PRINTER'S NO. 3346
No. 2490 Session of 1998
INTRODUCED BY ARMSTRONG, JOSEPHS, KREBS, BATTISTO, ROBINSON,
HERSHEY, READSHAW, TRELLO, E. Z. TAYLOR, SHANER, RAMOS,
LAUGHLIN, SAYLOR, B. SMITH, CIVERA, ADOLPH, SEYFERT,
YOUNGBLOOD, BAKER, NAILOR, EGOLF, M. N. WRIGHT, MAITLAND,
MAJOR, WOGAN, STEELMAN, McCALL, STERN, CHADWICK, CLYMER,
ZIMMERMAN AND SCHULER, MARCH 31, 1998
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LABOR RELATIONS, MARCH 31, 1998
AN ACT
1 Providing for bed and breakfast establishment safety
2 regulations.
3 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
4 hereby enacts as follows:
5 Section 1. Short title.
6 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Bed and
7 Breakfast Establishment Safety Act.
8 Section 2. Definitions.
9 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
10 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
11 context clearly indicates otherwise:
12 "Bed and breakfast homestead or inn." A private residence
13 which contains ten or fewer bedrooms used for providing
14 overnight accommodations to the public and in which breakfast is
15 the only meal served and is included in the charge for the room.
16 "Division D-H hazardous occupancies." Buildings primarily
1 used for occupancies involving highly combustible, explosive or
2 unstable products or materials that constitute a special fire,
3 life or toxic hazard because of the forms, characteristics or
4 volume of the materials used shall be classified as Division D-H
5 hazardous occupancies.
6 Section 3. Accessibility allowances.
7 Every bed and breakfast homestead or inn shall provide a
8 minimum of two means of egress (open or closed) from the third
9 floor guest rooms which may include the following:
10 (1) Two separate indoor stairways.
11 (2) One indoor and one outdoor stairway. The outdoor
12 stairway shall not be limited to metal fire escapes.
13 (3) One indoor stairway and one window with one of the
14 following:
15 (i) Accessible chain-link ladder.
16 (ii) European style "chute."
17 (iii) Accessible balcony onto second floor level.
18 (iv) Metal fire escape.
19 (v) Wooden or other constructed fire escape.
20 Section 4. Smoke alarm requirement.
21 (a) Common egress areas.--An interconnected, either hard
22 wired or actively monitored, smoke alarm is required in common
23 egress areas.
24 (b) Guest rooms.--Hard wired or battery-powered smoke alarms
25 are permitted in guest rooms.
26 Section 5. Carbon monoxide requirement.
27 When an establishment has a potential danger of carbon
28 monoxide, there shall be one carbon monoxide alarm per floor in
29 a common area.
30 Section 6. Emergency lighting allowance.
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1 (a) Common egress areas.--Automatic emergency lighting shall
2 be provided in common egress areas.
3 (b) Guest rooms.--A battery-powered hand-held emergency
4 light shall be the minimum allowance available in each guest
5 room.
6 Section 7. Metal fire door allowance.
7 Metal fire doors are not required.
8 Section 8. Separation and mixed occupancy.
9 When a bed and breakfast homestead or inn shares a structure
10 with one or more occupancies, the structure shall be governed in
11 one of the following manners:
12 (1) When each occupancy is separated from other
13 occupancies by fire walls, each portion thus separated shall
14 be considered a separate building and limitations for
15 separate buildings shall govern.
16 (2) Structures with multiple occupancies which are not
17 separated shall be considered mixed occupancies and shall be
18 governed by the most restrictive of the various limitations
19 of the occupancies.
20 Section 9. Hazards.
21 Division D-H hazardous occupancies shall not be permitted in
22 a bed and breakfast establishment.
23 Section 10. Travel distance to exits.
24 Exits shall be arranged so that the total length of travel
25 from any point to reach an exit shall not exceed 200 feet. Exits
26 shall be so arranged that one exit is not more than 200 feet
27 from another exit.
28 Section 11. Ramps.
29 (a) General rule.--A ramp shall be permitted as a means of
30 egress when it conforms to the following table:
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1 Minimum clear width in inches 40 inches
2 Maximum slope 1 inch per foot
3 (8.33%)
4 Maximum length between landings 30 feet
5 Required handrails Both sides
6 (each handrail is allowed to project 3 inches without
7 decreasing the minimum clear width).
8 (b) Direction of travel.--Changes in direction of travel
9 shall be made only at landings.
10 (c) Connecting ramps.--Ramps which connect two or more floor
11 levels shall comply with the same door, handrail and enclosure
12 requirements as stair towers.
13 (d) Sloped surfaces.--Sloped surfaces of less than 5.0%
14 shall not be considered ramps.
15 Section 12. Fire extinguishers.
16 The following conditions shall apply:
17 (1) Fire extinguishers with a minimum 2-A rating shall
18 be provided.
19 (2) There shall be a minimum of one fire extinguisher
20 per floor including basement.
21 (3) Fire extinguishers shall be located so that it shall
22 not be necessary to travel more than 100 feet in any
23 direction to reach the nearest unit.
24 (4) A fire extinguisher with a minimum 10-B rating shall
25 be provided in each kitchen.
26 (5) Where fire extinguishers are installed in a closet
27 or recessed in a wall or obscured from view, there shall be
28 provided adjacent thereto a constant blue light of not less
29 than 25 watt capacity.
30 Section 13. Effective date.
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1 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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