Section 12-H319. DAY CARE FACILITIES IN DWELLING UNITS

 

319.1  Fire safety inspection required.  No day care facility located in a dwelling unit shall be operated without a fire safety inspection conducted by the code official prior to commencement of operations and annually thereafter.

 

319.2  Day care homes in 1-or 2-family homes or townhouses. Day care facilities that are operated within existing detached one and two-family dwellings and townhouses within the scope of the Residential Code  shall comply with the fire safety provisions in Appendix K. Appendix K does not apply to the following:

 

1. Day care facilities in a dwelling unit which is not the primary residence of the person operating the facility;

 

2. Day care facilities that are classified as Group E or Group I-4 under the Building Code.

 

3.Adult day care where any of the clients are incapable of self-preservation, unless such persons are cared for in rooms located on a level of exit discharge serving such rooms and each room has an exit door directly to the exterior.

 

319.3  Day care homes in multi-family buildings. Day care facilities located in a dwelling unit within a multi-family building classified as a R-2 occupancy are prohibited.

 

Exception: Where, on the date of initial adoption of this Section 319.3, the day care facility is legally operating in the dwelling unit pursuant to a child development home license issued by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education, provided that (a) the dwelling unit is not located above the third floor of the R-2 building or, if operating above the third floor, the building must be equipped throughout with an automatic sprinkler system that complies with Section 903.2.8; and (b) the child development home requests a fire safety inspection from the Fire Code Official within thirty (30) days after initial adoption of Section 319.

 

319.4   Existing day care homes. Except as provided in Section 319.3, day care facilities in existing dwelling units that were licensed as child development homes by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education and legally operating, as of the date of initial adoption of Section 319, shall have a 12-month period to come into compliance with the Fire Code.    

 

 

authority

Section 10 of the Construction Codes Approval and Amendments Act of 1986 (Act), effective March 21, 1987 (D.C. Law 6-216; D.C. Official Code § 6-1409 (2012 Repl. & 2016 Supp.)) and Mayor’s Order 2009-22, dated February 25, 2009.

source

Final Rulemaking published at 63 DCR 15739 (December 23, 2016).

EditorNote

The District of Columbia Fire Code (2013), referred to as the “Fire Code,” consists of the 2012 edition of theInternational Fire Code as amended by the District of Columbia Fire Code Supplement (2013) (12 DCMR H). The International Fire Code is copyrighted by the International Code Council and therefore is not republishedhere. However, a copy of the text may be obtained at:http://publicecodes.cyberregs.com/icod/ifc/2012/index.htm?bu=IC-P-2012-000003&bu2=IC-P-2012-000019.