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Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) and Fire Protection

Conner Wolff-Torres · Oct 4, 2022 ·

The authority having jurisdiction, or AHJ, plays a crucial role in ensuring fire/life safety in buildings, and it’s essential that facility managers understand what the AHJ is and the role it plays throughout the life of a building.

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The concept of an authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) has been included in safety standards for years. The first thing to understand about an AHJ is that it is not a single entity. Depending on the jurisdiction your facility is in, the type of facility you’re in, and who owns your facility, you may be visited not only by the fire marshal, but by a variety of individuals, referred to as “the authority having jurisdiction”, who ensure your fire and life safety programs are within their standards of operation.

Defining the Authority Having Jurisdiction

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 701 codes define the AHJ as “an organization, office, or individual responsible for enforcing the requirements of a code or standard, or for approving equipment, materials, an installation, or a procedure.” Specifically, under the NFPA 701 annexes, it is distinguished that “where public safety is primary, the AHJ may be a federal, state, local, or other regional department or individual such as a fire chief; fire marshal; chief of a fire prevention bureau, labor department, or health department; building official; electrical inspector; or others having statutory authority.  For insurance purposes, an insurance inspection department, rating bureau, or other insurance company representative may be the AHJ.”

Essentially, this means that the AHJ serves primarily as an official responsible for code interpretation, enforcement, and implementation. It also means your AHJ is most likely more than a single person, office, or entity. The requirements your AHJ is employed to enforce depend mostly on the type of building or property. Their main objective is to evaluate the overall condition of the fire and life safety performance on your property and to confirm or request that it meets those up-to-date expectations. For example these could include:

Local Government

  • Building Department
  • Fire Departments & the Fire Chief
  • Zoning Departments

State Government

  • State Fire Marshal
  • State Health Department

Federal Government

  • Government Service Administration
  • Federal Programs
    • OSHA
    • JCAHO
    • BIA

Private Sector

  • Insurance Company
  • Third-party Certification & Accreditation Organizations

The United States’ codes and standards development process can be confusing. Unlike many other countries, there is no federal government code, so your AHJ requirements may differ depending on where your building is located. Furthermore, the codes your AHJ is employed to enforce can differ depending on which edition of the code your jurisdiction has adopted. It’s essential to recognize that once a code is adopted by a jurisdiction, it essentially should be noted as law for that jurisdiction.

With each of these sectors, various disciplines, or AHJs with unique or specialized areas of focus, might be present. An AHJ with overall knowledge of building and fire code issues, or one with special knowledge of plumbing systems and electrical systems, are a few examples of whom you might encounter.

International Code Council and National Fire Protection Association Code Books
Examples of Code Books Enforced by AHJS

Understanding Codes Enforced By AHJS

The codes and standards development process in the United States is managed almost entirely within the private sector. While the processes used to develop the code-based provisions have some differences, the NFPA code development process uses the principles of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). These principles include:

  • Consensus must be reached by representatives from materially affected and interested parties.
  • Standards are required to undergo public reviews when any member of the public may submit comments.
  • Comments from the consensus body and public review commenters must be responded to in good faith.
  • An appeals process is required.

Transparency, openness, and inclusion are at the center of this process. NFPA uses a model of balanced committees; a mix of materially affected, interested parties derive requirements and develop the standards. In regard to the building, those who have to do the enforcing (the AHJ), pay for the building (the building owners), maintain it (the owners/contractors), install it (the contractors), design it (the architects/engineers), and insure it (the insurance company), all have a perspective on what the “requirement” should be, and they work together to find that balance.

Code Adoption

Once a code is adopted by a jurisdiction, the Authority Having Jurisdiction and the building owner are obligated to follow and it is what the AHJ is obligated to enforce. Finding out which code is applicable can be a bit tricky. A state or local jurisdiction may be several editions behind in adopting the most current code. For instance, the current edition of NFPA 101, Life Safety Code, is from 2021. Although this code is updated every three years, some jurisdictions may be using a 2015 edition or even a 2009 edition. Furthermore, a particular edition may be adopted at the state level but Home Rule (where county or municipal governments implement principles of a local self-government) may allow the code to be adopted at the local level.

The AHJ is the best person to ask to learn which edition and what local amendments are in effect. This approach is also a great way to strike up a relationship with the AHJ. Doing so can give you a better understanding of expectations and requirements.

A Critical Role

On occasion, there are stories about the fire marshal controlling or setting limits on the way a building can be used. Contrary to some popular myths, fire marshals and other Authorities Having Jurisdiction do not make up their own rules. One of their primary jobs is to enforce the locally adopted codes and standards in the jurisdiction. The restrictions, limits, or changes in your building that the AHJ has identified are there to protect the owner, the building occupants, first responders, and the community at large.

