1. Code Comparison Changes 2012 IBC to 2012 NPFA 101 Developed for the Florida Department of Business And Professional Regulation Building Codes and Standards Office By BCIC LLC Building Codes In Construction

2. 553.72 Intent.—  (5) It is the intent of the Legislature that there be no conflicting requirements between the Florida Fire Prevention Code and the Life Safety Code of the state and other provisions of the Florida Building Code or conflicts in their enforcement and interpretation. Potential conflicts shall be resolved through coordination and cooperation of the State Fire Marshal and the Florida Building Commission as provided by this part and chapter 633.

3. 553.73 Florida Building Code.—  (1)(d) Conflicting requirements between the Florida Building Code and the Florida Fire Prevention Code and Life Safety Code of the state established pursuant to ss. 633.022 and 633.025 shall be resolved by agreement between the commission and the State Fire Marshal in favor of the requirement that offers the greatest degree of lifesafety or alternatives that would provide an equivalent degree of lifesafety and an equivalent method of construction. If the commission and State Fire Marshal are unable to agree on a resolution, the question shall be referred to a mediator, mutually agreeable to both parties, to resolve the conflict in favor of the provision that offers the greatest lifesafety, or alternatives that would provide an equivalent degree of lifesafety and an equivalent method of construction.

4. 553.73 Florida Building Code.—  (7)(g) Amendments or modifications to the foundation code pursuant to this subsection shall remain effective only until the effective date of a new edition of the Florida Building Code every third year. Amendments or modifications related to state agency regulations which are adopted and integrated into an edition of the Florida Building Code shall be carried forward into the next edition of the code, subject to modification as provided in this part. Amendments or modifications related to the wind-resistance design of buildings and structures within the high-velocity hurricane zone of Miami-Dade and Broward Counties which are adopted to an edition of the Florida Building Code do not expire and shall be carried forward into the next edition of the code, subject to review or modification as provided in this part. If amendments that expire pursuant to this paragraph are resubmitted through the Florida Building Commission code adoption process, the amendments must specifically address whether:

5. 553.73 Florida Building Code.—  1. The provisions contained in the proposed amendment are addressed in the applicable international code.  2. The amendment demonstrates by evidence or data that the geographical jurisdiction of Florida exhibits a need to strengthen the foundation code beyond the needs or regional variations addressed by the foundation code, and why the proposed amendment applies to this state.  3. The proposed amendment was submitted or attempted to be included in the foundation codes to avoid resubmission to the Florida Building Code amendment process.  If the proposed amendment has been addressed in the international code in a substantially equivalent manner, the Florida Building Commission may not include the proposed amendment in the foundation code.

6. 553.73 Florida Building Code.—  (8) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (3) or subsection (7), the commission may address issues identified in this subsection by amending the code pursuant only to the rule adoption procedures contained in chapter 120. Provisions of the Florida Building Code, including those contained in referenced standards and criteria, relating to wind resistance or the prevention of water intrusion may not be amended pursuant to this subsection to diminish those construction requirements; however, the commission may, subject to conditions in this subsection, amend the provisions to enhance those construction requirements. Following the approval of any amendments to the Florida Building Code by the commission and publication of the amendments on the commission’s website, authorities having jurisdiction to enforce the Florida Building Code may enforce the amendments.

7. 553.73 Florida Building Code.— The commission may approve amendments that are needed to address:  (a) Conflicts within the updated code;  (b) Conflicts between the updated code and the Florida Fire Prevention Code adopted pursuant to chapter 633;  (c) Unintended results from the integration of previously adopted Florida-specific amendments with the model code;  (d) Equivalency of standards;  (e) Changes to or inconsistencies with federal or state law; or  (f) Adoption of an updated edition of the National Electrical Code if the commission finds that delay of implementing the updated edition causes undue hardship to stakeholders or otherwise threatens the public health, safety, and welfare.

8. Definition of Conflict  Conflict for the purpose of this study is defined as a construction specification such as a dimension in one code that would prevent compliance with the other code

9. Purpose of Study  To provide a comprehensive comparison of the 2012 changes to the NFPA 101 Life Safety Code and the 2012 IBC, including reference standards, for the purpose of determining potential conflicts and necessary changes to both the proposed 2013 FFPC and 2013 FBC for the purpose of making both codes consistent.

10. Purpose of Study  To review the current (2010 FBC- Building, Existing, and Mechanical) Florida specific changes “fire and life safety code correlation “modifications” against the 2012 NFPA 101 and the 2012 IBC changes and determine whether an existing correlation is not covered by the updated codes and should be proposed for the 2013 FBC

11. Scope of Project  Compare 2012 IBC changes to 2012 NFPA 101  Compare 2012 NFPA changes to 2012 IBC  Compare existing FL Life Safety Modifications (Bldg, Mech, and Existing to changes to 2012 IBC and 2012 NFPA 101  Compare Referenced Standards in 2012 NFPA 101 to 2012 IBC

12. Matrixes Five comprehensive matrixes were created:  The changes to the 2012 IBC compared to the 2012 NFPA 101,  The changes to the 2012 NFPA 101 compared 2012 IBC,  Life Safety Modifications of the FBC - Building compared to the changes to the 2012 IBC and the changes to the 2012 NFPA 101  Life Safety Modifications in the FBC - Mechanical and FBC - Existing compared to the changes to the 2012 IBC and the changes to the 2012 NFPA 101  Referenced Standards in the 2012 NFPA 101 compared to the 2012 IBC

13. Matrixes  The matrix was created from the Significant Code Changes published by the International Code Council and the National Fire Protection Association.  The corresponding code section from either the IBC or NFPA 101 was added to the matrix and then these code changes were reviewed to determine if a conflict existed  The result of this review and possible recommendations or comments are provided in the matrix column titled “Recommendation”.

14. Matrixes  No direct comparison of the 2012 IBC to the 2012 NFPA 101 was made to identify conflicts or differences in the codes.  Only the changes to each code were compared to the other code

15. IBC Changes to NFPA 101matrix

16. NFPA 101 changes to IBC matrix

17. Referenced Standards  The Referenced Standards edition dates of NFPA 101 were compared to the Referenced Standards edition dates in the IBC  The Standards themselves were not reviewed

18. Referenced Standards Matrix

19. Present Florida Modifications  The Life Safety Modifications were not reviewed to the 2012 codes, but were reviewed only to the 2012 changes for each code.  The Life Safety Modifications reviewed were the ones highlighted in yellow that have been carried over from edition to edition and not those changes made during the last code cycle or so-called glitches.

20. FBC Life Safety Modifications matrix

21. Conclusion of Study  There were differences in the codes, but there were no identified conflicts based on the definition of a conflict by the Department.  The current Florida Life Safety Code Modifications were made to change the codes to coordinate them, but these modifications do not meet the present definition of a conflict and therefore they should be eliminated.  The referenced standards editions may be amended to be consistent; however it was not determined if they are in conflict