Life Safety Code

Overview
NFPA 101, the Life Safety Code, provides minimum requirements for the design, operation and maintenance of buildings and other structures for safety to life from fire and similar emergencies. The Code requires new and existing buildings to allow for "prompt escape" or to provide people with a reasonable degree of safety through other means.
 
The Life Safety Code meets its objective by following two parallel approaches. First, it defines hazards, along with general requirements for the means of egress (a path of exit travel to a public way outside), fire protection features (such as fire doors) and building service and fire protection equipment (heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, sprinkler systems or fire detection systems, for example). Next, the Life Safety Code sets out life safety requirements that vary with a building's use. Buildings used as one- and two-family homes, for example, have different life safety needs than hospitals and schools.
 
Unique among fire safety codes, the Life Safety Code has different provisions, depending on the type of occupancy and whether the building is new or existing construction. The Life Safety Code can be used in conjunction with a building code or alone in jurisdictions that do not have a building code in place.
 
The Life Safety Code's objective is to provide safety to life during emergencies. However, two additional very positive spin-offs grow out of this objective.

• Many requirements that are designed to protect people also protect property, reducing the dollar loss associated with fire.
• Requirements that are designed to provide "prompt escape" during emergencies make buildings more pleasant during normal conditions. Spacious corridors and the convenience of multiple exits, for example, result from requirements for "prompt escape."

 
NFPA 101 Protects the Public
Adoption and enforcement of the Life Safety Code protect public safety. For example, this code requires unlocked and unobstructed exits, multiple exits, exit signs, fire doors and regular fire exit drills.
 
NFPA 101 - Adoption and Enforcement
Nationwide, all health care facilities that receive Medicare or Medicaid funding must comply with the Life Safety Code, according to federal requirements. In addition, 33 states adopt and enforce the Life Safety Code.
 
Key Provisions of NFPA 101

• Locks and hardware on doors shall be installed to permit free escape.
• Exits must be marked by a sign that is readily visible.
• Any door in a means of egress must be capable of swinging from any direction to the full use of the opening. Doors must swing in the direction of egress when serving a room or area with 50 or more occupants.
• Evacuation signals must be audible and visible.

 
History of NFPA 101
The roots of NFPA 101 reach to 1913, when NFPA appointed its first "Committee on Safety to Life." The Committee's first effort produced a pamphlet on "Exit Drills in Factories, Schools, Department Stores, and Theaters." This pamphlet and later fire preparedness material laid the groundwork for the Life Safety Code. The committee continued to dedicate itself to a study of notable fires, examining the causes for loss of life.
 
By 1921, the Committee had prepared the much more comprehensive Building Exits Code. Throughout the years, revisions have included new requirements for sprinklers, stair width, means of egress, areas of refuge, and ramps. Today, more than 300 members of 15 NFPA technical committees help develop the Life Safety Code.
 
Last revised: 2003

NFPA 101
Testing Requirements for Unit Equipment
Article 7.9.3, Periodic Testing of Emergency Lighting Equipment. A functional test shall be conducted on every required emergency lighting system at 30-day intervals for not less than 30 seconds. An annual test shall be conducted on every required battery-powered emergency lighting system for not less than 1½ hours. Equipment shall be fully operational for the duration of the test. Written records of visual inspections and tests shall be kept by the owner for inspection by the authority having jurisdiction.

Exception: Self-testing/self-diagnostic, battery-operated emergency lighting equipment that automatically performs a test for not less than 30 seconds and diagnostic routine not less than once every 30 days and indicates failures by a status indicator shall be exempt from the 30-day functional test, provided that a visual inspection is performed at 30-day intervals.

For more information on these safety codes visit the NFPA's official website.