1997-054firecode 94
ORDINANCE
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 29 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS TO PROVIDE FOR THE ADOPTION OF THE UNIFORM
FIRE CODE, 1994 EDITION, PROVIDING FOR AMENDMENTS THERETO, RE~
ESTABLISHING PERMIT FEES, PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY IN THE AMOUNT OF
$2,000 FOR VIOLATIONS THEREOF, PROVIDING FOR A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE,
REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT THEREWITH, AND PROVIDING FOR
AN EFFECTIVE DATE
THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON HEREBY ORDAINS
SECTION I That Article I of Chapter 29 of the Code of
Ordinances Ks amended to read as follows
ARTICLE I. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Section 29-1. Uniform Fire Code -- Adopted.
There is hereby adopted by the City of Denton, Texas for the
purpose of prescribing regulations governing conditions hazardous
to l~fe and property from fire and exploslon, that certain Codes
and Standards known as the Uniform F~re Code, ~ncludlng Appendices
I-C, II-A, II-B, II-C, II-D, II-F, II-G, II-H, III-C, III-D, IV-A,
IV-B, V-A, VI-A, VI-B and VI-E, and the Unlform F~re Code Stan-
dards, published by the International F~re Code Institute and
Internatlonal Conference of Building Officials, being particularly
the 1994 editions thereof and whole thereof, save and except such
portions as are hereinafter deleted, modlfled or amended by Section
29-2 of this ordinance A copy of said Fare Code and Standards KS
now filed ~n the office of the City Secretary, and is hereby
adopted and incorporated as fully as if set out at length herein,
and from the date on which th~s ordinance shall take effect, the
prov~slons thereof shall be controlllng w~th~n the limits of the
C~ty of Denton and wlth~n 5,000 feet thereof, where specified
there~n
Section 29-2. Amendments.
The Uniform Fare Code, as adopted an Section 29-1, ~s hereby
amended as follows
A By the deletion of the followlng sections an their
entirety
1 Sec 103 2 2, Fare Prevention Bureau
2 Sec 103 2 2 1, Fire Prevention Englneer or Fare
Marshal
B By the amendment of the Uniform Fire Code as follows
1 Section 101 5, entitled Liability, is amended by
adding a third paragraph to read as follows
All regulations provided in this Code are
hereby declared to be governmental and for the
benefit of the general public Any member of
the City Council, any city official or employ-
ee, or any member of the Building Code Board
charged with the enforcement of this code,
acting for the City in the discharge of his
duties, shall not thereby render himself
personally liable, and he is hereby relieved
from all personal liability for any damage
that may occur to persons or property as a
result of any action required or permitted in
the discharge of his duties Any suit brought
against such official or employee because of
such act performed by him in the enforcement
of any provisions of this Code shall be repre-
sented by the City of Denton through its
designated attorney until the final adjudica-
tion of the proceedings
2 Section 103 4 5, entitled Inspections and Unsafe
Buildings is amended by changing the last sentence to
read as follows
All such unsafe buildings are hereby declared
to be public nuisances and shall be abated by
repair, rehabilitation, demolition or removal
in accordance with the procedures specified in
the Minimum Housing and Building Standards
contained within Chapter 28 of the Code of
Ordinances of the City of Denton, Texas
3 Section 103 1 4, entitled Appeals, is amended to
read as follows
103.1.4 Board of Appeals. In order to deter-
mine the suitability of alternate materials
and types of construction and to provide for
reasonable interpretations of the provisions
of this Code, the Building Code Board as
created and organized under Chapter 28 of the
Code of Ordinances shall pass upon all perti-
nent matters Whenever the Fire Marshal
disapproves an applIcation or refuses a permit
applied for, or whenever it is claimed that
PAGE 2
the provisions of the Code do not apply or
that the true intent or meaning of the Code
have been wrongly mzsconstrued or wrongly
interpreted, the applicant may appeal from the
declslon of the Fzre Marshal to said Board
wlthln thlrty (30) days from the date of the
dec~slon appealed
In add~tlon to such Board, the F~re Marshal
may request the addltzonal members be appo~nt-
ed for speczf~c rulings or znterpretatlons
