Maryland State Fire Marshal
News Release Larry Hogan
Brian S. Geraci
Governor
State Fire Marshal
MARYLAND WILL ADOPT LATEST EDITIONS OF KEY FIRE SAFETY CODES PIKESVILLE, MD (December 11, 2015) – Residents of Maryland will soon be protected by the most up-to-date editions of two key life safety codes. The 2015 editions of NFPA 1, Fire Code™ and NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®, both are part of the National Fire Protection Association’s codes and standards, and have been adopted by the State Fire Prevention Commission as part of the overall revision of the State Fire Prevention Code and will become effective in Maryland on January 1, 2016. Both codes are widely used across the country to protect people and property in new and existing buildings. NFPA's Life Safety Code, used in all 50 states, mandates building design construction, operation, and maintenance requirements to protect building occupants from the dangers caused by fire, smoke, and toxic fumes. The latest edition of NFPA 1 provides requirements necessary to establish a reasonable level of fire safety and property protection from hazards created by fire and explosion. "Life safety is always our top priority," said State Fire Marshal Brian S. Geraci. "The latest editions of these widely used codes will continue to allow us the ability to provide the highest level of protection for the people accessing structures in Maryland. When such substantial codes are updated with the latest safety advancements, people deserve to have those protections in place." Code enforcers in Maryland participated in an NFPA training program that covers the code's requirements and ways it can be best utilized. NFPA made this training and the associated codebooks available free to the government code enforcement officials in the state. Free training and codebooks help to reduce costs for Maryland taxpayers. In addition, such training ensures that code enforcers have the latest reference materials.
### The Office of the State Fire Marshal is an agency of the Department of State Police dedicated to helping protect citizens from fire and explosion through a comprehensive program of education, inspection, investigation and fire protection engineering. For more information on fire safety call 1-800-525-3124, log onto our website at: www.firemarshal.mdsp.gov and/or http://facebook.com/MarylandStateFireMarshal. Media contact: Bruce D. Bouch, Deputy State Fire Marshal; 443-324-6876
1201 Reisterstown Road, Pikesville, MD 21208