                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

ADOPTION OF FIRE PREVENTION CODE (§ 27-97)

The Board of Housing and Community Development is hereby empowered to adopt and
promulgate a Statewide Fire Prevention Code which shall be cooperatively
developed with the Fire Services Board pursuant to procedures agreed to by the
two Boards. The Fire Prevention Code shall prescribe regulations to be complied
with for the protection of life and property from the hazards of fire or
explosion and for the handling, storage, sale, and use of fireworks, explosives,
or blasting agents, and shall provide for the administration and enforcement of
such regulations. The Fire Prevention Code shall require manufacturers of
fireworks or explosives, as defined in the Code, to register and report
information concerning their manufacturing facilities and methods of operation
within the Commonwealth in accordance with regulations adopted by the Board. In
addition to conducting criminal background checks pursuant to § 27-97.2, the
Board shall also establish regulations for obtaining permits for the
manufacturing, storage, handling, use, or sales of fireworks or explosives. In
the enforcement of such regulations, the enforcing agency may issue annual
permits for such activities to any state regulated public utility. Such permits
shall not apply to the storage, handling, or use of explosives or blasting
agents pursuant to the provisions of Title 45.2.
		The Fire Prevention Code shall prohibit any person, firm, or corporation from
transporting, manufacturing, storing, selling, offering for sale, exposing for
sale, or buying, using, igniting, or exploding any fireworks except for those
persons, firms, or corporations that manufacture, store, market and distribute
fireworks for the sole purpose of fireworks displays permitted by an enforcement
agency or by any locality.
		The Fire Prevention Code shall supersede fire prevention regulations
heretofore adopted by local governments or other political subdivisions. Local
governments are hereby empowered to adopt fire prevention regulations that are
more restrictive or more extensive in scope than the Fire Prevention Code
provided such regulations do not affect the manner of construction, or materials
to be used in the erection, alteration, repair, or use of a building or
structure, including the voluntary installation of smoke alarms and regulation
and inspections thereof in commercial buildings where such smoke alarms are not
required under the provisions of the Code. The Fire Prevention Code shall
prohibit any person not certified by the State Fire Marshal&#8217;s Office as a
fireworks operator or pyrotechnician to design, set up, or conduct or supervise
the design, setup, or conducting of any fireworks display, either inside a
building or structure or outdoors and shall require that at least one person
holding a valid certification is present at the site where the fireworks display
is being conducted. Certification shall not be required for the design, storage,
sale, use, conduct, transportation, and set up of permissible fireworks or the
supervision thereof or in connection with any fireworks display conducted by a
volunteer fire department provided one member of the volunteer fire department
holds a valid certification.
		In formulating the Fire Prevention Code, the Board shall have due regard for
generally accepted standards as recommended by nationally recognized
organizations including, but not limited to, standards of the International Code
Council, the National Fire Protection Association, and recognized organizations
issuing standards for the protection of the public from the hazards of
explosives and blasting agents. Such standards shall be based on the companion
document to the model building code referenced by the Uniform Statewide Building
Code.
		The Fire Prevention Code shall require that buildings constructed prior to
1973 be maintained in accordance with state fire and public building regulations
in effect prior to March 31, 1986, and that any building which is (i) more than
75 feet or more than six stories high and (ii) used, in whole or in part, as a
dormitory to house students by any public or private institution of higher
education shall be required to comply with the provisions of § 36-99.3. The
Fire Prevention Code shall also require annual fire drills in all buildings
having floors used for human occupancy located more than 75 feet above the
lowest level of fire department vehicle access. The drills shall be conducted by
building staff personnel or the owner of the building in accordance with a plan
approved by the appropriate fire official and shall not affect other current
occupants. The Board may modify, amend, or repeal any Code provisions as the
public interest requires. Any such Code changes shall be developed in
cooperation with the Fire Services Board pursuant to procedures agreed to by the
two Boards.
		The Fire Prevention Code shall prohibit the offering or sale to the public of
unsafe lighters or counterfeit lighters regardless of whether such offering or
sale is conducted on a retail basis or wholesale basis; however, the Fire
Prevention Code shall not prohibit (i) the interstate transportation of
counterfeit lighters or unsafe lighters through the Commonwealth or (ii) the
storage of counterfeit lighters or unsafe lighters in any distribution center or
warehouse located in the Commonwealth, if such distribution center or warehouse
is closed to the public and does not distribute or sell such lighters to the
public.

HISTORY: 1986, c. 429; 1988, cc. 199, 340; 1989, cc. 90, 420; 1990, c. 69; 1991,
c. 53; 1994, c. 275; 1997, c. 584; 2000, cc. 951, 1065; 2002, c. 856; 2007, cc.
647, 741; 2010, cc. 587, 643; 2025, c. 97.