WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.97.418
16September 1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-3636)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: FRANCE
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2):
2. Agency responsible: Ministry oftheInterior, Safety Service Department, Office of
Building Hazards, 1Place Beauvau, 75800 Paris
Agency orauthority designated tohandle comments regarding thenotification canbe
indicated ifdifferent from above:
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X],2.10.1 [],5.6.2 [],5.7.1 [],other:
4. Products covered (HSorCCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICSnumbers may beprovided inaddition, where applicable): General rules for
buildings opentothepublic. Roofs, facades, heating equipment.
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Draft Decree on
Approval ofProvisions Amending andCompleting theSafety Regulations Governing
FireandPanic Hazards inBuildings Open tothePublic
6. Description ofcontent: Amendment ofgeneral andspecial provisions applicable to
buildings opentothepublic.
Thereason fortheamendments toArticles CH44,CH46,CH53andCH54is
toinclude inthesafety regulations twoadditional techniques forheating byradiant
tubes. Theamendments concern firstofallheating systems using radiant tubes with
burners ofover70kW. Aspecial Article isdevoted tothese systems (Article CH54).
Itthendeals withcertain equipment thathascentralized extraction forseveral tubes.
Article CH53bspecifically provides forthis.
Inaddition, Article CH46(a) reaffirms theobligation toobserve theEuropean
Directive on"gasequipment".
Theother provisions inArticles CH44,CH46andCH53were already
included inthecurrent regulations. They havebeenredrafted more clearly tofacilitate
understanding.
./.G/TBT/Notif.97.418
Page2
6. Description ofcontent (cont'd):
Lastly, thetwoparagraphs inArticle CH54have been annulled. They are
already contained inother Articles.
Thereason fortheamendment ofArticle PE6isthatthesafety regulations
covered thecaseofsmall isolated buildings thatarelower thanneighbouring buildings
butmade noprovision forsmall buildings thatarehigher thanneighbouring buildings.
Although thisoccurs lessfrequently, suchanarrangement ofbuildings must betaken
intoaccount intheRegulations inorder tobeaccepted.
7. Objective andrationale: Tobring uptodatecertain administrative andbuilding
provisions inthesafety Regulations against fireandpanic hazards.
"Technical Information Notice No.263onatriums, patios andlightshafts" has
beenreplaced by"Technical Instruction No.263onempty spaces within buildings open
tothepublic". Thenewtitleofthistechnical instruction istaken intoaccount inArticle
U26oftheDecree.
8. Relevant documents:
- Building andHousing Code, Book 1-Title 2-Chapter 3-prevention offire
andpanic hazards inbuildings opentothepublic;
- Decree of25June1980 asamended onapproval ofthegeneral provisions on
fireandpanic hazards inbuildings opentothepublic;
- Decree of23May1989 asamended onapproval ofprovisions completing the
safety regulations against fireintypeUbuildings opentothepublic (health care
buildings);
- Decree of22June1990 asamended onapproval ofprovisions completing the
safety Regulations against fireincategory 5buildings opentothepublic;
- Technical Instruction No.263onthebuilding andevacuation ofsmoke inempty
spaces within buildings opentothepublic.
9. Proposed dateofadoption: November 1997
Proposed dateofentry intoforce: February 1998
10. Final dateforcomments: 1November 1997
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: CINORTECH