§ 807-B — College fire inspections

§ 807-b. College fire inspections. 1. It shall be the duty of the\ncollege authorities in general charge of the operation of any public or\nindependent college to cause the buildings under the jurisdiction of\nsuch college containing classroom, dormitory, fraternities, sororities,\nlaboratory, physical education, dining or recreational facilities for\nstudent use to be inspected at least annually for fire hazards which\nmight endanger the lives of students, teachers and employees therein.\nInspections of all public and independent college buildings, with the\nexception of those within a city having a population of one million or\nmore, shall be conducted by the state office of fire prevention and\ncontrol or a designee of the state fire administrator. An inspection\nreport shall be produced by the inspecting agency for each building\ninspected.\n 2. The annual fire inspection for public and independent colleges\nshall be made when the college is in session.\n 3. The office of fire prevention and control is authorized to adopt\nrules and regulations establishing minimum standards for the content and\nfrequency of such inspections in order to ensure compliance with\napplicable fire safety standards. In the event violations of applicable\ncodes, rules and regulations pertaining to fire safety are found during\ninspections, the office of fire prevention and control is authorized to\ntake appropriate actions to ensure that violations are promptly\nremedied.\n 4. The state fire administrator shall prescribe the format of the fire\ninspection report. In prescribing such format the state fire\nadministrator shall consider standards for fire safety set forth in the\nuniform fire prevention and building code and other applicable fire\nsafety standards.\n 5. Within ninety days of completing such inspection, the office of\nfire prevention and control or its designee shall file a copy of the\nreport with the office of the college authorities and with the\ncommissioner. All such reports so filed shall be kept as records for at\nleast three years after which period they may be destroyed. A copy of\nsuch report shall also be filed with the chief, or other comparable\nofficer, of any fire department or fire corporation which has the\nregular duty of fighting fire in the building inspected.\n 6. The office of fire prevention and control or its designee shall\nmake recommendations to the college authorities with respect to any\nproblems relating to building fire safety noted in such reports. The\ncommissioner may inspect or cause to be inspected at any reasonable time\nfor fire prevention and fire protection purposes the buildings required\nto be inspected by this section. The commissioner may impose a fine of\nup to five hundred dollars per day upon any public or independent\ncollege which fails to remedy, to the satisfaction of the office of fire\nprevention and control, any violation noted in a report within thirty\ndays of receiving a copy of such report.\n 7. Every public or independent college building required to be\ninspected by the office of fire prevention and control or its designee\nmay also be examined for fire protection purposes at any reasonable time\nby\n a. the chief of the fire department of the city, town, village or fire\ndistrict in which the college building is located,\n b. the chief of a fire corporation having its headquarters outside a\nvillage or fire district, if the college building is located in the area\ndescribed in the certificate of incorporation of such company,\n c. the chief of the fire department or fire company affording fire\nprotection to a fire district, fire protection district, or fire alarm\ndistrict pursuant to a contract, if the college building is located in\nany such district,\n d. the member of any fire department or fire company listed in\nparagraphs a, b or c of this subdivision assigned by the chief.\n 8. Any person, or any public or other corporation for which any such\npersons acts, shall not be liable for any error, omission or lack of\nthoroughness in the making of the inspection and report required or\npermitted by this section.\n 9. The term "college authorities", as used in this section, means the\nboard of trustees, board of directors, or other governing board in\ngeneral charge of the operation of any such college.\n 10. The term "public college" shall mean and include "state-operated\ninstitutions", "statutory or contract colleges" and "community colleges"\nas defined in section three hundred fifty of this chapter.\n 11. The term "independent college" shall mean colleges other than\nthose included within subdivision ten of this section.\n