Such members shall be voting, ex-offzczo
members and appointed by the Chazrman of the
Building Code Board to assist in the determl-
natzon and/or rullng of a speclflc issue or
case Such appointments shall be temporary
until the rulln9 is rendered No more than
two (2) members shall be appointed, each
havln9 experience ~n the matter of questzon
The Board shall adopt reasonable rules and
regulatzons for conducting th~s znvestzgat~on
and shall render all deczslons and f~ndln9 in
wrztlng to the Flre marshal wzth duplicate
copy to the appellant and may recommend to the
Czty Council such new legislation as is con-
s~stent therewith
4 Section 103 4 4, entitled C~tat~ons, ~s amended to
read as follows
103.4.4 Citations. Any person operating or
mazntaznzng any occupancy, premises or vehzcle
subject to this Code who shall permit any fzre
hazard to ex~st on the premises under their
control or who shall fall to take immediate
action to abate a fzre hazard when ordered or
notified to do so by the chzef or his duly
authorized representative shall be guilty of a
separate offense for each and every day or
portzon thereof which any v~olatlon of any of
the prov~szons of th~s Code zs committed or
contznued A person convicted of vlolatzon of
any provision of th~s Code shall be guilty of
an offense punishable by a fine not to exceed
two thousand dollars ($2,000)
5 Section 105 8, entitled Permit Required, ~s amended
to read as follows
PAGE 3
105.8 Permit Required. A permit shall be
obtained from the Fire Marshal prior to engag-
ing in the following activities, operations,
practices or functions
a 1 Automatic Fire Alarm Systems, Auto-
matic Fire Extinguishing Systems and
Standpipe Systems. To install, con-
struct, modify or alter any automatic
fare alarm system, automatic fire extin-
guishing system or standpipe system,
provided however that the permit required
herein shall not apply to the installa-
tion of single-station smoke detectors in
R-1 and R-3 occupancies
b 1 Bowling pin or alley refinishing. To
conduct a bowling pin refinishing or
bowling alley resurfaclng operation in-
volving the use and application of flam-
mable liquids or materials See Article
26
c 1 Candles and open flames in assembly
areas. To use open flames or candles in
connection with assembly areas, dining
areas of restaurants or drinking estab-
lishments For definition of ASSEMBLY,
see Article 2 See Article 25 for open
flames and candles
c 2 Carnivals and fairs. To conduct a
carnival or fair See Article 25 The
chief is authorized to require plans of
the grounds to be submitted
e 1 Explosives and Blasting Agents. For
permits for explosives or blasting
agents, see Article 77
f 1 Fire hydrants and water-control
valves. To use a fire hydrant to operate
a water-control valve intended for fire-
suppression purposes, see Article 9
f 2 Fireworks. For permits for fire-
works, see Article 78
f 3 Flammable or combustible liquids.
See Article 79
PAGE 4
1 TO use or operate, repair or
modify a pipeline for the transpor-
tation of flammable or combustible
liquids
2 To store, use or handle Class I
liquids in excess of 5 gallons or In
a building or in excess of 10 gal-
lons outside of building, except
that a permit is not required for
the following
2 1 The storage or use of Class I
liquids in the fuel tank of
motor vehicles, aircraft, motor
boats, mobile power plants or
mobile heating equipment, un-
less such storage, in the opin-
ion of the chief, would cause
an unsafe condition
2 2 The storage or use of paints,
oils, varnishes or similar
flammable mixtures when such
liquids are stored for mainte-
nance, painting or similar pur-
poses for a period of not more
than 30 days
3 To store, handle or use Class II
or Class III-A liquids in excess of
25 gallons in a building or in ex-
cess of 60 gallons outside of a
building, except for fuel oil used
in connection with oil-burning equi-
pment
4 To remove Class I or II liquids
from an underground storage tank
used for fueling motor vehicles by
any means other than approved, sta-
tionary on-site pumps normally used
for dispensing purposes
5 To install, construct, alter or
operate tank vehicles, equipment,
tanks, plants, terminals, wells,
fuel-dispensing stations, refineries
distilleries and similar facilities
where flammable and combustible
PAGE 5
liquids are produced, processed,
transported, stored, dispensed or
used
6 To install, alter, remove, aban-
don, place temporarily out of ser-
vice or otherwise dispose of flamma-
ble or combustible liquids
