Bill Text: NY A01906 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Relates to fire inspections in public and private schools; requires annual fire safety reports.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-5)
Status: (Passed) 2019-12-17 - SIGNED CHAP.679 [A01906 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A01906-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1906--A 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 17, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ZEBROWSKI, JAFFEE, GOTTFRIED, THIELE, L. ROSEN- THAL, COOK, GALEF, DICKENS, D'URSO, BRONSON, SOLAGES, MONTESANO, RAIA, COLTON, NORRIS, MANKTELOW -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. B. MILLER, SIMON -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education -- reported and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to fire inspections of public and private schools The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 807-a of the education law, as added by chapter 871 2 of the laws of 1955, subdivision 1 as amended and subdivision 10 as 3 added by chapter 981 of the laws of 1963, subdivisions 2 and 3 as 4 amended by chapter 607 of the laws of 1964, subparagraphs 4 and 5 of 5 paragraph a of subdivision 3 and paragraph a of subdivision 10 as 6 amended by chapter 284 of the laws of 1971, paragraph b of subdivision 3 7 as amended by chapter 511 of the laws of 1974, subdivision 4 as amended 8 by chapter 225 of the laws of 1979, subdivision 5 as amended by chapter 9 700 of the laws of 1971, paragraph a of subdivision 5 as amended by 10 chapter 464 of the laws of 1975, subdivision 6 as amended by chapter 165 11 of the laws of 2006, subdivision 7 as amended by chapter 536 of the laws 12 of 1981, and subdivision 11 as amended by chapter 380 of the laws of 13 1976, is amended to read as follows: 14 § 807-a. Fire inspections. 1. It shall be the duty of the school 15 authorities in general charge of the operation of any public or private 16 school to cause the buildings of such school containing classroom, 17 dormitory, laboratory, physical education, dining or recreational facil- 18 ities for student use to be inspected at least annually for fire hazards 19 which might endanger the lives of students, teachers and employees ther- 20 ein. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01579-07-9A. 1906--A 2 1 2. The annual fire inspection shall be made prior to the first day of 2 December of every school year and the report thereof shall be filed by 3 the school authorities in the places required by subdivision five of 4 this section no later than the sixteenth day of December of every such 5 year. 6 3. a. The school authorities shall cause any fire inspection pursuant 7 to this section to be made by one of the following methods, or any 8 combination of such methods: 9 (1) [Employing, either regularly or specially, persons who, in the10judgment of the school authorities, are qualified to make such an11inspection, or any phase thereof.12(2) Contracting for the making of such inspections, or any phase ther-13eof, by persons who, in the judgment of the school authorities, are14qualified.15(3)] Requesting inspection by the fire department of any city, town, 16 village or fire district in which the building is located. 17 [(4)] (2) Requesting inspection by a fire corporation which is subject 18 to the provisions of section fourteen hundred two of the not-for-profit 19 corporation law, if such building is located within the area described 20 in the certificate of incorporation of any such corporation. 21 [(5)] (3) Requesting inspection by the county fire coordinator, or the 22 officer performing the powers and duties of a county fire coordinator 23 pursuant to a local law, of the county in which the building is located, 24 or by any deputy county fire coordinator or deputy of such other officer 25 so performing the powers and duties of a county fire coordinator desig- 26 nated to make the inspection by the county fire coordinator or such 27 other officer so performing the powers and duties of a county fire coor- 28 dinator, if the building is located outside a city, town, village, or 29 fire district, which has its own fire department and outside the area 30 described in the certificate of incorporation of any fire corporation 31 which is subject to the provisions of section fourteen hundred two of 32 the not-for-profit corporation law. 33 (4) Requesting inspection by a fire inspector, who holds a valid 34 certification. 35 b. [If any such inspection, or phase thereof, is to be made by either36of the methods specified in subparagraphs (1) and (2) of paragraph a of37this subdivision, the school authorities shall give reasonable notice of38the date and time such inspection is to be made to the chief, or other39comparable officer, of any fire department, or fire corporation, which40has the regular duty of fighting fire in the building to be inspected.41Such officer, or any subordinate designated by him, may be present42during the inspection and may also file a report of inspection in the43manner provided in this section.44c.] If any fire department, certified fire inspector or fire corpo- 45 ration described in subparagraphs [(3) and (4)] one, two, and four of 46 paragraph a of this subdivision shall fail or refuse to make a fire 47 inspection promptly after having been requested to do so by the school 48 authorities, the request shall be denied in writing to the school 49 authorities [may request the county fire coordinator, or the officer50performing the powers and duties of a county fire coordinator pursuant51to a local law, of the county in which the building is located to make52such inspection. It shall be the duty of the county fire coordinator, or53such other officer so performing the powers and duties of a county fire54coordinator, in such case to make such inspection or cause it to be made55by a deputy whom he shall designate] with an explanation of why such 56 request was denied. In no event may an authority who is otherwiseA. 