Act No. 628

Public Acts of 2002

Approved by the Governor

December 21, 2002

Filed with the Secretary of State

December 23, 2002

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 23, 2002

STATE OF MICHIGAN

91ST LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2002

Introduced by Senator Hammerstrom

ENROLLED SENATE BILL No. 358

AN ACT to amend 1937 PA 306, entitled "An act to promote the safety, welfare and educational interests of the people of the state of Michigan by regulating the construction, reconstruction and remodeling of certain public or private school buildings or additions thereto, by regulating the construction, reconstruction and remodeling of buildings leased or acquired for school purposes, and to define the class of buildings affected by this act; to prescribe the powers and duties of the superintendent of public instruction, the state fire marshal, architects, engineers and school board members with respect thereto; to prescribe penalties for the violation of this act; and to repeal all acts and parts of acts, general, local and special, inconsistent with or contrary to the provisions of this act," by amending the title and section 1 (MCL 388.851) and by adding section 1b.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

TITLE

An act to promote the safety, welfare, and educational interests of the people of the state of Michigan by regulating the construction, reconstruction, and remodeling of certain public or private school buildings or additions to such buildings, by regulating the construction, reconstruction, and remodeling of buildings leased or acquired for school purposes, and to define the class of buildings affected by this act; to prescribe the powers and duties of certain state agencies and officials; to prescribe penalties for the violation of this act; and to repeal acts and parts of acts.

Sec. 1. A school building, public or private, or any additions to a school building, shall not be erected, remodeled, or reconstructed in this state except in conformity with all of the following provisions:

(a) All plans and specifications for buildings shall be prepared by an architect or professional engineer who is licensed in this state. An architect or professional engineer licensed in this state or another person qualified to supervise construction shall supervise the construction of a school building.

(b) All walls, floors, partitions, and roofs shall be constructed of fire-resisting materials such as stone, brick, tile, concrete, gypsum, steel, or similar fire-resisting material. All steel members shall be protected by at least 3/4 of an inch of fire-resisting material.

(c) Wood lath or wood furring shall not be used in the construction. These regulations shall not be construed as prohibiting the use of finished wood flooring, wood door and window frames, wood sash, or wood furring and grounds, for the purpose of installing wood trim, panelling, acoustical units, or similar facing materials on masonry walls, structural steel, or concrete ceiling members.

(d) Every room enclosing a heating unit shall be enclosed by walls of fire-resisting materials and shall be equipped with automatically closing fire doors. All heating units shall not be located directly beneath any portion of a school building or addition that is constructed or reconstructed after January 1, 2003. This regulation shall not be construed to require the removal of an existing heating plant from beneath an existing building when an addition to the building is constructed unless the department requires such removal in the interests of the public safety. In any school where natural gas or any other kind of gas is used for heating purposes, the gas shall be chemically treated before being used in such a manner as to give a very distinguishable odor if any leak should develop in the heating system.

(e) In gymnasiums, fire-proofings may be omitted from the trusses and purlins if they are more than 16 feet off the main floor level.

(f) The architect or engineer shall provide adequate exits from all parts of school buildings. In all cases, there shall be at least 2 stairways and the distance from the door of any class or assembly room to a stairway or exit shall not exceed 100 feet.

(g) Provisions in subdivisions (b) to (f) may be waived in writing by the department.

(h) Compliance with section 1b.

Sec. 1b. (1) Except as provided in subsection (5), the department is responsible for the administration and enforcement of this act and the Stille-DeRossett-Hale single state construction code act of 1972, 1972 PA 230, MCL 125.1501 to 125.1531, in each school building in this state.

(2) Except as provided in subsection (5), a school building covered by bond issues that were approved by the department of treasury after July 1, 2003 shall not be constructed, remodeled, or reconstructed in this state until written approval of the plans and specifications is obtained from the department indicating that the school building will be designed and constructed in conformance with the code. This subsection does not apply to any school building for which construction is covered by bond issues that were approved by the department of treasury before July 1, 2003.

(3) Responsibility for inspections of school buildings shall be determined by 1 of the following methods:

(a) By an independent third party designated in the contract governing the construction, remodeling, or reconstruction of a school building. The independent third party shall be responsible for all inspections required to insure compliance with the code. The school authority shall verify that the independent third party named is knowledgeable about construction practices and codes and is otherwise qualified to conduct the inspections. The name of the independent third party to be responsible for conducting inspections shall be submitted to the department with the plans and specifications required by subsection (2). If the department determines that the independent third party is not qualified to conduct the inspections or is not an independent third party, it shall disapprove of the designation and notify the school authority. All inspection reports prepared by the person designated by the school authority under this subdivision shall be sent to the department upon completion of the inspection. The department may return the report for further work if there are questions relating to the scope of the inspection or whether the construction, remodeling, or reconstruction meets the requirements of the code.

(b) If a designation of an independent third party is not made as required under subdivision (a), the inspections required to insure compliance with the code will be performed by the department or as provided under subsection (5).

(4) Except as provided in subsection (5), the department shall perform for school buildings all plan reviews within 60 days from the date the plans are filed or considered approved and inspections within 5 business days as required by the code and shall be the enforcing agency for this act.

(5) The department shall delegate the responsibility for the administration and enforcement of this act to the applicable agency if both the school board and the governing body of the governmental subdivision have annually certified to the department, in a manner prescribed by the department, that full-time code officials, inspectors, and plan reviewers registered under the building officials and inspectors registration act, 1986 PA 54, MCL 338.2301 to 338.2313, will conduct plan reviews and inspections of school buildings.

(6) This section does not affect the responsibilities of the department under the fire prevention code, 1941 PA 207, MCL 29.1 to 29.34. The bureau of construction codes and the office of fire safety in the department shall jointly develop procedures to use the plans and specifications submitted in carrying out the requirements of this act and the fire prevention code, 1941 PA 207, MCL 29.1 to 29.34. A certificate of occupancy shall not be issued by the appropriate code enforcement agency until a certificate of approval has been issued under the fire prevention code, 1941 PA 207, MCL 29.1 to 29.34.

(7) This section applies to construction, remodeling, or reconstruction of school buildings that are covered by bond issues that were approved by the department of treasury after July 1, 2003. Construction, remodeling, or reconstruction of school buildings that are covered by bond issues approved before July 1, 2003 shall submit the plans and specifications to the department for approval under section 1. The department shall not grant approval until it has received the certification described in section 3 relative to fire safety and from the appropriate health department relative to water supply, sanitation, and food handling.

(8) As used in this section:

(a) "Code" means the state construction code provided for in the Stille-DeRossett-Hale single state construction code act, 1972 PA 230, MCL 125.1501 to 125.1531.

(b) "Construction" shall have the same meaning as that term is defined under section 2a of the Stille-DeRossett-Hale single state construction code act, 1972 PA 230, MCL 125.1502a.

(c) "Department" means the department of consumer and industry services.

 

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

Secretary of the Senate.

Clerk of the House of Representatives.

Approved

Governor.