September 16, 2003, Introduced by Senators JELINEK, KUIPERS, ALLEN, CROPSEY, BROWN and McMANUS and referred to the Committee on Education.
A bill to amend 1937 PA 306, entitled
"An act to promote the safety, welfare, and educational interests
of the people of the state of Michigan by regulating the
construction, reconstruction, and remodeling of certain public or
private school buildings or additions to such buildings, by
regulating the construction, reconstruction, and remodeling of
buildings leased or acquired for school purposes, and to define
the class of buildings affected by this act; to prescribe the
powers and duties of certain state agencies and officials; to
prescribe penalties for the violation of this act; and to repeal
acts and parts of acts,"
by amending section 1 (MCL 388.851), as amended by 2002 PA 628.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
1 Sec. 1. (1) A
Except as provided in subsection (2), a
2 school building, public or private, or any additions to a school
3 building, shall not be erected, remodeled, or reconstructed in
4 this state except in conformity with all of the following
5 provisions:
6 (a) All plans and specifications for buildings shall be
7 prepared by an architect or professional engineer who is licensed
1 in this state. An architect or professional engineer licensed in
2 this state or another person qualified to supervise construction
3 shall supervise the construction of a school building.
4 (b) All walls, floors, partitions, and roofs shall be
5 constructed of fire-resisting materials such as stone, brick,
6 tile, concrete, gypsum, steel, or similar fire-resisting
7 material. All steel members shall be protected by at least 3/4
8 of an inch of fire-resisting material.
9 (c) Wood lath or wood furring shall not be used in the
10 construction. These regulations shall not be construed as
11 prohibiting the use of finished wood flooring, wood door and
12 window frames, wood sash, or wood furring and grounds, for the
13 purpose of installing wood trim, panelling, acoustical units, or
14 similar facing materials on masonry walls, structural steel, or
15 concrete ceiling members.
16 (d) Every room enclosing a heating unit shall be enclosed by
17 walls of fire-resisting materials and shall be equipped with
18 automatically closing fire doors. All heating units shall not be
19 located directly beneath any portion of a school building or
20 addition that is constructed or reconstructed after January 1,
21 2003. This regulation shall not be construed to require the
22 removal of an existing heating plant from beneath an existing
23 building when an addition to the building is constructed unless
24 the department requires such removal in the interests of the
25 public safety. In any school where natural gas or any other kind
26 of gas is used for heating purposes, the gas shall be chemically
27 treated before being used in such a manner as to give a very
1 distinguishable odor if any leak should develop in the heating
2 system.
3 (e) In gymnasiums, fire-proofings may be omitted from the
4 trusses and purlins if they are more than 16 feet off the main
5 floor level.
6 (f) The architect or engineer shall provide adequate exits
7 from all parts of school buildings. In all cases, there shall be
8 at least 2 stairways and the distance from the door of any class
9 or assembly room to a stairway or exit shall not exceed 100
10 feet.
11 (g) Provisions in subdivisions (b) to (f) may be waived in
12 writing by the department.
13 (h) Compliance with section 1b.
14 (2) This section does not apply to the erection, remodeling,
15 or relocation of a used modular classroom.