PRINTER'S NO. 2535
No. 5 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY ARMSTRONG, BATTISTO, BENNINGHOFF, CORRIGAN,
GODSHALL, HARHAI, HENNESSEY, HERSHEY, JAMES, LAUGHLIN, LUCYK,
MELIO, NAILOR, ORIE, PETRONE, SAYLOR, SHANER, WILT AND
YOUNGBLOOD, OCTOBER 26, 1999
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON CONSUMER AFFAIRS, OCTOBER 26, 1999
AN ACT
1 Providing for bed and breakfast establishment safety
2 regulations.
3 TABLE OF CONTENTS
4 Section 1. Short title.
5 Section 2. Definitions.
6 Section 3. Conversion requirements.
7 Section 4. Accessibility requirement.
8 Section 5. Smoke detector requirement.
9 Section 6. Window requirement.
10 Section 7. Corridor requirement.
11 Section 8. Emergency lighting requirement.
12 Section 9. Door requirement.
13 Section 10. Handrail and guardrail requirement.
14 Section 11. Transoms requirement.
15 Section 12. Stairway requirement.
16 Section 13. Separation and mixed occupancy requirement.
17 Section 14. Hazard requirement.
1 Section 15. Travel distance to exit requirement.
2 Section 16. Ramp requirement.
3 Section 17. Fire extinguisher requirement.
4 Section 18. Carbon monoxide requirement.
5 Section 19. Certificate of occupancy.
6 Section 20. Effective date.
7 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8 hereby enacts as follows:
9 Section 1. Short title.
10 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Bed and
11 Breakfast Establishment Safety Act.
12 Section 2. Definitions.
13 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
14 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
15 context clearly indicates otherwise:
16 "Bed and breakfast homestead or inn." A private residence
17 which contains ten or fewer bedrooms used for providing
18 overnight accommodations to the public and in which breakfast is
19 the only meal served and is included in the charge for the room.
20 Section 3. Conversion requirements.
21 Private residences being converted to bed and breakfast
22 establishments shall be in compliance if the requirements in
23 this act have been met.
24 Section 4. Accessibility requirement.
25 Except as otherwise provided in this section, every story
26 utilized for guest occupancy shall be provided with a minimum of
27 two exits.
28 (1) A fire escape shall be accepted as providing one of
29 the required means of egress if it can safely be used under
30 emergency exiting conditions. All occupants shall have
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1 unobstructed access to the fire escape without having to pass
2 through a room subject to locking. Access to a fire escape
3 shall be through a door, except that window access shall be
4 permitted from guest rooms.
5 (2) In buildings having a single exit, no additional
6 exit shall be required if the following conditions are met:
7 (i) at all locations in the story at the level of
8 discharge, the exit access travel distance shall not
9 exceed 75 feet; and
10 (ii) except as otherwise provided in subparagraph
11 (iii), no part of the building open to guests shall be on
12 a floor that is more than 16 feet above exterior grade;
13 or
14 (iii) in buildings where guests do not have access
15 to rooms above the second story from floors that are more
16 than 16 feet above grade, where there are not more than
17 four guest rooms per floor and the exit access travel
18 distance does not exceed 50 feet, the exit shall be
19 enclosed with construction and opening protection
20 providing a one-hour fire-resistance rating.
21 (3) In bed and breakfast establishments having guest
22 rooms on the third floor the stairway requirements of section
23 12 apply. However, in a building not meeting the requirements
24 of section 12(1), (2) or (3), a second floor corridor
25 exceeding eight feet in length requires a one-hour barrier
26 protecting only one staircase if the following conditions are
27 met:
28 (i) each sleeping room has a window with a sill
29 height not more than 44 inches;
30 (ii) no second floor sleeping room is more than 16
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1 feet above grade; or
2 (iii) any second floor sleeping room more than 16
3 feet above grade has direct access to a fire escape or
4 other approved secondary exit.
5 Section 5. Smoke detector requirement.
6 AC-powered interconnected smoke detectors with battery back-
7 up shall be installed in accordance with the building subcode in
8 the locations listed in this section. Fixed temperature or rate-
9 of-rise and fixed temperature heat detectors may be substituted
10 for smoke detectors in those locations where frequent nuisance
11 alarms would be likely to occur. At least one portable visual
12 alarm-type smoke detector for the deaf or hearing-impaired shall
13 be available. Notification of the availability of such devices
14 shall be provided to each occupant. Installation shall be
15 required:
16 (1) In all guest rooms, AC-powered interconnected smoke
17 detectors with battery back-up or battery powered smoke
18 detectors shall be installed.
19 (2) On each story in common areas.
20 (3) In basements and attics.
21 Section 6. Window requirement.
22 Every sleeping room shall be provided with a window having a
23 sill height of not more than 44 inches.
24 Section 7. Corridor requirement.
25 Dead-end corridors shall not exceed 35 feet.
26 Section 8. Emergency lighting requirement.
27 (a) Common egress areas.--Emergency egress lighting shall be
28 provided between all guest rooms and emergency egress areas and
29 shall be connected to an emergency electrical system conforming
30 to NFPA 70 to assure continued illumination for a duration of
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1 not less than one hour, in case of primary power loss, or this
2 lighting may be self-illuminating, in which case it shall be
3 mounted at or near floor level and shall not require an
4 emergency electrical system.