1906--A 3 1 required by law to conduct fire inspections in such municipality or a 2 county fire coordinator refuse a request by a school authority for such 3 inspection. 4 [d.] c. Regardless of the method or methods used to accomplish the 5 inspection required by this section, the [person] authority making the 6 inspection shall file the report thereof with the school authorities no 7 later than the first day of December. 8 4. The state fire administrator shall prescribe the form of the fire 9 inspection report and the commissioner [of education] shall furnish a 10 supply of such form to school authorities annually, either by mail or 11 electronically. In prescribing such form the state fire administrator 12 shall consider standards for fire safety set forth in the state building 13 construction code, the state building conservation and fire prevention 14 code, the regulations of the commissioner [of education] and other safe- 15 ty standards. 16 5. a. The report of any fire inspection shall be filed in the office 17 of the school authorities and with the commissioner [of education]. All 18 such reports [so] filed in any public office shall be kept as public 19 records for at least three years after which period they may be 20 destroyed. 21 b. Within twenty days after the [filing of the] report is filed with 22 the school authorities, the school authorities shall cause public notice 23 of the filing of such report to be given in substantially the following 24 form: "Notice is hereby given that the annual inspection for 25 (year) of 26 the school building (or of the 27 and school buildings) of (name of school district or private 28 school) for fire hazards which might endanger the lives of students, 29 teachers and employees therein, has been completed and the report there- 30 of is available at the office of (school district or private school) 31 at for inspection by all interested persons". If the inspection 32 was not made for the school authorities by the fire department or fire 33 company responsible for fire protection of the building, such authori- 34 ties shall cause a copy of such notice to be mailed or electronically 35 transmitted to the chief of such fire department or company. 36 c. The school authorities of public schools shall cause such notice to 37 be published on the school's website or at least once in the official 38 newspaper, or if there is no official newspaper, in a newspaper having 39 general circulation in the school district, and if there is no newspaper 40 having general circulation in the district, shall cause such notice to 41 be posted in ten conspicuous places in the district. Proof of publica- 42 tion or posting of such notice and of the mailing of a copy of such 43 notice to the fire chief shall be filed in the office of the district. 44 d. The school authorities of private schools shall cause such notice 45 to be published on the school's website or at least once in a newspaper 46 having general circulation in the postal area in which the school build- 47 ing is located, and if there is no newspaper having general circulation 48 in such postal area, shall cause such notice to be posted in ten 49 conspicuous places in such postal area. Proof of posting or publication 50 of such notice and of the mailing of a copy of such notice to the fire 51 chief shall be filed in the school office. 52 e. If the report shows any alleged deficiencies, the school authori- 53 ties shall [give at least five days notice by mail to the chief of the54fire department or fire company responsible for fire protection of the55school building of the date and place of a meeting of the trustees,56board of education, or corresponding officers by whatever name known, toA. 1906--A 4 1be held within thirty days following the publication or posting required2by this section, and shall at such meeting confer with the fire chief3concerning the alleged deficiencies appearing on the inspection report4and the measures proposed to be taken by the school authorities to5correct such deficiencies.6f. In each such school district subject to the jurisdiction of a7district superintendent under the provisions of article forty-five of8the education law, such district superintendent shall ascertain that the9notices required by this subdivision have been published or posted, and10mailed, and any conference with the fire chief required by this subdivi-11sion has been had] provide the details of such deficiencies and the 12 proposed actions to be taken to correct such deficiencies to the local 13 government that administers and enforces the uniform fire prevention and 14 building code for the municipality in which the building is located. 15 6. a. It shall be the duty of the commissioner to ascertain annually 16 whether the inspections of school buildings required by this section 17 have been made and the reports of the inspection have been filed in 18 their respective offices. The commissioner shall review the reports of 19 inspection filed pursuant to this section and may make recommendations 20 to the school authorities with respect to any problems relating to 21 school fire safety noted in such reports. The commissioner shall require 22 a re-inspection of school buildings where a report of inspection identi- 23 fied violations [that, if uncorrected, would cause the department to] 24 until it is demonstrated to the satisfaction of the commissioner that 25 said violations have been corrected. In the event that a public school 26 fails to correct violations following a re-inspection, the commissioner 27 may deny an annual certificate of occupancy to such school building[,28and shall require additional re-inspections until it is demonstrated to29the satisfaction of the commissioner that said violations have been30corrected]. The commissioner may inspect or cause to be inspected at any 31 reasonable time for fire prevention and fire protection purposes the 32 school buildings required to be inspected by this section. 