7 To change the type of contents
stored in a flammable or combustIble
liquid tank to a material other than
that for which the tank was designed
and constructed
h 1 Hazardous Materials. To store,
transport on site, dispense, use or han-
dle hazardous materials in excess of the
amounts listed in Table 105-C or to in-
stall, repair, abandon, remove, place
temporarily out of service, close or
substantially modify a storage facility
or other area regulated by Article 80
when the hazardous materials In use or
storage exceed the amounts listed in
Table 105 C
h 2 Hazardous production materials. To
store, handle or use hazardous production
material in a Group H, Division 6 Occu-
pancy See Article 51
h 3 High-piled combustible stock. To use
any building or portion thereof exceeding
500 square feet for hlgh-p~led combusti-
ble storage A floor plan showing the
dimensions and location of stock piles
and aisles shall be submitted w~th the
applications for such permits See Arti-
cle 81
1 2 Liquid- or gas-fueled vehicles or
equipment in assembly buildings To
display, compete or demonstrate lIquid-
or gas-fueled vehicles in assembly build-
lngs See Article 25
m 2 Mall, Covered. See Article 35 To
use a covered mall in the following man-
ner
PAGE 6
A Placing or constructing temporary
kiosks, display booths, concession
equipment or the like in the mall
B To use a mall as a place of assem-
bly
C To use open-flame or flame-producing
appliances
D To display any liquid- or gas-fueled
equipment
o 1 Open burning. To conduct open
burning Where burning is conducted on
public property or the property of some-
one other than the permit applicant, the
permit applicant shall demonstrate that
permission has been obtained from each
appropriate government agency, as well as
the owner or the owner's authorized
agent When limits for atmospheric con-
dltlons or hours restrict burning, such
limits shall be designated in the permit
restrictions See Section 1102 3
p 1 Pyrotechnical special effects mate-
rial. For permits for pyrotechnical
special effects material, see Article 78
s 1 Spraying or dipping. To conduct a
spraying or dipping operation utilizing
flammable or combustible liquids or the
application of combustible powders by
Article 45
t 1 Tents, canopies and temporary mem-
brane structures. To erect or operate a
tent or air supported membrane structure
having an area in excess of 200 square
feet, or a canopy in excess of 400 square
feet, except for structures used exclu-
sively for camping See Article 32
6 Sections 203, 204, 207 and 211 are amended to change
the definitions of Plre Prevention Bureau, chief, and
~urlsdlct~on amended to read as follows, all other
definitions are to remain unchanged
PAGE 7
BUREAU OF FiRE PREVENTION is the Office of the
City Fire Marshal
CHIEF is the City Fire Marshal
JURISDICTION is the City of Denton, Texas
7 Section 902, entitled Fire Apparatus Access, is
amended to read as follows
902 - FIRE DEPARTMENT ACCESS
902.1 General. Fire apparatus access roads
shall be constructed in accordance with the
provisions of article V of chapter 11 of the
Code of Ordinances
[the remainder of section 902 is deleted]
8 Section 1003 2, entitled Required Installations of
Automatic Fire Extinguishing Systems, is amended to read
as follows
1003.2 Required Installations of Automatic
Fire Extinguishing Systems. An automatic
fire-extinguishing system shall be installed
and maintained in each occupancy as required
by the provisions of section 904 of the Uni-
form Building Code, as contained within divi-
sion I of article II of Chapter 28 of the Code
of Ordinances
9 Section 1004 1 1, entitled General, is amended to read
as follows
1004.1.1 General. Standpipes shall comply
with the requirements of section 904 5 I of
the Uniform Building Code, and the latest
edition of NFPA 14
10 Section 7701 7 2, entitled Limits Established by
Law , to read as follows
7701.7.2 Limits established by law. Explo-
sive materials shall not be stored within the
city limits of the City of Denton or within
its extraterritorial jurisdiction
PAGE 8
11 Section 7802 3, entitled Prohibition, is amended to
read as follows
7802.3 Prohibition. Except as provided
otherwise herein, no person shall possess,
store, offer for sale, expose for sale, sell
at retail manufacture or use or explode any
fireworks within the city limits or within
five thousand feet thereof
(a) A person may make use of fireworks for
the purpose of a public fireworks display
upon the issuance of, and in accordance
