319. DAY CARE FACILITIES IN DWELLING UNITS

Insert a new Section 319 into the Fire Code to read as follows: 319 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 in dwelling units within existing detached one and two-family dwellings and townhouses within the scope of the Residential Code, and within R-3 dwellings, shall comply with the fire safety provisions in Appendix N. Appendix N shall not apply to the following: Day care facilities that are classified as Group E or Group I-4 under the Building Code. 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 an R-2 occupancy are prohibited. Exception: Where, on or before December 16, 2016, a day care facility was 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 is equipped throughout with an automatic sprinkler system that complies with Section 903.2.8; and (b) the Fire Code Official has conducted an annual fire safety inspection of the child development home. SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 67 DCR 6232 (May 29, 2020 – Part 2). The District of Columbia Fire Code (2017), referred to as the “Fire Code,” consists of the 2015 edition of the International Fire Code (International Fire Code), published by the International Code Council (ICC), as amended by the Fire Code Supplement of 2017 (12-H DCMR). The International Fire Code is copyrighted by the ICC and therefore is not republished here. However, a copy of the text may be reviewed at: https://codes.iccsafe.org/public/document/IFC2015. District of Columbia Municipal Regulations Fire Code Supplement of 2017 12-H DCMR § 319