33 b. In the event a private school has failed to file an annual fire 34 safety report with the department within ninety days of the sixteenth of 35 December, the commissioner shall inspect or request an appropriate local 36 authority, described in subdivision seven of this section, to inspect 37 the school. If a private school either refuses access for an inspection 38 pursuant to this paragraph, or does not correct violations identified in 39 such report in a timely manner, the commissioner shall immediately noti- 40 fy, in writing, the local government who issues the certificate of occu- 41 pancy for the school of their failure to file a fire safety report. 42 7. a. Every public or private school required to be inspected as 43 hereinabove provided may be inspected for fire prevention and fire 44 protection purposes at any reasonable time by: 45 (1) the chief of the fire department of the city, town, village or 46 fire district in which the school is located, 47 (2) the chief of a fire corporation having its headquarters outside a 48 village or fire district, if the school is located in the area described 49 in the certificate of incorporation of such company, 50 (3) the chief of the fire department or fire company affording fire 51 protection to a fire district, fire protection district, or fire alarm 52 district pursuant to a contract, if the school is located in any such 53 district, 54 (4) the member of any fire department or fire company listed in 55 subparagraph one, two or three of this paragraph assigned by the chief 56 thereof the duty of inspecting school buildings[.],A. 1906--A 5 1 (5) the fire inspector, who holds a valid certification, of any city, 2 town, village or fire district in which the building is located. 3 b. In no event shall the school authorities of any public or private 4 school, required to be inspected as hereinabove provided, refuse access 5 at any reasonable time to any person described in subparagraphs one, 6 two, three [and], four or five of paragraph a of this subdivision, who 7 appears for the purpose of conducting an inspection for fire prevention 8 or fire protection purposes; provided, however, that the administrator 9 or the designee of the administrator of the school to be inspected shall 10 be given the opportunity to be present during the inspection. 11 8. [Any person, or any public or other corporation for which any such12person acts, shall not be liable for any error, omission or lack of13thoroughness in the making of the inspection and report required or14permitted by this section.159.] The term "school authorities", as used in this section, means, in 16 relation to public schools, the trustees, or board of education, or 17 corresponding officers, whether one or more, and by whatever name known 18 of a city school district, or other school district however created, or, 19 in relation to private schools, the board of trustees, board of direc- 20 tors, or other governing board in general charge of the operation of any 21 such school. 22 [10.] 9. The term "private school", as used in this section, means: 23 a. Any nursery school or kindergarten attended by six or more pupils 24 three years of age or older which may apply for registration by the New 25 York state education department pursuant to part one hundred twenty-five 26 of title eight of the official compilation of codes, rules and regu- 27 lations of the state of New York; provided, however, that this section 28 shall not apply to day care facilities possessing a valid permit as 29 required by section three hundred ninety of the social services law; or 30 b. Any establishment, other than a public school, attended by twenty- 31 five or more pupils for the purpose of receiving the instruction of 32 academic grade at the elementary or secondary level required by part one 33 of article sixty-five of this chapter. 34 [11.] 10. This section shall not apply to the school authorities in 35 the cities of New York, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers or to 36 colleges and universities. 37 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 807-c of the education law, as amended 38 by chapter 1015 of the laws of 1974, is amended to read as follows: 39 1. The school authorities designated in subdivision [nine] eight of 40 section eight hundred seven-a of this [chapter] article in charge of the 41 operation of any public school or of any private school designated in 42 subdivision [ten] nine of such section, located in an area within which 43 a fire department or fire company is responsible for fire protection and 44 within which there is no electrically or electronically operated fire 45 alarm reporting system provided for public use may cause the internal 46 fire alarm, fire detection, or fire extinguishing system of each build- 47 ing in which is contained classroom, dormitory, laboratory, physical 48 education, dining or recreational facilities for student use to be 49 interconnected with the fire alarm reporting location or system which is 50 provided for such fire department or fire company to receive alarms from 51 the public so that upon activation of such internal fire alarm, fire 52 detection, or fire extinguishing system a signal will be automatically 53 transmitted to such fire alarm reporting location or system. 54 § 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall 55 have become a law.