PUBLIC NOTICE of DISTRICT FIRE CODE

TO OWNERS / OCCUPANTS OF COMMERCIAL OR BUSINESS PROPERTY AND ALL OTHER BUILDINGS LOCATED IN, OR PLANNED FOR CONSTRUCTION OR MAJOR REMODELING, WITHIN THE DISTRICT.

WILLIAMSON COUNTY EMERGENCY SERVICES DISTRICT NO. 1

AND TO ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS, DEVELOPERS AND CONTRACTORS INVOLVED IN BUILDING OR CONSTRUCTION WITHIN THE DISTRICT.

REQUIREMENT FOR DESIGN PLAN REVIEW, CONSTRUCTION PERMITS, INSPECTIONS

AND THE ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATES OF OCCUPANCY WITHIN THE DISTRICT.

DESCRIPTION OF DISTRICT

Williamson County Emergency Services District No. 1 (the district) is a political subdivision of the State of Texas, duly created and lawfully operating under the Constitution and laws of the State of Texas, including particularly Article III, Section 48-e of the Texas Constitution and Chapter 775, Texas Health and Safety Code.

The territorial jurisdiction of the district is located in the southwest corner of Williamson County south of FM Road 620. More precisely, the district is included in the area bordered on the north and west by FM Road 620 and on the east by the Austin & NW Railroad (old Southern Pacific RR), and extending southerly to the city limits of the City of Austin or to the county line. The district’s area includes North Austin MUD No. 1 and the subdivisions of Forest North, Hunters Chase and Millwood as well as other smaller subdivisions. Post Office addresses in the district indicate Austin, Texas with zip codes of 78729.

The City of Austin has annexed certain areas and corridors within the above-described territory. Those parts of the above described territory that have been annexed by the City of Austin for full purpose are excluded from the district, however, those areas annexed for limited purpose remain in the district. The entire district is within the five-mile extra-territorial jurisdiction of Austin.

CITY OF AUSTIN and DISTRICT INTERFACE

The City of Austin may require subdivision and plat plan approval for new construction within their five-mile extra-territorial jurisdiction and under some conditions they may conduct building inspections during construction. Within areas of limited purpose annexation, the City of Austin exercises zoning control and requires building/site design approval prior to construction and building/systems inspections during construction. Austin in areas of limited purpose annexation requires compliance with the adopted International Fire Code and the Uniform Building Code.

FIRE CODE REQUIREMENTS

The district has had a fire code in effect since September 28, 1995. In compliance with a recent Williamson County adoption, the district has adopted the same 2015 edition of the International Fire Code (IFC), including appropriate local amendments. Law within the district requires compliance with the adopted fire code. Property owners and occupants are required to comply with all provisions of the fire code including, but not limited to, the following:

ENFORCEMENT OF CODE

The governing body of the district contracts with the Jollyville Fire Department (the fire department) for fire protection and fire prevention within the district. The governing body of the district has designated the Chief of the fire department as the authority having jurisdiction and as their agent for the purpose of fire code enforcement. The Chief will enforce the fire code in all areas of the district that are not in the city limits of Austin by reviewing construction plans, issuing Construction Permits, conducting inspections, issuing notices of fire code violations including fines for non-compliance, and for the issuance of Certificates of Occupancy attesting to fire code compliance. Any person who fails to comply with the fire code shall be liable for the penalties provided for by law.

