8 Days Left to Comment on NFPA 99: Health Care Facilities

Issues of Concern in NFPA 99

• Chapter 9, Heating, has been completely rewritten and now requires redundant equipment for supply, return, and exhaust air systems. The revisions will also require all facilities to provide 96 hours of on-site fuel storage, unlike previous editions that allowed agreements with suppliers to provide ongoing fuel deliveries. ASHE is currently searching for data that support this change.
• Isolated power systems will be required in operating rooms unless the facility can determine that an operating room is not a wet location through a risk assessment.
• Full smoke control systems will be required in many areas per NFPA 92A. Previous editions only required a smoke evacuation system in operating rooms. ASHE is also searching for data that support this new requirement.

What You Can Do
Download a copy of the Report on Proposals from this Web address:
http://www.nfpa.org/Assets/files/AboutTheCodes/99/99-A2011-ROP.pdf

Submit a comment. It's easy! To submit a comment, go to the NFPA website and access the online comment database at http://submissions.nfpa.org/onlinesub/onsubmain.php.

What ASHE is Doing
ASHE is in the process of submitting comments on these three issues as well as many others. As always, we encourage you to also look at the proposed changes and submit comments based on your background and experience.

At present, the completely revised NFPA 99 document is open for public comment. We encourage you to review it and submit comments before the deadline of September 3, 2010. If there ever was an opportunity to get NFPA 99 right, now is that time.

How to Make Comments on NFPA 99

From Chad Beebe, Associate Director of Advocacy: I have enjoyed speaking to several people about submitting comments on the revised NFPA 99:Health Care Facilities draft. I appreciate the work everyone is doing to ensure the rules receive valuable input from you, the users of this document. We are diligently working here at ASHE to review the Report on Proposals (ROP) and bring issues of concern to your attention.

Following are specific references to a few of the more popular issues:

Operating room wet locations
Section/Paragraph 4.3.2.2.8.3
Comment on ROP Proposal No. 99-96

Redundant mechanical systems in category 1 areas
Section/Paragraph: Throughout Section 9.4
Comment on ROP Proposal No. 99-389

Smoke control systems in anesthetizing locations
Section/Paragraph: 9.4.4.2.3 / 9.4.4.3.3 / 9.4.4.4.3
Comment on ROP Proposal No. 99-389

96-hour on-site fuel storage
Section/Paragraph: 9.4.7.2
Comment on ROP Proposal No. 99-389

For information on how to make comments, please read the full Advocacy Alert. The alert includes links to the Report on Proposals and the comment forms on the NFPA website as well as tips for writing a comment sure to be considered by the committee.

To see some of the tips for getting your comments considered, click here.

Your comments can be submitted electronically by clicking here.

Questions? Please contact Chad Beebe at cbeebe@aha.org or 312-442-3824.

The American Society for Healthcare Engineering
of the American Hospital Association
155 N. Wacker Drive, Suite 400
Chicago, IL 60606
Phone: 312-422-3800 | Fax: 312-422-4571
ashe@aha.org