It might be helpful to think of AHJs as customer service representatives. They help with carrying out the “policy” (adopted code) for the jurisdiction. During construction or renovations, they are also allies of the building owner. The AHJ is usually involved in the plan review process. This process helps ensure that the building and its related systems meet the requirements of the adopted code or standard and that the building’s construction features, systems, and architectural features are in compliance, thereby assuring the building owner that he or she is paying for a code-complying structure.

AZ Department of Forestry and Fire Management logo
The Fire Marshal in AZ is under the Department of Forestry & Fire Management

It is their duty to verify your building is safe for everyone. In case of an emergency, any requested modifications also benefit the first responders. For instance, if a fire starts in your building, first responders are going to assume your life safety systems are up to date. If you have failed to follow AHJ instructions, a first responders’ ability to take control of a possibly dangerous situation could be compromised. Not only is this a disservice in respect to overall safety, but potential legal ramifications may follow.

Your Responsibility

However, even with a government AHJ responsible for the initial installation and an assigned facility AHJ for subsequent facility installations, there is an obligation for an employer to verify that maintenance, repair, or modification of the initial equipment does not create unsafe conditions. 

Tips for Working with the Authority Having Jurisdiction

When it comes to your fire code and safety inspection services, the AHJ plays a vital role in certifying that the fire and life safety systems in your building are up to date and up to the NFPA codes standards. Many of us generally don’t know who their AHJ is, let alone what fire codes and standards apply to our buildings.

The NFPA requires fire inspections primarily where public safety is at potential risk. Inspections are not to assign blame. They confirm that equipment is installed and maintained in a manner that safeguards persons and property from hazards arising from everyday use of the facility as well as in emergency situations. Without verifying compliance, employees, customers and anyone else who enters your building are at risk. 

At A P Fire Protection we believe it is our responsibility to make sure you know what to do when the AHJ for your business comes into the picture. The following tips will help you know what to expect and prepare for so that you can go in feeling confident and comfortable with the fire inspection process.

Get to Know Your AHJ 

In the most general sense, if you’re a building owner, your AHJ is an ally, so it’s important to treat them as such and take them seriously when they perform inspections. Keeping an open mind and providing the upmost transparency when relaying information pertaining to the building is crucial in maintaining a positive relationship with your AHJ, as well as the safety of anyone who goes into your building.

Sustaining a positive relationship with your AHJ(s) additionally provides you the opportunity to know your building inside and out in a way that will help you to conserve the integrity of the building and therefore your business. It will also help you in case something goes wrong, you’ll be able to effectively communicate where the issue is so as to provide the persons in charge of fixing or inspecting the issue all of the facts. Good for you, but also good for your AHJ to know too.

Remember, your AHJ isn’t your enemy, your AHJ is your friend! It’s up to you to maintain a good rapport, no matter the condition of your building(s), a good relationship with the AHJ can only improve the situation.

Document Inspections/Correspondences and Follow Up

It is as beneficial for you as it is the AHJ when you both are on (literally) the same page. Take notes during inspections, save all paperwork, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Chances are, if you lack the knowledge, you’ll be left wondering what to do when your Authority Having Jurisdiction shows up. At APFP, we don’t want that to happen. After all, your success is our success, and we all can agree a safe building is the best kind of building.

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Fire Protection for Schools & Universities

Conner Wolff-Torres · Sep 8, 2022 ·

The first step in keeping students, faculty, and visitors protected in the event of a fire involves fire protection systems and fire safety protocols for schools and universities. Fire protection systems can help to extinguish a fire and provide building occupants the time they need to evacuate safely, but only when they are well-maintained and functioning. It is extremely important to uphold established fire safety protocols to keep everyone informed and prepared so that they know what to do and where to go in the event of a fire.

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Fire Protection Systems

Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), code officials, field inspectors, and school districts have the responsibility to ensure each school building is built and maintained properly. Set your year up for success by ensuring your fire protection systems are up to code and ready to deploy in the event of an emergency. Each level of your fire protection systems is a critical component of fire safety on your campuses. Be sure to have your  inspections and maintenance items scheduled early and A P Fire Protection can work with your school calendar to have your fire protection in tip-top shape.

Fire Alarms

The International Building Code (IBC) and International Fire Code (IFC) provide minimum requirements for fire alarm systems such as automatic detection and manual fire alarm boxes throughout a school. A school fire alarm system can be set off in one of two ways: a system will automatically sound if smoke or high heat is detected, or it can also be manually started through a pull lever.

Smoke detectors are constantly testing for combustion particles in the air, while heat detectors measure air temperature. Depending on the installation areas and code requirements, each type could be installed on your campuses to reduce nuisance alarms while still providing reliable early detection. Early detection and notification also offer ample time to locate and extinguish a fire before it spreads.

The control panel is typically located in the front office, but not always.The panel is programmed to be able to tell the staff where the fire is happening, whether a fire alarm lever was pulled or automatically activated by the presence of heat or smoke.

