AIA
Fire Marshal Move to Dept.
of Public Safety – HB 95
ISSUE
AIA Ohio opposes moving the State Fire
Marshal’s Office from the Department of Commerce to the Department of Public
Safety.
BACKGROUND
Rep. Larry Flowers R-Canal Winchester, a former
fire official, sponsored a successful amendment to the biennium budget bill, SB
95, which would move the Fire Marshal’s office from the Commerce Department to
the Department of Public Safety.
Proponents of the move argue that in the aftermath
of the structural failure of the
However, AIA and a coalition of
construction-related groups believe that the development of codes and their enforcement requirements are not first-response functions in
the sense of firefighting, police response, or EMT services.
Code development and enforcement occur in a
proactive and preventative manner well before any emergency response. Even after an emergency, the recovery repair
is not regulated by first-response agencies. Rather non-first response agencies
perform these functions.
Further, separating the Code Development
functions of the Fire Marshal from his First Response functions could well lead
to increased communication & line of authority problems that would have to
be settled with the Governor’s office ultimately “breaking the ties” between
the Board of Building Standards and the Fire Marshal. In fact separating the Fire Marshal’s Code
Development and First Response functions might well create even more cases of
“tie breaking.”
AIA opposes moving the Fire Marshal’s office until
the concept has been fully discussed with stakeholders.
For additional
information contact:
David W. Field, CAE, Executive Vice President, AIA Ohio,