(a) Definitions

For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1) The term “affordable cost” means the cost to a Federal agency of leasing office space in a building that is protected by an automatic sprinkler system or equivalent level of safety, which cost is no more than 10 percent greater than the cost of leasing available comparable office space in a building that is not so protected.

(2) The term “automatic sprinkler system” means an electronically supervised, integrated system of piping to which sprinklers are attached in a systematic pattern, and which, when activated by heat from a fire—

(A) will protect human lives by discharging water over the fire area, in accordance with the National Fire Protection Association Standard 13, 13D, or 13R, whichever is appropriate for the type of building and occupancy being protected, or any successor standard thereto; and

(B) includes an alarm signaling system with appropriate warning signals (to the extent such alarm systems and warning signals are required by Federal, State, or local laws or regulations) installed in accordance with the National Fire Protection Association Standard 72, or any successor standard thereto.

(3) The term “equivalent level of safety” means an alternative design or system (which may include automatic sprinkler systems), based upon fire protection engineering analysis, which achieves a level of safety equal to or greater than that provided by automatic sprinkler systems.

(4) The term “Federal employee office building” means any office building in the United States, whether owned or leased by the Federal Government, that is regularly occupied by more than 25 full-time Federal employees in the course of their employment.

(5) The term “housing assistance”—

(A) means assistance provided by the Federal Government to be used in connection with the provision of housing,¹ that is provided in the form of a grant, contract, loan, loan guarantee, cooperative agreement, interest subsidy, insurance, or direct appropriation; and

(B) does not include assistance provided by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; the Federal Emergency Management Agency; the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under the single family mortgage insurance programs under the National Housing Act [12 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.] or the homeownership assistance program under section 235 of such Act [12 U.S.C. 1715z]; the National Homeownership Trust; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation under the affordable housing program under section 1831q of title 12; or the Resolution Trust Corporation under the affordable housing program under section 1441a(c) ² of title 12.

(6) The term “hazardous areas” means those areas in a building referred to as hazardous areas in National Fire Protection Association Standard 101, known as the Life Safety Code, or any successor standard thereto.

(7) The term “multifamily property” means—

(A) in the case of housing for Federal employees or their dependents, a residential building consisting of more than 2 residential units that are under one roof; and

(B) in any other case, a residential building consisting of more than 4 residential units that are under one roof.

(8) The term “prefire plan” means specific plans for fire fighting activities at a property or location.

(9) The term “rebuilding” means the repairing or reconstructing of portions of a multifamily property where the cost of the alterations is 70 percent or more of the replacement cost of the completed multifamily property, not including the value of the land on which the multifamily property is located.

(10) The term “renovated” means the repairing or reconstructing of 50 percent or more of the current value of a Federal employee office building, not including the value of the land on which the Federal employee office building is located.

(11) The term “smoke detectors” means single or multiple station, self-contained alarm devices designed to respond to the presence of visible or invisible particles of combustion, installed in accordance with the National Fire Protection Association Standard 74 or any successor standard thereto.

(12) The term “United States” means the States collectively.

(b) Federal employee office buildings

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(1)(A) No Federal funds may be used for the construction or purchase of a Federal employee office building of 6 or more stories unless during the period of occupancy by Federal employees the building is protected by an automatic sprinkler system or equivalent level of safety. No Federal funds may be used for the construction or purchase of any other Federal employee office building unless during the period of occupancy by Federal employees the hazardous areas of the building are protected by automatic sprinkler systems or an equivalent level of safety.

(B)(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), no Federal funds may be used for the lease of a Federal employee office building of 6 or more stories, where at least some portion of the federally leased space is on the sixth floor or above and at least 35,000 square feet of space is federally occupied, unless during the period of occupancy by Federal employees the entire Federal employee office building is protected by an automatic sprinkler system or equivalent level of safety. No Federal funds may be used for the lease of any other Federal employee office building unless during the period of occupancy by Federal employees the hazardous areas of the entire Federal employee office building are protected by automatic sprinkler systems or an equivalent level of safety.