Fire Extinguishers

Portable fire extinguishers should be located in accessible locations in accordance with the AHJ requirements for your region. Staff should know where the closest extinguisher is located at all times and how to operate it. APFP offers onsite training courses and certification where staff can operate a real extinguisher to put out a live flame. Trained personnel can use fire extinguishers to quickly stop a small fire from spreading or to create a path for escape. 

Fire Sprinklers

Quick response (QR) fire sprinklers are preferred in systems for facilities with high occupancies like school buildings and dormitories. Their smaller bulb size speeds up thermal responsiveness. Additionally, quick response sprinkler deflectors discharge water higher on the walls to keep the fire from climbing and maintain lower ceiling temperatures (heat rises!). Cooler ceilings reduce the likelihood of flashover and slow a fire’s rise within a building, improving the odds for survivability. These elements give occupants time to evacuate. 

Fire Damage at School

Fire Safety Plans

Unfortunately, statistics indicate that most school fires are started while school is in session, meaning the occupants are responsible for most school fires. Staff training and fire drills are essential in educating our children about fires and keeping them safe. Even with the best fire protection systems in place, it is important to have emergency operation plans that are organized to provide quick and orderly evacuation. These plans should be reviewed frequently and updated to reflect any building modifications or changes in occupancy.

Mass Notification System

Depending on one form of emergency communication, such as a PA system or text messages, can be incredibly unreliable during an emergency. NFPA 72 recommends using at least two of the four layers of communication – indoor, outdoor, personal, and public alerting. A mass notification system allows building occupants to be promptly and clearly alerted to a variety of emergency situations. This includes fires, severe weather, active shooters, or any other emergency requiring immediate communication to many people. Internal speakers, outdoor blast speaker systems, mass text messages, and e-mails can all be utilized to alert everyone to the specific danger and provide instructions on how to remain safe.

An egress map showing evacuation routes and fire protection unit locations held down by a detector.
Emergency Action Plan: Example Egress Map

Fire and Evacuation Drills

Fire and evacuation drills are the most important fire safety exercise you can do. Conduct drills on a regular basis to learn and maintain awareness of exit routes and best efficiency practices. An egress map should be posted in each classroom and near each building exit. Each egress map should designate two assembly areas that are at least 500 feet away from the building where students and staff should assemble upon evacuation as a “Main Assembly Area” and an “Alternate Assembly Area”, in the event the Main Area cannot be used. 

Drills can be used as an opportunity to identify problem areas and egress choke points and to ensure occupants understand any directions given by the fire alarm or mass notification system. In addition, it is important that all employees be aware of the locations of alternate exits and keep exit routes free and clear of obstructions. Drills should be used to update plans as needed to account for new or renovated buildings, student growth, and other changes that might affect emergency egress.

Dormitory Checks

September is Campus Fire Safety Month, and that’s a great time to review best practices for fire safety in dormitories. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), from 2015-2019, U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated annual average of 3,840 structure fires in dorms, fraternities, sororities, and other related properties, resulting in annual averages of 29 civilian injuries and $11 million in direct property damage. Most campus fires happen in dormitories between the hours of 5-11 p.m. Of these incidents, 6 out of 7 are related to cooking. While it is important to enforce policies that reduce risks including unattended cooking, candles, and the disabling of smoke alarms, it is vital to ensure that all dormitories are fully sprinklered and have an operable fire alarm system that has been inspected in accordance with local fire codes.

Fire Protection Services 

Working with APFP

Whether you need smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, or an automatic sprinkler system installed at your school facilities, A P Fire Protection is here for you. We have been protecting Arizona from fire damage since 2008 and we have over a century of combined experience! Known for our superb customer service, our expertise, and our reliability, we understand as school systems it is imperative to complete most maintenance while students and staff are off campus and will do everything in our power to schedule around your breaks and holidays.

Schedule Now!

In preparation for your services, you should check in with a couple of departments so you are ready to go. Facility directors/managers should be able to tell you if their monthly inspections have detected any problem areas or changes to structures or occupancies. If this is your first time partnering with APFP, we encourage you to reach out to your previous fire protection company to see what reports they can provide you with, or at the very least, collate your campus maps in preparation for a walkthrough where we will mark each device location. Working with the procurement office ahead of time can also save you time when it comes to getting purchase orders after an estimate has been approved. You can also check out our list of common

Typical school Fire Code Violations

System Reports

We will do our best to provide our customers with job reports containing device counts and placement, outlining deficiencies and needed repairs and compiling previous repairs and notations. Not only does this make you more aware of your fire protection capabilities and needs, but it also sets you up for success by establishing verifiable numbers needed to project more accurate pricing for upcoming maintenance.

