15 U.S.C. § 2227 — Fire safety systems in federally assisted buildings

(a) Definitions. This section defines “affordable cost” as a Federal agency’s leasing cost for space in a building protected by an automatic sprinkler system or equal safety, if that cost is no more than 10 percent above comparable unprotected space. “Automatic sprinkler system” means an electronically supervised, integrated pipe system with sprinklers arranged systematically that, when fire heat activates it, discharges water over the fire area under the appropriate NFPA Standard 13, 13D, or 13R (or successor), and includes required alarm signals installed under NFPA Standard 72 (or successor). “Equivalent level of safety” means an alternative design or system, possibly including sprinklers, based on fire-protection engineering that gives at least the same safety as sprinklers. “Federal employee office building” means a United States office building, owned or leased by the Federal Government, regularly occupied by more than 25 full-time Federal employees. “Housing assistance” means Federal assistance for housing provided as a grant, contract, loan, loan guarantee, cooperative agreement, interest subsidy, insurance, or direct appropriation. It does not include assistance from the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, FEMA, certain HUD single-family mortgage-insurance or homeownership programs, the National Homeownership Trust, FDIC’s affordable-housing program, or the Resolution Trust Corporation’s affordable-housing program. “Hazardous areas” means areas identified as hazardous in NFPA Standard 101, the Life Safety Code (or successor). “Multifamily property” means a building under one roof with more than two residential units when it houses Federal employees or dependents, and more than four units in other cases. “Prefire plan” means specific firefighting plans for a property or location. “Rebuilding” means repairing or reconstructing a multifamily property when the alterations cost at least 70 percent of the completed property’s replacement cost, excluding land. “Renovated” means repairing or reconstructing at least 50 percent of an office building’s current value, excluding land. “Smoke detectors” means self-contained single- or multiple-station alarms designed to detect visible or invisible combustion particles and installed under NFPA Standard 74 (or successor). “United States” means the States collectively. This section does not otherwise define terms it uses.
(b) Federal employee office buildings. (1)(A) Federal funds may not build or buy a six-or-more-story Federal employee office building unless, while Federal employees occupy it, the whole building has sprinklers or an equivalent safety level. For any other such building, Federal funds may not be used unless its hazardous areas have that protection. (B)(i) Except under clause (ii), Federal funds may not lease a six-or-more-story building if Federal space is on the sixth floor or higher and Federal employees occupy at least 35,000 square feet, unless the whole building has sprinklers or equivalent safety during occupancy. Other leased buildings must have that protection in all hazardous areas. (ii) The first rule in clause (i) does not apply to a building completed before October 26, 1992, if the leasing agency certifies that no suitable protected building is available at an affordable cost. (2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to a building owned by the Federal Government before October 26, 1992; space leased before that date; space leased temporarily for no more than six months; a building that became covered because of a pre-October 26, 1992 commitment to move Federal employees there; or a building owned or managed by the Resolution Trust Corporation. Leasing space below the sixth floor after that date does not itself require installing sprinklers or equivalent protection. (3) Federal funds may not renovate a federally owned six-or-more-story building unless the whole building will have sprinklers or equivalent safety afterward. Other federally owned office buildings must have that protection in their hazardous areas after renovation. (4) Federal funds may not enter into or renew a lease of a six-or-more-story building renovated after October 26, 1992, with Federal space on the sixth floor or higher and at least 35,000 square feet federally occupied, unless the whole building is protected afterward. Other renovated leased buildings must have protection in their hazardous areas.
(c) Housing. (1)(A) Except as this paragraph provides, Federal funds may not be used for the Federal Government to build, buy, lease, or operate United States housing for Federal employees or dependents unless: (i) a multifamily property acquired or rebuilt after October 26, 1992 has sprinklers or equivalent safety and hard-wired smoke detectors before occupancy; and (ii) other housing has hard-wired smoke detectors before the first new Federal occupant moves in or three years after that date, whichever comes first. (B) This does not override a guideline or requirement calling for greater fire safety. (C) Housing without an adequate reliable electrical system need not have hard-wired detectors, but must have battery detectors. (D) Housing scheduled for demolition need not meet (A), but must have battery detectors. (2)(A)(i) Housing assistance may not be used with newly constructed multifamily property unless it has sprinklers and hard-wired detectors after construction. (ii) “Newly constructed multifamily property” means a four-or-more-story-above-ground building newly constructed after October 26, 1992, for which assistance pays for construction or was bindingly committed before construction began. (iii) This rule does not apply if that binding commitment was made before October 26, 1992. (B)(i) Except under clause (ii), assistance may not be used with a rebuilt multifamily property unless, after rebuilding, it complies with the NFPA 101 existing-apartment-building chapter (or successor) in effect when HUD approves the rebuilding plan or budget, or when the binding assistance commitment is made, whichever is earlier. (ii) If State or local fire code binds the property and prevents compliance with a particular NFPA provision, clause (i) does not apply to that provision. (iii) “Rebuilt multifamily property” means a four-or-more-story-above-ground property rebuilt after the last day of the second fiscal year ending after October 26, 1992, with assistance used or committed before rebuilding. (C) After 180 days beginning October 26, 1992, assistance may not be used with another dwelling unit unless it has a hard-wired or battery detector. Assistance counts as used for a unit only when provided for that unit in unit-by-unit assistance, or for its multifamily property in structure-by-structure assistance.
(d) Regulations. Within two years after October 26, 1992, the GSA Administrator^*, working with the United States Fire Administration^*, NIST, and Defense Department, must issue regulations further defining “equivalent level of safety,” based as practicable on nationally recognized codes.
(e) State and local authority not limited. This section does not limit a State or political subdivision’s power to adopt or enforce fire-prevention or fire-control laws, rules, regulations, or standards. It does not reduce fire-resistance requirements that otherwise would apply.
(f) Prefire plan. The head of a Federal agency owning, leasing, or operating a building or housing unit with Federal funds must invite the local fire-protection agency or volunteer organization to prepare and review every two years a prefire plan for it.
(g) Reports to Congress. (1) Within three years after October 26, 1992, and every three years afterward, the GSA Administrator must report on fire safety in covered Federal employee office buildings and describe the buildings for each agency. (2) Within ten years after that date, each agency providing employee housing or housing assistance must report its progress implementing (c) and its plans to continue. (3)(A) NIST must study and report on combining fire detection, suppression, and compartmentation. The study must measure performance and reliability, assess field performance and when reducing or eliminating systems creates unacceptable fire-loss risk, and compare compartmentation using fire-resistive materials with compartmentation using noncombustible materials. (B) NIST must obtain non-Federal funding equal to 25 percent of the study cost. Its Federal funding comes from amounts otherwise authorized for its Building and Fire Research Center, up to $750,000. The study may begin only after all matching funds arrive; its scope depends on funding. NIST must report within 30 months after October 26, 1992.
(h) Relation to other requirements. In implementing this section, urban space planning must continue to give first consideration, to the extent any Federal requirement calls for it, to a centralized community business area and nearby areas of similar character.