5 (b) Exit signs.--In all buildings, rooms or spaces required
6 to have more than one exit or exit access, all required means of
7 egress shall be indicated either with approved self-luminous
8 signs, or with approved internally illuminated signs connected
9 to an emergency electrical system to assure continued
10 illumination for not less than one hour in case of primary power
11 loss. Exit signs shall not be required if the second means of
12 egress is a fire escape or through main exterior doors that are
13 clearly identified as exits.
14 (c) Guest rooms.--A battery-powered handheld emergency light
15 shall be the minimum allowance available in each guest room.
16 Section 9. Door requirement.
17 Means of egress doors shall comply with the following:
18 (1) All doors opening into an exit stair shall be self-
19 closing or automatic-closing.
20 (2) All guest-room doors shall be at least equivalent to
21 a 15-minute fire rating which may be achieved by various
22 options. Guest room doors shall also be equipped with door
23 latches and shall be reasonably tight-fitting. Replacement
24 doors shall be equivalent to a 20-minute fire rating which
25 may be reached by various options.
26 Section 10. Handrail and guardrail requirement.
27 Existing handrails and guardrails provided for stairways and
28 open-sided floor areas shall be permitted to remain in place,
29 provided they are structurally sound. When handrails or
30 guardrails do not exist in locations where the building code
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1 requires them, or where handrails or guardrails are in danger of
2 collapse when used under emergency conditions, handrails and
3 guardrails complying with the building subcode shall be
4 provided.
5 Section 11. Transoms requirement.
6 Transoms shall be either glazed with 1/4-inch wire glass set
7 in metal frames and permanently secured in the closed position
8 and may be provided from the interior of the room. Transoms may
9 also be sealed with materials consistent with the corridor
10 construction.
11 Section 12. Stairway requirement.
12 Interior stairways and other vertical openings connecting
13 more than six floor levels shall be enclosed with approved
14 assemblies having a two-hour fire-resistance rating. Those
15 connecting four to six floor levels shall be enclosed with
16 approved assemblies having a one-hour fire-resistance rating. A
17 minimum one-hour fire barrier shall be provided to protect all
18 interior stairways and other vertical openings not exceeding
19 three stories. Such fire barrier may be omitted provided that:
20 (1) the building is provided throughout with an approved
21 automatic fire suppression system;
22 (2) in buildings where the building is protected
23 throughout by an automatic fire alarm system complying with
24 the building subcode; or
25 (3) the following conditions are met:
26 (i) each sleeping room has an approved window with a
27 sill height of not more than 44 inches; and
28 (ii) each sleeping room above the second floor is
29 approved with direct access to a fire escape or other
30 approved secondary exit; or
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1 (iii) any exit-access corridor exceeding eight feet
2 in length which serves two means of egress, at least one
3 of which is an unprotected vertical opening, shall be
4 separated from the vertical opening by a one-hour fire
5 barrier.
6 Section 13. Separation and mixed occupancy requirement.
7 When a bed and breakfast homestead or inn shares a structure
8 with one or more occupancy groups, as defined in 34 Pa. Code §
9 50.1 (relating to occupancy groups), the structure shall be
10 governed in one of the following manners:
11 (1) When each occupancy is separated from other
12 occupancies by fire walls, each portion thus separated shall
13 be considered a separate building, and limitations for
14 separate buildings shall govern.
15 (2) Structures with multiple occupancies which are not
16 separated shall be considered mixed occupancies and shall be
17 governed by the most restrictive of the various limitations
18 of the occupancies.
19 Section 14. Hazard requirement.
20 Division D-H hazardous occupancies shall not be permitted in
21 a bed and breakfast establishment.
22 Section 15. Travel distance to exit requirement.
23 Exits shall be arranged so that the total length of travel
24 from any point to reach an exit shall not exceed 200 feet. Exits
25 shall be so arranged that one exit is not more than 200 feet
26 from another exit.
27 Section 16. Ramp requirement.
28 (a) General rule.--A ramp shall be permitted as a means of
29 egress when it conforms to the following table:
30 Minimum clear width in inches 40 inches
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1 Maximum slope 1 inch per foot
2 (8.33%)
3 Maximum length between landings 30 feet
4 (b) Direction of travel.--Changes in direction of travel
5 shall be made only at landings.
6 (c) Connecting ramps.--Ramps which connect two or more floor
7 levels shall comply with the same door, handrail and enclosure
8 requirements as stair towers.
9 (d) Sloped surfaces.--Sloped surfaces of less than 5% shall
10 not be considered ramps.
11 Section 17. Fire extinguisher requirement.
12 The following conditions shall apply:
13 (1) Fire extinguishers with a minimum 2-A rating shall
14 be provided.
15 (2) There shall be a minimum of one fire extinguisher
16 per floor including basement.
17 (3) Fire extinguishers shall be located so that it shall
18 not be necessary to travel more than 100 feet in any
19 direction to reach the nearest unit.
20 (4) A fire extinguisher with a minimum 10-B rating shall
21 be provided in each kitchen.
22 (5) Where fire extinguishers are installed in a closet
23 or recessed in a wall or obscured from view, there shall be
24 provided adjacent thereto a self-luminous fire extinguisher
25 sign or a constant blue light of not less than 25-watt
26 capacity.
27 Section 18. Carbon monoxide requirement.
28 When an establishment has a potential danger of carbon
29 monoxide, there shall be one carbon monoxide alarm per floor in
30 a common area.
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1 Section 19. Certificate of occupancy.
2 Buildings meeting the requirements of this act shall be
3 entitled to a certificate of occupancy for use group R-1. The
4 certificate of occupancy shall be subject to the condition that
5 it be valid for a bed and breakfast use only.
6 Section 20. Effective date.
7 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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