Section 25-2-12. Adoption of state fire safety standards and enforcement; investigations; excuse from compliance with standards; interpretation of standards and granting variances therefrom by Commissioner

   (a)(1) The county governing authority in any county having a population of 100,000 or more, and the municipal governing authority in any municipality having a population of 45,000 or more, each as determined by the most recent decennial census published by the United States Bureau of the Census, and those municipalities pursuant to subsection (b) of this Code section shall adopt the state minimum fire safety standards adopted in the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this chapter, including all subsequent revisions thereof.

   (2) With respect to those buildings and structures listed in Code Section 25-2-13, except for hospitals, nursing homes, jails, ambulatory health care centers, and penal institutions and except for buildings and structures which are owned and operated or occupied by the state, every such local governing authority shall be responsible for enforcing such fire safety standards within its jurisdiction and shall:

      (A) Conduct fire safety inspections of existing buildings and structures;

      (B) Review plans and specifications for proposed buildings and structures, issue building permits when plans are approved, and conduct fire safety inspections of such buildings and structures; and

      (C) Issue permanent and temporary certificates of occupancy.

   (3) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed so as to prohibit fire service personnel of any such local governing authority from making inspections of any state owned and operated or occupied building or structure listed in Code Section 25-2-13 and from filing reports of such inspections with the office of the Commissioner.

   (4) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed so as to place upon any municipality, county, or any officer or employee thereof, the responsibility to take enforcement action regarding any existing building or structure listed in Code Section 25-2-13, if such building or structure was granted a certificate of occupancy pursuant to a waiver granted prior to January 1, 1982, and which was granted pursuant to the recommendation of the engineering staff over the objection of the local authority having jurisdiction.

   (5) Every such local governing authority shall have the authority to charge and retain appropriate fees for performing the duties required in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2) of this subsection. In cases where the governing authority of a municipality enforcing fire safety standards pursuant to this subsection contracts for the enforcement of fire safety standards, any municipal or county office or authority providing such enforcement shall not charge fees in excess of those charged in its own political subdivision for such enforcement.

   (6) Every such local governing authority shall be responsible for investigating all cases of arson and other suspected incendiary fires within its jurisdiction, shall have the duties and powers authorized by Code Sections 25-2-27, 25-2-28, and 25-2-29 in carrying out such responsibility, and shall submit quarterly reports to the state fire marshal containing fire-loss data regarding all fires within its jurisdiction. The state fire marshal shall have the authority to initiate any arson investigation upon request of any such local governing authority and he shall provide assistance to the requesting authority regarding any of the duties and responsibilities required by this paragraph.

   (7) No such local governing authority shall have the authority to grant any waiver or variance which would excuse any building, structure, or proposed plans for buildings or structures from compliance with the state minimum fire safety standards as adopted in the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this chapter.

(b) Municipalities having a population of less than 45,000 as determined by the most recent decennial census published by the United States Bureau of the Census may adopt the state minimum fire safety standards adopted in the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this chapter, including all subsequent revisions thereof. The municipal governing authority shall indicate its intention to adopt and enforce the state minimum fire safety standards by forwarding a resolution so indicating to the Commissioner. The municipality shall then adopt and enforce the state minimum fire safety standards as set forth in subsection (a) of Code Section 25-2-12.

(c) With respect to those buildings and structures listed in Code Section 25-2-13, in jurisdictions other than those jurisdictions covered under subsection (a) of this Code section, and with respect to every such hospital and every such building and structure owned and operated or occupied by the state, wherever located, the office of the Commissioner shall perform those duties specified in paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of this Code section and shall perform all other duties required by this chapter.

(d) Except as specifically stated in this Code section, nothing in this Code section shall reduce or avoid the duties and responsibilities of the office of the Commissioner or the state fire marshal imposed by other Code sections of this chapter, other provisions of this Code, or any existing contract or agreement and all renewals thereof between the office of the Commissioner or the state fire marshal and any other state or federal government agency. Nothing in this Code section shall prohibit the office of the Commissioner, state fire marshal, or any local governing authority from entering into any future contract or agreement regarding any of the duties imposed under this Code section.
   (e)(1) The office of the Commissioner shall be responsible for interpretations of the state minimum fire safety standards as adopted in the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this chapter.

   (2) On the construction on existing buildings, local governments authorized to enforce the state minimum fire safety standards pursuant to subsection (a) and subsection (b) of this Code section, notwithstanding paragraph (7) of subsection (a) of this Code section, may grant variances from compliance with the state minimum fire safety standards as adopted in the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this chapter.

   (3) On the construction on existing buildings not under the jurisdiction of a local government for purposes of paragraph (2) of this subsection, the Commissioner may grant variances from compliance with the state minimum fire safety standards as adopted in the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this chapter.

   (4) On the construction of new buildings, the Commissioner, upon the written recommendation of the state fire marshal and the written request of the fire or building official responsible for enforcing the state minimum fire safety standards, may grant variances from compliance with the state minimum fire safety standards as adopted in the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this chapter in jurisdictions covered under subsection (a) of this Code section and jurisdictions other than those covered under subsection (a) of this Code section.

   (5) Variances granted pursuant to paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of this subsection shall be as nearly equivalent as practical to the standards required in this chapter.

Ga. L. 1949, p. 1057, § 6; Ga. L. 1981, p. 1779, § 3; Ga. L. 1982, p. 479, §§ 1, 4; Ga. L. 1984, p. 1160, § 2; Ga. L. 1985, p. 721, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1992, p. 2186, § 2.