with, a permit issued for such display
pursuant to the provisions of article
5 43 of the Texas Insurance Code, as
amended
12 Section 7902 2 7 1, entitled General, is amended to
read as follows
7902.2.7.1 General. Storage of Class I and
II liquids in aboveground tanks outside of
buildings is prohibited outside of the limits
of land use districts designated as Agricul-
tural, Light Industrial District, Heavy Indus-
trial District or Planned Development Dls-
tract, as identified in Chapter 35 of the Code
of Ordinances of the City of Denton, Texas
13 Section 8204 2, entitled Maximum Capacity within
Established Limits, is amended to read as follows
8204.2 Maximum Capacity within Established
Limits. Within the limits of land use dis-
tricts designated as Agricultural, Light
Industrial District, Heavy Industrial D~strlct
or Planned Development District, as identified
within Chapter 35 Code of Ordinances of the
City of Denton, Texas, the aggregate quantity
of LP-Gas shall not exceed 150,000 gallons of
LP-Gas (180,000 gallons of water capacity)
The aggregate storage capacity of LP-Gas
outside of these limits shall not exceed 2,000
gallons water capacity
C. By the creation of the followzng new sections:
1 Section 103 3 1 3, entitled Frequency of Inspec-
tion, is created to read as follows
PAGE 9
103.3.1.3 Frequency of Inspection. Ail
owners of, occupants of, tenants of, lessees
of or persons making use of any bulldang or
premases, or portions thereof, when used as
nonresidential group occupancies, ancludang
hotels, lodging houses and congregate resi-
dences, as defined by the Building Code, are
required to have such bualdlngs, premises or
portions thereof inspected annually by the
Fire Marshal or his desagnated representative
Additionally, the Fare Marshal may initiate
such anspectaons at such other t~mes as he
deems appropriate to satisfy the purposes of
thas ordinance, and may add~taonally anspect
all other premises as may be necessary, in-
cluding such other potentaal hazards or appli-
ances as the chief may designate, for the
purpose of ascertaining and causing to be
corrected any condition which would reasonably
tend to cause a fire or contribute to its
spread, or which may constitute a violation of
this ordinance or any other law or standard
affectang fare safety
2 Sectaon 106, entitled Fire Inspection and Permit
Fees, is created to read as follows
SECTION 106 -- FIRE INSPECTION AND
PERMIT FEES
106.1. InspectIon Fees. Each lnspectaon
performed pursuant to Section 103 3 1 3 of
thas Code, as amended, shall be performed free
of charge If the Fire Marshal or has desIg-
nee observes a violation of this chapter and
performs a follow-up inspection to determine
whether a vaolatlon or violations observed
during the previous inspection have been
corrected, a fee shall be charged, and the
occupant or lessee shall pay saad fee within
30 days of beang b~lled therefor as condition
to continue lawful occupancy of the bualdlng
or dwelling to be anspected Saad fee shall
be based upon the amount of anterior area of
the building leased, occupied or used by the
person The fee shall be in an amount estab-
lashed, and from tame to t~me amended, by
ordinance of the C~ty Council, a copy of whach
shall be kept on file with the City Secretary
Follow-up anspectaon fees for common areas of
PAGE 10
such bulldzngs or premises shall be charged to
and paid by the owner in accordance wzth the
area ~nspected
106.2. Permit and Permit Fees. Any permit
required by Section 105 8 of the Code, as
amended herein, or any permit required by
subsection 106 3 thereof, shall be ~ssued only
upon payment of a permit fee in an amount
established, and as from t~me to time amended,
by ordinance of the C~ty Council, a copy of
which shall be kept on f~le w~th the City
Secretary
106.3. Fire Protection Appliances and Sys-
tems. In addition to the permits required by
Section 105 8 of the Code, as amended herein,
any person, company or bus,ness performing the
following services shall be required to obtain
an annual permit
1 Operation of a f~re ext~nguzsher sales
and service company or bus,ness
2 Operation of a fire alarm sales and
service company or bus~ness
3 operatzon of a f~re extzngulshzng
system company or buszness
Such permits shall be issued upon proof that
the applicant complies w~th all applicable
requirements of state law, as amended from
t~me to t~me
3 Section 904, entitled Required F~re Flow, zs created
to read as follows
904 1 Required Fire Flow.
