Sacramento Municipal Code Art. I General Provisions

The highrise regulations set forth in this chapter shall be enforced by the fire department and the building inspections division. These regulations shall apply to all new buildings which have floors used for human occupancy located more than seventy-five (75) feet above the lowest level of fire department access, except those for which complete plans are submitted to the building inspections division within sixty (60) days after enactment of these regulations. (Prior code §§ 9.28.1200, 15.07.700)

A. No certificate of occupancy shall be issued for a highrise building, unless a certificate of compliance, as described herein, is first issued.

B. The following elements of the life safety system shall be installed in accordance with approved plans and specifications and shall be tested, certified and proved to be in proper working condition to the satisfaction of the building inspections division and fire department before issuance of the certificate of compliance:

1.* Standby and emergency electrical power systems;

2.* Fire alarm and related equipment;

3.* Firefighters phone and voice communication systems;

4.* Enclosed stairway pressurization system;

5.* Smoke evacuation and control systems (mechanical equipment);

6.* Other fire protection and extinguishing systems;

7.* Fire department breathing air system;

• 8. Fire hydrant system;
• 9. Automatic fire sprinkler system;
• 10. Fire apparatus access roadways;
• 11. Elevators and controls;
• 12. All equipment and their rooms required by Article II of this chapter;

13. All applicable requirements in Titles 19 and 24, California Code of Regulations and the Uniform Building Code, Uniform Fire Code and N.F.P.A. codes and standards shall also apply;

14. All systems required by this title, including building, mechanical and electrical equipment;

15. Complete exit systems.

*Note: The items indicated by asterisk (*) shall be certified in writing to the building inspections division by the engineer/installer to be in proper working condition before a certificate of compliance will be issued.

C. No building, floor or area shall be used or occupied by the building owner(s) or representative(s) for the purpose of tours, parties, conferences or similar functions which guests (public or private) will attend prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy, unless approved in writing in advance by the building inspections division and the fire department. (Prior code §§ 9.28.1201, 15.07.701)

The certificates of compliance and occupancy may be revoked at any time when the authority having jurisdiction has determined that the life safety system described in Section 15.100.020(B) of this chapter has been damaged, altered or in some manner disrupted so as to interfere with or not allow the transmission of any signaling device to the building occupants or monitoring station, or that all fire-rated walls, openings, and ceilings are not properly maintained. (Prior code §§ 9.28.1202, 15.07.702)

An emergency helistop, in compliance with helistop requirements of U.F.C., Article 24 and Sacramento fire department standards, shall be provided for every highrise building in which there are habitable floors above one hundred fifty (150) feet in height.

All helistops shall be designed as required by the Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Helicopter Design Advisory Circular 150/5390-2, and Title 21, Division of Aeronautics. Helistops shall be designed to support a minimum ten thousand (10,000) pounds.

Helistops for other than emergency use shall be provided with a fuel containment system capable of holding two hundred (200) gallons and shall be designed so that no fuel shall enter the building drain system.

Exception #1: Helistop may be omitted when a permanent enclosed stairway is provided for fire department use. This stairway shall access all floors of the building. The stairway shall be a minimum of thirty-six (36) inches wide. Stair landings shall be a minimum of forty-eight (48) inches at the head and bottom of stair flights. Access to this stairway shall be by fire department personnel only. The fire department stairway shall meet all of the requirements of U.B.C., Section 1807, except manual pull stations, public telephones and exit signs will not be required. The locking of stairway doors shall be on a separate switch located in the fire control room and not tied into the fire alarm system.

Exception #2: Helistop may be omitted when the building is equipped with a freight elevator that serves all floors and is separated from all other elevators. This elevator shaft and its lobbies shall be protected by a minimum of two hour fire-resistive construction with all openings protected by a minimum of one and one-half hour fire-resistive construction and the elevator shall meet the requirements of an emergency elevator. (Prior code §§ 9.28.1203, 15.07.703)

A complete set of plans shall be submitted and approved before any work is started on the life safety system. All equipment and devices for the life safety system shall be listed and approved by the state fire marshal's office. All listings shall be submitted with the plans. The plans shall include but not be limited to the following:

A. Fire pump room and its location;

B. Fire sprinkler system and underground piping and all controls;

C. Location of all equipment in the fire pump room;

D. Auxiliary water supply location, size, controls and piping;

E. Life safety plans shall clearly indicate each area, each floor and each function. Each room shall be identified by its use;

F. All doors shall show the direction of swing;

G. Generator and fuel supply location;

H. Location of all equipment in fire control room;

I. Location of all initiating and signaling devices. (Prior code §§ 9.28.1204, 15.07.704)