Magnifisyncopathological

News8Austin: County could adopt fire code

Travis County Commissioners are considering a fire code for new buildings.

The county has never had a fire code and commissioners have started the process of adopting one.

Fire officials from all over the county attended Tuesday's meeting in support of the plan.

[...]

The code would require permits for any commercial or public structure, but not for private homes.

Copyright ©2005TWEAN News Channel of Austin, L.P. d.b.a. News 8 Austin

Here is the text of that meeting last Tuesday. Though the transcript isn't "official" there are some choice quotes:

Good morning, judge, Commissioners. I’m with the Travis County fire marshal. A brief history, the collaborative effort of the commercial building community, the 13 emergency service districts/county fire departments and the city of Austin have agreed to adopt the recommendations required by the adoption of the international fire code as the fire code for Travis County. The purpose of the fire code is to protect and promote the public health, safety and welfare of the residents of Travis County. By requiring permits for the construction of commercial structures and public buildings in unincorporated Travis County and to impose standards to protect the lives and property of the general public.

I have little doubt the "commercial building community" is primarily going after this for two reasons:

1. the desire to have an important task standardized and partially subsidized by the state so they don't have to bear the burden of developing it; and
   
2. the benefits of a state-approved building code so the insurance industry might cut their premiums

The other two entities have a focus of only on preventing death, injury, and destruction due to fires. While that is admirable and honorable, they pay little to no attention to the proper way of doing that and instead rely on the government to impose their recommendations.

As an urban county we are embarking on a comprehensive mechanism to ensure that all of the citizens of Travis County can be assured to be fire safe in any public or commercial building located in the county.

Even if one could coherently justify the existence of a state (and I don't think you can), something like this would not be on it's very short list of legitimate activities. This is the socialization of what is rightly the business of individuals, the spreading of costs across society, and the artificial and dangerous diversion of risk from the mind of the person attempting to weigh economic choices against each other.

Per current state law, this fire code does not apply to private residences.

And only because the law and its makers have chosen to leave private residences alone.

Fire codes regulate the design, construction and maintenance of structures and establish a minimum acceptable level of public fire safety.

If this was done without the threat of being entrapped in the court system, then I wouldn't have a problem with it.

Safety will be increased for buildings such as schools and businesses, reduction in deaths, injuries and direct property loss as a result of the fire codes enacted and enforced. Citizens require the assurance that buildings in which they work, shop, use for child care, and parental care and educating their children are safe for fire hazards.

On one level, safety will be increased. But adopting the international fire code should not assure anyone that the buildings that have adopted the code are "safe for fire hazards." You can assume all you want, but when people run the show, screw-ups will be made. Not all regulations will be followed properly, not all hazards will be addressed promptly, and not everyone will maintain a fire hazard awareness in their attitude as they go about their business.

Why would I? they think. This building's design, construction and maintenance were supervised by the government and the government is always looking out for me.

It's only when your ass is on the line and on the line physically, financially, and ethically that you really begin to give a damn. Imposing a countywide fire code partially takes your ass off those lines.

Business owners expect a consistent level of code enforcement to maintain a level playing field.

Otherwise known as "screwing all to keep me from having to innovate and spend." State capitalism unmasked, right in front of your eyes.

[in response to a question of whether apartments would fall under the code]

...any duplex that's greater than 10 occupancies or 10 people in it. Anything greater then a four-plex or a multi-plex building, that would all fall under the international fire code.

So much for the "private residences" provision, but since you wouldn't truly own an apartment even in an anarcho-capitalist society (it would belong to the landlord), I have little to argue here besides my aforementioned primary objection.

The previously quoted statements were all from the same person, if the transcript is accurate enough and I didn't miss anything. The following comes first from an unnamed county commissioner who is answered by Fire Chief Ron Mullenberg (President of the Capital Fire Chiefs Association)

>> am I hearing, although I’m not hearing it this way precisely, that if you have a fire code as a governmental entity, the international code is where everybody seems to be headed?
>> yes, sir. There's a -- there's not just a movement in Texas. It is a national movement to move toward one code. That in the past where there were several uniform codes, including the uniform code, southern building code, there's even a Dallas code that we sometimes see appear. Of course what that does is allow for confusion because we have contractors that move in here from metropolitan areas, want to erect a building according to codes that they are familiar with, we have to sit down and -- and play the game of finding a point of common -- compromise there. Under the international code that should be taken care of. And certainly it is gratifying and my particular district we were previously the uniform code. The city of Pflugerville was previously the uniform code. We already adopted the international code. Knowing that was the direction Travis County was headed to and knowing that the city of Austin personally we did not want to get caught in between. You know, we want to be just like everybody else. That's what I think is really great in our community now.

My emphasis.

I acknowledge the great utility of having widely-accepted standards, but pushing them through the political process is the wrong venue.

I don't know who said the following, but it was not a commissioner:

Commissioner Davis, there's a standard in the industry contract, builders that are building buildings will make a submission for their plan review. That is what we make the -- not to say it always happens, because even in ESD 2 we begin to find buildings that grow out of the ground.

Stamp them out like the weeds of economic freedom they represent!

We may visit and I’m very familiar with the fire marshal's staff and I know that we all kind of think alike. It's time to have a polite visit then with the superintendent to say let's start right here.

It's always polite before the police.

And that's where we begin to negotiate those points of your building has to be built according to these standards. Generally speaking, you know, other than somebody that goes out there and buys a bunch of two-by-fours and starts you know erecting a building, we don't want that to happen.

Because we desire control.

But generally their building is some sort of a starnld [sic]. The architectural -- standard, the architectural community that draws the plans knows that there has to be a standard employed. And so they even -- even after the building is begun, if that should happen, there are ways to bring it into compliance from that point.

Vee have vays ov making you comply.