(ii) The first sentence of clause (i) shall not apply to the lease of a building the construction of which is completed before October 26, 1992, if the leasing agency certifies that no suitable building with automatic sprinkler systems or an equivalent level of safety is available at an affordable cost.

(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to—

(A) a Federal employee office building that was owned by the Federal Government before October 26, 1992;

(B) space leased in a Federal employee office building if the space was leased by the Federal Government before October 26, 1992;

(C) space leased on a temporary basis for not longer than 6 months;

(D) a Federal employee office building that becomes a Federal employee office building pursuant to a commitment to move Federal employees into the building that is made prior to October 26, 1992; or

(E) a Federal employee office building that is owned or managed by the Resolution Trust Corporation.

Nothing in this subsection shall require the installation of an automatic sprinkler system or equivalent level of safety by reason of the leasing, after October 26, 1992, of space below the sixth floor in a Federal employee office building.

(3) No Federal funds may be used for the renovation of a Federal employee office building of 6 or more stories that is owned by the Federal Government unless after that renovation the Federal employee office building is protected by an automatic sprinkler system or equivalent level of safety. No Federal funds may be used for the renovation of any other Federal employee office building that is owned by the Federal Government unless after that renovation the hazardous areas of the Federal employee office building are protected by automatic sprinkler systems or an equivalent level of safety.

(4) No Federal funds may be used for entering into or renewing a lease of a Federal employee office building of 6 or more stories that is renovated after October 26, 1992, where at least some portion of the federally leased space is on the sixth floor or above and at least 35,000 square feet of space is federally occupied, unless after that renovation the Federal employee office building is protected by an automatic sprinkler system or equivalent level of safety. No Federal funds may be used for entering into or renewing a lease of any other Federal employee office building that is renovated after October 26, 1992, unless after that renovation the hazardous areas of the Federal employee office building are protected by automatic sprinkler systems or an equivalent level of safety.

(c) Housing

(1)(A) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, no Federal funds may be used for the construction, purchase, lease, or operation by the Federal Government of housing in the United States for Federal employees or their dependents unless—

(i) in the case of a multifamily property acquired or rebuilt by the Federal Government after October 26, 1992, the housing is protected, before occupancy by Federal employees or their dependents, by an automatic sprinkler system (or equivalent level of safety) and hard-wired smoke detectors; and

(ii) in the case of any other housing, the housing, before—

(I) occupancy by the first Federal employees (or their dependents) who do not occupy such housing as of October 26, 1992; or

(II) the expiration of 3 years after October 26, 1992,

whichever occurs first, is protected by hard-wired smoke detectors.

(B) Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to supersede any guidelines or requirements applicable to housing for Federal employees that call for a higher level of fire safety protection than is required under this paragraph.

(C) Housing covered by this paragraph that does not have an adequate and reliable electrical system shall not be subject to the requirement under subparagraph (A) for protection by hard-wired smoke detectors, but shall be protected by battery operated smoke detectors.

(D) If funding has been programmed or designated for the demolition of housing covered by this paragraph, such housing shall not be subject to the fire protection requirements of subparagraph (A), but shall be protected by battery operated smoke detectors.

(2)(A)(i) Housing assistance may not be used in connection with any newly constructed multifamily property, unless after the new construction the multifamily property is protected by an automatic sprinkler system and hard-wired smoke detectors.

(ii) For purposes of clause (i), the term “newly constructed multifamily property” means a multifamily property of 4 or more stories above ground level—

(I) that is newly constructed after October 26, 1992; and

(II) for which (a) housing assistance is used for such new construction, or (b) a binding commitment is made, before commencement of such construction, to provide housing assistance for the newly constructed property.

(iii) Clause (i) shall not apply to any multifamily property for which, before October 26, 1992, a binding commitment is made to provide housing assistance for the new construction of the property or for the newly constructed property.

