereof, the fire code official shall act in accordance with Section 110.5.

B. The following change shall be made to Section 704, Joints and Voids:

Change Section 704.3 to read:

704.3 Opening protectives. Where openings are required to be protected, opening protectives and associated closing devices shall be maintained as self-closing or automatic-closing in accordance with Section 705.2.

C. The following changes shall be made to Section 705, Door and Window Openings:

1. Change Section 705.2.5 to read:

705.2.5 Smoke-activated and heat-activated doors. Smoke-activated doors shall be maintained to self-close or automatically close upon detection of smoke in accordance with the applicable building code.

2. Change Section 705.2.6 to read:

705.2.6 Testing. Opening protectives shall be inspected and tested annually in accordance with NFPA 80 to confirm proper operation and full closure. A written record shall be maintained and be available to the fire code official.