An Act To Effectively Separate Children's Homes from Adult Residential Care Facilities Regarding Fire Safety
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1542
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: KANE, WESTON, CAMPBELL, CRAVEN, CURLEY, EARLE, WALCOTT
Amends: 22 MRSA §8103, 25 MRSA §2452

Legislative Document 
No. 1542 
H.P.1131 
House of Representatives, April 10,2003 
An Act To Effectively Separate Children's Homes from Adult 
Residential Care Facilities Regarding Fire Safety 
Submitted by the Department of Human Services pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Reference to the Committee on Health and Human Services suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative KANE of Saco. 
Cosponsored by Senator WESTON of Waldo and 
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MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: CAMPBELL of Newfield, CRAVEN of Lewiston, CURLEY of Scarborough, 
DUGA Y of Cherryfield, EARLE of Damariscotta, WALCOTT of Lewiston. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §8103, as amended by PL 2001, c. 515, §1 and 
c. 596, Pt. B, §19 and affected by §25, is further amended to 
read: 
§8103. Fire safety; inspections for chi1dren's homes 
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1-A. 
Inspection reqyired. 
Except as provided in subsection 
2, 
the department may 
not issue 
a 
license to operate to 
a 
children's 
home 
until 
the 
department 
has 
received 
from 
the 
Commissioner of Public Safety a written statement signed by one 
of the officials designated under Title 25, section 2360, 2391 or 
2392 
to 
make 
fire 
safety inspections. 
This 
statement 
must 
indicate that the children's home has complied with applicable 
fire safety provisions referred to in Title 25, section 2452. 
2. 
Temporary 1icense. 
The department may issue a temporary 
license to operate a family foster home, as defined by section 
8101, subsection 3, without complying with the requirement to 
receive a written, signed statement under subsection lr I-A prior 
to issuing the licenser as long as a preliminary evaluation of 
the home reveals no obvious fire safety violations. 
3. 
Fees. 
The department shall establish and pay reasonable 
fees to the Commissioner of Public Safety for each inspection 
required pursuant to subsection I-A. 
4. 
Reqp.irements for faci1ities with 17 or more beds. 
A 
children's home that has a capacity of 17 or more beds must 
comply with the Life Safety Code of the National Fire Protection 
Association, Residential Board and Care Occupancies sections for 
large facilities as adopted by the Commissioner of Public Safety. 
5. 
Reqy.irements for children' s home with PIOre than 6 but 
fewer than 17 beds. 
A children's home that has a capacity of 
more than 6 but fewer than 17 beds must comply with the Life 
Safety 
Code 
of 
the 
National 
Fire 
Protection 
Association, 
Residential 
Board 
and 
Care 
Occupancies 
sections 
for 
small 
facilities as adopted by the Commissioner of Public Safety. 
In 
addition, 
automatic emergency lights must be provided in the 
number and location required by the Commissioner of Public Safety. 
6. 
Reqy.irements for children' s home with 6 or fewer beds. 
The department may consider a children's home that has 6 or fewer 
residents, 
all of 
whom 
can evacuate 
the 
home 
without 
the 
assistance of another person in 3 minutes or less, to be in 
compliance with the one family and 2-family dwelling requirements 
of 
the 
Life 
Safety 
Code 
of 
the 
National 
Fire 
Protection 
Association as adopted by the Commissioner of Public Safety. 
7. 
Local regulations. 
Nothing in this section prevents a 
locali ty from imposing requirements for children's homes more 
stringent than those required in this section. 
Sec. 2. 25 MRSA §2452, 2nd 1[ from the end, as amended by PL 
1997, c. 728, §25, is further amended to read: 
Existing buildings licensed pursuant to Title 22, s\:ist:it:le 
Subti tle 6, having more than 6 boarders, with the exception of 
boarding care facilities and children's homes, must comply with 
any rules for residential-custodial care facilities required by 
the Commissioner of Public Safety, except that such existing 
facilities of not more than 2 stories in height are not required 
to be fire resistive, protected or unprotected noncombustible, 
protected wood frame or heavy timber construction. Such existing 
facili ties must be protected by a complete approved automatic 
sprinkler 
system 
and 
meet 
all 
other 
requirements 
of 
residential-custodial 
care 
facilities 
as 
required 
by 
the 
Commissioner of Public Safety. 
Sec. 3. 25 MRSA §2452, as amended by PL 2001, c. 596, Pt. B, 
§22 and affected by §25, is further amended by inserting at the 
end a new paragraph to read: 
Existing children's homes licensed pursuant to Title 22, 
Subtitle 
6, 
must 
comply 
with 
the 
applicable 
fire 
safety 
requirements 
of 
the 
Life 
Safety 
Code 
of 
the 
National 
Fire 
Protection Association adopted by the Commissioner of Public 
Safety pursuant to Title 22, section 8103. 
SUMMARY 
This bill delineates the Life Safety Code of the National 
Fire Protection Association requirements under which children's 
homes are inspected. 
Currently, children's homes' life safety 
code requirements are linked to code requirements for assisted 
living programs, so statute changes enacted in 2002 that changed 
code 
requirements for assisted living programs also affected 
children's 
homes. 
This 
bill 
assigns 
fire 
safety 
code 
requirements that are more suitable for children's homes.