(B)(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), housing assistance may not be used in connection with any rebuilt multifamily property, unless after the rebuilding the multifamily property complies with the chapter on existing apartment buildings of National Fire Protection Association Standard 101 (known as the Life Safety Code) or any successor standard to that standard, as in effect at the earlier of (I) the time of any approval by the Department of Housing and Urban Development of the specific plan or budget for rebuilding, or (II) the time that a binding commitment is made to provide housing assistance for the rebuilt property.

(ii) If any rebuilt multifamily property is subject to, and in compliance with, any provision of a State or local fire safety standard or code that prevents compliance with a specific provision of National Fire Protection Association Standard 101 or any successor standard to that standard, the requirement under clause (i) shall not apply with respect to such specific provision.

(iii) For purposes of this subparagraph, the term “rebuilt multifamily property” means a multifamily property of 4 or more stories above ground level—

(I) that is rebuilt after the last day of the second fiscal year that ends after October 26, 1992; and

(II) for which (a) housing assistance is used for such rebuilding, or (b) a binding commitment is made, before commencement of such rebuilding, to provide housing assistance for the rebuilt property.

(C) After the expiration of the 180-day period beginning on October 26, 1992, housing assistance may not be used in connection with any other dwelling unit, unless the unit is protected by a hard-wired or battery-operated smoke detector. For purposes of this subparagraph, housing assistance shall be considered to be used in connection with a particular dwelling unit only if such assistance is provided (i) for the particular unit, in the case of assistance provided on a unit-by-unit basis, or (ii) for the multifamily property in which the unit is located, in the case of assistance provided on a structure-by-structure basis.

(d) Regulations

The Administrator of General Services, in cooperation with the United States Fire Administration, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Department of Defense, within 2 years after October 26, 1992, shall promulgate regulations to further define the term “equivalent level of safety”, and shall, to the extent practicable, base those regulations on nationally recognized codes.

(e) State and local authority not limited

Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the power of any State or political subdivision thereof to implement or enforce any law, rule, regulation, or standard that establishes requirements concerning fire prevention and control. Nothing in this section shall be construed to reduce fire resistance requirements which otherwise would have been required.

(f) Prefire plan

The head of any Federal agency that owns, leases, or operates a building or housing unit with Federal funds shall invite the local agency or voluntary organization having responsibility for fire protection in the jurisdiction where the building or housing unit is located to prepare, and biennially review, a prefire plan for the building or housing unit.

(g) Reports to Congress

(1) Within 3 years after October 26, 1992, and every 3 years thereafter, the Administrator of General Services shall transmit to Congress a report on the level of fire safety in Federal employee office buildings subject to fire safety requirements under this section. Such report shall contain a description of such buildings for each Federal agency.

(2) Within 10 years after October 26, 1992, each Federal agency providing housing to Federal employees or housing assistance shall submit a report to Congress on the progress of that agency in implementing subsection (c) and on plans for continuing such implementation.

(3)(A) The National Institute of Standards and Technology shall conduct a study and submit a report to Congress on the use, in combination, of fire detection systems, fire suppression systems, and compartmentation. Such study shall—

(i) quantify performance and reliability for fire detection systems, fire suppression systems, and compartmentation, including a field assessment of performance and determination of conditions under which a reduction or elimination of 1 or more of those systems would result in an unacceptable risk of fire loss; and

(ii) include a comparative analysis and compartmentation using fire resistive materials and compartmentation using noncombustible materials.

(B) The National Institute of Standards and Technology shall obtain funding from non-Federal sources in an amount equal to 25 percent of the cost of the study required by subparagraph (A). Funding for the National Institute of Standards and Technology for carrying out such study shall be derived from amounts otherwise authorized to be appropriated, for the Building and Fire Research Center at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, not to exceed $750,000. The study shall commence until receipt of all matching funds from non-Federal sources. The scope and extent of the study shall be determined by the level of project funding. The Institute shall submit a report to Congress on the study within 30 months after October 26, 1992.

(h) Relation to other requirements

In the implementation of this section, the process for meeting space needs in urban areas shall continue to give first consideration to a centralized community business area and adjacent areas of similar character to the extent of any Federal requirement therefor.