Fire alarm systems in schools, like other buildings, generally are not mandated to be updated or replaced to meet current code requirements unless the system is no longer operational or if buildings are being modernized. Although codes are developed to improve safety, these modified codes also have increased the cost of building and installing systems.

These cost restraints are the primary reasons that many school districts simply have not been able to budget for new or upgraded fire alarm systems. While school administrators would like to upgrade or replace obsolete fire alarm systems, often funding is not available to do so. Sadly, this fact could result in a school having an obsolete and possibly non-operational fire alarm system, which is unacceptable when the protection of our children is at stake.

School fire protection systems do not need to have all new top of the line equipment; however, it should be stressed that obsolete and out of date equipment that does not meet applicable code requirements puts lives in danger. First and foremost, we should be able to keep our children safe from fire while they are in school. 

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Why Does My Bid Have a Compliance Engine Fee?

Conner Wolff-Torres · May 24, 2022 ·

Why Does My Bid Have a Compliance Engine Fee?

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May 24, 2022

WHAT IS THE COMPLIANCE ENGINE

The Compliance Engine is a simple, internet-based tool for Fire Prevention Bureaus, Water Departments, and Building Departments and depending on where your business is located, it may be a required tool to help keep your business and your city up to date.

The Compliance Engine provides a secure environment for third-party contractors, like A P Fire Protection, who inspect, test, and maintain fire protection systems and backflows to submit their reports via BRYCER’s Web Portal directly to the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) in local municipalities. This facilitates a more efficient review, tracking, and follow-up process with occupants to correct deficiencies and maintain systems and allows AHJs to track and drive inspection and testing code compliance which ultimately reduces false alarm activity, ensures clean drinking water and provides a safer community.

While it may seem like this is just a way to generate revenue for contractors and the local AHJ, the single biggest reason we are starting to see the shift to a compliance engine is to make it safer for the people who occupy these buildings. Utilizing the compliance engine can play a considerable role in reducing the likelihood of a fire event and the damage it could cause if the fire protection systems are not being maintained properly. 

The compliance engine process

THE PROCESS

Property owners will receive timely, proactive notifications of their testing requirements by mail. If we have not already contacted you to get you on the schedule, please call our office. Once testing has been completed, we will provide you with our testing reports and suggested repairs for your systems. We are then required to submit all testing information and noted deficiencies to the AHJ via the compliance engine. If repairs have not been completed for required deficiencies and been reported back to the compliance engine within 30 days, the property owner will then receive an additional notice of deficiency giving them and additional 30 days from receipt of the letter to complete the needed repairs. Property owners do not need to submit any reports to the compliance engine. As the testing company, we do this for you!

Pressure gauge reading on fire hydrant

REPORTING & CORRECTING DEFICIENCIES

In the last few years, AHJs who have put more of an emphasis on the proper inspection, testing and maintenance of fire protection systems have frequently found deficiencies that could impact the performance of fire systems that go un-repaired. We understand as property owners you may not want to pay for the correction of the deficiencies immediately because there is a lack of budgetary funding and there may not seem to be any urgency in doing so, but it is our job to communicate the impact of the deficiency in the event of an emergency can be devastating.

Now, with the utilization of compliance engines and having to submit the inspection reports along with the list of deficiencies, there is a priority to have these deficiencies corrected immediately in order to properly maintain fire protection systems and prevent major property loss. While the upfront cost may seem sizeable, the long-term savings is priceless.

RESULTS WE ARE SEEING FROM COMPLIANCE ENGINES

Having a compliance engine to keep track of code compliance aids the Fire Marshal and Fire Prevention Bureaus by providing accurate data of which buildings have fire protection systems, when they were last tested, and if there are any open deficiencies that could hinder the successful deployment of their fire protection teams in the event of an incident.

As a service provider offering quarterly, semi-annual, and annual inspections and testing to our customers, we are seeing more and more local municipalities we serve adopting the compliance engine in an effort to track and drive responsible inspection and testing code compliance. Thanks to the database the compliance engines are building, we know that over 50% of all fire protection systems go untested and maintained annually, and together we are working to change that.

While this is generating more revenue for us, it is also giving us an opportunity to interact with our customers more than usual, ultimately building a much stronger relationship with you, and that is our ultimate goal.

SYSTEMS TRACKED THROUGH THE COMPLIANCE ENGINE IN OUR AREA:

  • Fire Alarm Systems
  • Automatic Fire Sprinkler Systems
  • Fire Pumps
  • Kitchen Hood Suppression Systems
  • Fire Hydrants
  • CO2 Detection Systems
  • Spray Booths
  • Standpipe Systems
  • Backflow Preventers

CITIES & MUNICIPALITIES CURRENTLY UTILIZING COMPLIANCE ENGINES

Arizona Municipalities Requiring Compliance Engine Reporting

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Glendale, AZ 85303

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