PRINTER'S NO. 1523

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA


SENATE BILL

No. 1240 Session of 1977


        INTRODUCED BY EARLY, DECEMBER 7, 1977

        REFERRED TO LABOR AND INDUSTRY, DECEMBER 7, 1977

                                     AN ACT

     1  Requiring certain sprinkler systems in hospitals, asylums and
     2     convalescent and nursing homes; conferring powers on the
     3     Department of Labor and Industry; providing for enforcement
     4     and penalties and making repeals.

     5     The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
     6  hereby enacts as follows:
     7     Section 1.  Sprinkler systems required.
     8     Sprinkler systems necessary to give proper protection from
     9  fire to persons employed, assembled, lodged or housed in
    10  hospitals, asylums, convalescent and nursing homes in all
    11  political subdivisions shall be installed in such institutions.
    12  No such systems shall be installed unless they are of a type
    13  approved by the Department of Labor and Industry by regulation
    14  or otherwise.
    15     Section 2.  Vacating institutions for noncompliance.
    16     Whenever the owner of any building or structure, as described
    17  in this act, shall fail to comply with the provisions of this
    18  act, or the rules and regulations of the Department of Labor and
    19  Industry formulated under the authority of this act, and upon


     1  whom a written order shall have been served by the Department of
     2  Labor and Industry to comply with the said provisions of this
     3  act and the rules and regulations of the Department of Labor and
     4  Industry, and who nevertheless shall have failed to comply with
     5  the said written order within the time specified in the same,
     6  the Department of Labor and Industry shall be authorized to
     7  immediately order the building or structure to be vacated or
     8  placed out of service until such time as the requirements of
     9  this act and the rules and regulations of the Department of
    10  Labor and Industry shall have been fully complied with.
    11     Section 3.  Penalties.
    12     (a)  Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of
    13  this act, or the rules and regulations of the Department of
    14  Labor and Industry, or who shall fail or refuse to observe
    15  orders for the enforcement of the said provisions or rules and
    16  regulations issued by duly authorized officers of the Department
    17  of Labor and Industry, or who shall hinder or delay or interfere
    18  with any officer charged with the enforcement of this act in the
    19  performance of his duty, shall be guilty of a summary offense.
    20     (b)  Any person who shall fail or refuse to vacate a building
    21  or portion of a building, or who shall fail to cease work in the
    22  erecting, remodeling, adapting or altering of a building, or who
    23  shall fail to vacate or place out of service any structure,
    24  after due notice having been served upon him by an officer of
    25  the Department of Labor and Industry and proper notice having
    26  been placed upon the building or structure by such officer,
    27  shall be liable for a penalty of $10 a day for each day he shall
    28  have so failed or refused to vacate, cease work on or place out
    29  of service the building, portion of building or structure upon
    30  which such notice has been placed, the said penalty to be
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     1  collectible in the same manner as any fine payable to the
     2  Commonwealth.
     3     (c)  Prosecutions for violations of this act, or the rules
     4  and regulations of the Department of Labor and Industry, may be
     5  instituted by the Secretary of Labor and Industry, or under his
     6  directions by any authorized representative of the said
     7  department, or by duly appointed chiefs of fire departments for
     8  violations of the portions of this act they are especially
     9  called upon by this act to enforce, and shall be in the form of
    10  summary criminal proceedings instituted before a justice of the
    11  peace. Upon conviction after a hearing, the sentences provided
    12  in this act shall be imposed, and shall be final unless an
    13  appeal be taken in the manner prescribed by law.
    14     (d)  All fines collected under this act shall be forwarded to
    15  the Department of Labor and Industry, who shall pay the same
    16  into the State Treasury for the use of the Commonwealth.
    17     Section 4.  Repeals.
    18     (a)  The following acts are repealed insofar as inconsistent
    19  with the provisions of this act:
    20         (1)  The act of June 8, 1911 (P.L.705, No.281), entitled
    21     "An act creating the office of Fire Marshal, to be attached
    22     to the Department of Public Safety in cities of the first
    23     class; prescribing his duties and powers; and providing
    24     penalties for violations of the provisions of the act; and
    25     providing for the method of appointment, compensation, and
    26     for the maintenance of his office."
    27         (2)  The act of May 13, 1915 (P.L.297, No.180), entitled
    28     "A supplement to an act, entitled 'An act for the government
    29     of cities of the second class,' approved the seventh day of
    30     March, one thousand nine hundred and one; authorizing cities
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     1     of the second class, for the purpose of preventing fires, the
     2     spread of fire, fire waste, and loss of life from fire, or a
     3     loss of life or damage to property from unsafe or improper
     4     construction or design of buildings, to enact ordinances to
     5     provide for and regulate the construction, equipment,
     6     arrangements, maintenance, inspection, alteration, repair,
     7     and removal of buildings and premises, and appliances,
     8     apparatus, and conditions in and about them; to provide for
     9     the regulation of the manufacture, transportation, storage,
    10     sale, and use of explosives, gases, inflammables, and
    11     dangerous chemicals and substances; to prohibit the
    12     manufacture of explosives and fireworks, and the
    13     transportation, storage, sale, and use of nitro-glycerine;
    14     imposing on the Department of Public Safety the enforcement
    15     of ordinances relating thereto, and authorizing such
    16     department to investigate fires; providing for the service of
    17     orders made by the said department and for the appeals from
    18     and reviews of certain of its orders, for the method of
    19     recovering money expended by the cities in remedying
    20     conditions, and the method of obtaining a lien therefor; and
    21     providing that the courts of common pleas shall have
    22     jurisdiction to punish witnesses for disobedience of orders
    23     of the director of said department when holding
    24     investigations; and repealing all laws inconsistent
    25     therewith."
    26         (3) The act of April 27, 1927 (P.L.465, No.299), referred
    27     to as the Fire and Panic Act.
    28     (b)  All other acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith
    29  are repealed to the extent of such inconsistency.
    30     Section 5.  Effective date.
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     1     This act shall take effect in 90 days.




















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