1. When Required. Every development shall
provide adequate water capacity for fire
protection purposes Unless buildings in the
development are provided with fire protection
by means of an approved automatic sprinkler
system Each development shall provide the
minimum fire flow calculated at a minimum
residual pressure of 20 PSI The required
demand shall be ~n accordance w~th Table No
904 1-A
PAGE 11
TABLE NO. 904.1-A
REQUIRED FIRE FLOW DEMAND FOR DEVELOPMENTS
Land Use Flow
(GPM)
High-intensity commercIal and 3,000
industrial
Medlum-lntenszty commercIal 1,500
Medlum-zntenszty residential 750
Low-Intenslty resIdential 500
2. Duration. The m~n~mum duration for re-
quired fire flow shall not be less than 2
hours
904.2. Automatic Sprinkler Protection. If
sufficient water supplies exist to satisfy the
sprinkler demand as calculated by the Insur-
ance Service Office Fire Flow Formula (ISO
FSRS, Section 1, subsection 310), as amended,
the minimum water capacity required by Section
904 1-A i may be reduced by fifty percent,
except that in no case shall the minimum
capacity be reduced to less than 500 gallons
per minute (GPM)
SECTION II. Any person who violates a provision of this
ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not
exceedmng Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000) Each such person shall be
deemed guilty of a separate offense for each and every day or
portion thereof during which any vzolatzon of this ordznance is
commItted, or continued, and upon convIction of any such violations
such person shall be punished within the limits above
~_ECTION III. That the fees provided for in Section 106 of the
Code adopted by this ordinance, originally adopted with the
enactment of Ordinance No 87-196, shall be as follows
PAGE 12
1 Building Fire Safety Follow-Up Inspection fees provided
for in Section 106
Interior Square Footaqe Fee
1 to 3,000 $ 15 00
over 3 000 to 6,000 $ 25 00
over 6 000 to 12,000 $ 35 00
over 12 000 to 18,000 $ 45 00
over 18 000 to 24,000 $ 55 00
over 24 000 to 100,000 $ 65 00
over 100 000 $100 00
If a second follow-up ~nspectlon fee is required because
the v~olat~on has not been corrected, the following fees
shall be charged
1 to 3,000 $ 30 00
over 3,000 to 6,000 $ 50 00
over 6,000 to 12,000 $ 70 00
over 12,000 to 18,000 $ 90 00
over 18,000 to 24,000 $110 00
over 24,000 to 100,000 $130 00
over 100,000 $200 00
2 The fee for any permit required under Section 105 of the
F~re Code, as amended, shall be $50 00 per permit, and
$25 00 for each annual renewal, except as follows
a There shall be paid a fee of $100 for the following
permits
1 Any alteration to an ex, sting tank (combusti-
ble or flammable)
2 Outdoor burning, per day
3 Combustible or flammable liquid tank storage
~nstallatlon
4 CombustIble or flammable liquid piping instal-
lat~on
5 Removal of combustible or flammable l~quld
tank and or p~plng
b There shall be pald a fee of $50 for the following
1 Permit to install an automatic extinguishing
(hood) system
PAGE 13
2 Acceptance inspection of automatic fire sprin-
kler (overhead) system
3 Acceptance ~nspect~on of automatic fire sprin-
kler (underground p~plng fire lmne)
4 Inspection of private f~re lines and hydrants
3 A fee of $25 shall be assessed for each annual inspection
of automatic extinguishing systems (hood systems)
automatic fire suppression systems, and fire alarm
systems This fee shall be payable by the owner or
occupant
4 The permit fee for a temporary sales or display booth in
covered malls shall be $25
5 A fee of $35 shall be assessed for each annual permit, as
provided for in Section 106 3
SECTION IV. If any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence,
phrase or word in this ordinance, or appllcatzon thereof to any
person or circumstance is held znvalld by any court of competent
jurisdiction, such holding shall not affect the validity of the
rema~nmng portions of thls ordinance, and City Council of the Czty
of Denton, Texas hereby declares ~t would have enacted such
remaining portions despite any such ~nvalld~ty
SECTION V. That the repeal of any ordinance or any portzon
there6f by the preceding sections shall not affect or lmpazr any
act done or right vested or accrued or any proceedzng, sumt or
prosecution had or commenced in any cause before such repeal shall
take effect, but every such act done, or right vested or accrued,
or proceedings, suit or prosecution had or commenced shall remazn
in full force and effect to all zntents or purposes as mf such
ordznance or part thereof so repealed shall remamn mn force
SECTION VI. That this ordinance shall become effectIve
fourteen (14) days from the date of this passage, and the City
Secretary is hereby directed to cause the caption of this ordinance
to be publzshed twice in the Denton Record-Chronicle, the official
newspaper of the C~ty of Denton, Texas, wlthzn ten (10) days of the
date of its passage
.ASSED AND APPROVED this the /~ day of ~ ,
1997 ~
PAGE 14
ATTEST
JENNIFER WALTERS, CITY SECRETARY
BY ~1 ~
APPR~ 'AS~TO LEGAL FORM
HERBERT/ L~_gP~O~ ATTORNEY
PAGE 15