DESIGN PLAN REVIEWS, CONSTRUCTION PERMITS and INSPECTIONS

NEW CONSTRUCTION or MAJOR BUILDING REMODELING: The following design plans or specifications (as appropriate) shall be submitted to the fire department for approval prior to the issuance of Construction Permits within the district: 1) Site plan or drawings showing: a) building location(s), b) access roads, c) fire lanes, d) parking lots, e) street hydrants and on-site hydrant locations, and f) water main plans. 2) Overall dimensional floor plans of building(s) indicating: a) interior layout showing all divided spaces, b) code occupancy classification by Group and Division and occupant load of spaces or separate areas, c) doors (and type of hardware on exit doors), windows, stairs, elevators, etc., d) location and number of fixed seats, e) location of required exit and exit directional signs, and f) type and location of emergency lighting devices. 3) Portable fire extinguisher locations and size rating. 4) Fire alarm systems. 5) Sprinkler systems. 6) Commercial cooking ventilation, control and extinguisher systems, and 7) Any other fire safety related systems. Fire protection systems will be inspected during construction and must be approved by the fire department. Fire department access roads and water supplies must be inspected and approved by the fire department prior to construction. A Construction Permit (either provisionally limited or unlimited) issued by the fire department is required prior to construction.

REQUIRED NEW CONSTRICTION SEQUENCING

FIRE APPARATUS ACCESS ROADS: Shall be provided and made serviceable prior to and during the time of construction in accordance with Chapters 5 and 14, IFC. (For this purpose, the fire department interprets “prior to construction” to mean prior to above ground construction or the accumulation of combustibles on site.) The roads shall be provided so that no portion of the exterior of buildings or facilities, accessible at ground level, exceeds a distance of 150 feet from apparatus access roads. The roads shall have an all-weather, smooth driving surface of not less than 25 feet of unobstructed width, having the ability to withstand the live loads of fire apparatus (80,000 lbs) and having a minimum of 13 feet 6 inches of vertical clearance. This fire department will accept temporary roads of compacted and oiled road base material that are properly drained and provide an adequate all-weather driving surface meeting the above criteria.

NOTE – The common stabilized construction site entrance consisting of large diameter rocks is not to be a part of an approved fire apparatus access road. Fire trucks are not designed for off-road operation or to drive over curbs or on any other surface that is not reasonably smooth.

UNDERGROUND WATER MAINS AND HYDRANTS: Shall be installed in accordance with Chapters 5 and 14, IFC and shall be in service prior to and during construction work. Hydrants shall be located in accordance with Appendix C, Table C105.1, IFC, which requires that the maximum spacing will be such that the average distance between hydrants will be 500 feet and the maximum distance to a hydrant from any point on a street or road frontage adjacent to a building shall not exceed 250 feet. This spacing is suitable for residential or other low-density areas. Hydrants shall be placed no closer than 18 inches and no more than six (6) feet from the back edge of curbs of fire apparatus access roads or streets. Hydrants must be clearly visible from apparatus approach routes and installed with the large discharge C/L 18 inches above ground level and facing the road or street.

NOTE – This fire department will accept the design criteria of the City of Austin, Water and Wastewater Department for hydrant locations which states, in part: “Hydrants shall be installed at the intersection of two (2) streets and between intersections where necessary at distances not in excess of 300 feet between hydrants in commercial or other high density areas and not more than 600 feet in residential [or low density] areas. Hydrants shall be installed on both sides of all divided roads.”

This department will inspect and must approve the adequacy of installed hydrants and fire apparatus access roads prior to issuing a Construction Permit to start above ground construction.

CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY

In areas of the district that are not in the city limits of Austin, a Certificate of Occupancy, issued by the fire department, is required for all new, remodeled or altered buildings, or parts thereof, before the space can be legally open to or occupied by the public. After a final inspection, a Certificate of Occupancy will be issued if the building, or applicable part thereof, and the building site meet the requirements of the fire code. If the IFC classification of occupancy of an existing building, or part thereof, changes, a new Certificate of Occupancy is required.

AUTHORITY

This Notice constitutes a Supplemental Rule and Regulation to the fire code in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 1, Section 104.1, IFC. Copies of this Notice are available to the public at the office of the fire department at 9218 Anderson Mill Road, Austin, Texas 78729 during normal business hours and shall be posted at two public accessible locations within the district.

Brad Landi
Chief of Department

Note – This document combines the fire department issued Public Notice of District Fire Code, revised 09/13/05 and the fire department document titled Fire Apparatus Access Roads and Fire Hydrant Systems concerning new construction sequencing, revised 09/13/05. The initial public notice was published and posted in September of 1995.