1. Can building management put the responsibility on tenants to prepare their own shelter-in-place plan and submit it to the management office?
Answer — Building owners are responsible for ensuring that there is a plan, and that it is maintained and properly distributed. The Fire Code does not address who prepares a plan. Building management can request that tenants prepare a plan for their floor. Once a plan is completed, tenants are required to comply with the plan.
2. Can fire wardens and floor captains (used during fire emergencies to coordinate evacuation of a building) be required to implement a shelter-in-place plan?
Answer — A building owner is responsible for the development and implementation of a plan. Building occupants can be designated in the plan to perform one or more tasks. When so designated they must be provided with the appropriate training.
3. If a building has retail tenants that have customers and/or visitors, how should they be sheltered-in-place?
Answer — Provisions should be made to shelter-in-place all occupants that may normally be expected to be in a building at the time of an emergency.
4. If retail tenants have access to the building lobby, how does building management prevent them from entering the lobby, especially if the door to the lobby is a second means of egress and part of a fire exit?
Answer — At the time of an emergency, tenants are required to follow the shelter-in-place plan for their floor, including whatever requirements building management has placed in the plan for the safety of tenants. Locking egress doors (preventing egress from the building) is not permitted by the Fire Code at any time a building is occupied, including during a shelter-in-place emergency.Building management can do what they believe is best for building occupants.
5. Should elevators be recalled and/or shut down?
Answer - The Fire Code does not address this issue for shelter-in-place procedures. Building management can do what they believe is best for building occupants.
6. Is it permissible to lock the building entry doors and not allow entrance to the building if the door is not a fire exit?
Answer - The Fire Code does not restrict the locking of doors to the exterior that are not exit doors. It does state that exit doors can not be locked in such a manner that prevents egress from a building.
7. Is a shelter-in-place plan required for each floor of a building?
Answer — No. A plan is required to accommodate all of the occupants in a building. If building management believes that it is best for occupants of two or more floors to shelter-in-place on one floor that is permitted.
8. Are the existing restroom facilities in a building adequate for meeting the requirement to provide drinking and toilet facilities?
Answer — Yes.
9. Is evacuation of the building necessary after a drill, as is required after an emergency?
Answer — Evacuation of a building is not required after a drill. The purpose of occupants evacuating a building after an emergency is to permit the building’s air handling system to remove any contaminants that may have entered the building.
10. Is the shelter-in-place plan part of the International Fire Code?
Answer — No. The plan is a requirement of the Philadelphia Fire Code. The International Fire Code was adopted and amended by the City of Philadelphia. One of the amendments was the shelter-in-place requirements.
11. Can a shelter-in-place plan be rectified and/or modified in the future?
Answer — Yes. Modifications to a plan can be made whenever building management believes changes are necessary. Each tenant or employee should have a copy of the plan and a copy should be available for review if requested by a fire code official.
12. Can the current shelter-in-place plan be amended? Specifically Section F-409.2 that requires all doors and windows be shut (and locked where locking provides a tighter seal) and all air handling equipment (heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems) be shut down. The section also indicates that to provide necessary protection, sealing windows, doors and vents with tape is permitted?
Answer — Yes the requirements can be amended, but a process must be followed. Since requirements in the Fire Code are laws, amendments to the Fire Code must be reviewed by the city’s Law Department and approved by City Council. The shelter-inplace procedures in the Fire Code require that all windows and doors be closed and all air-handling systems be shut down. Locking of doors and windows is an option to provide a tighter seal if necessary. Tape is not required to be placed over all windows and doors, but is a method that can be used as a way to prevent contaminants from entering a building if a window or door does not close properly. If building management desires to deviate from specific requirements in the Fire Code, such as having the air handling system in the building operate during an emergency, approval must be obtained from the Fire Department.
13. Should a shelter-in-place plan be incorporated in the training of floor captains and/or fire wardens?
Answer — Yes. Floor captains and fire wardens and any other persons that are designated to assist in a shelter-in-place plan should receive training in their duties.
14. Will the Department of Licenses and Inspections accept the sample plan presented by Fire Department, entitled the Phoenix Hotel and Conference Center, Sample Shelter-In-Place Plan, if building managers choose to use the same format as their shelter-in-place plan?
Answer — Yes. An acceptable plan is any one that address the requirements in the Fire Code. The plan can contain additional information that building management believes is necessary in the event of a shelter-in-place emergency.
15. What is the protocol for allowing non-tenants in a building during an emergency?
Answer — The Fire Code does not address this issue, but the intent of the requirements is to provide for all persons that may be in the area of an emergency.
16. Should office buildings in Center City plan on offering refuge for pedestrians and motorists during a shelter-in-place emergency or have other arrangements been made?
Answer — This issue is not addressed in the Fire Code, but the intent of the shelter-in-place requirements is to provide for the safety of all persons in the area of an emergency.
17. What is the time element expected for sheltering people in place?
Answer — There are no specified or known time frames. The city will deal with an emergency as quickly as possible and permit building occupants to resume normal operations as soon as it is safe to do so.
18. Will sheltering people on their prospective leased floors serve as a shelter-in-place location if windows are non-operational?
Answer — Yes. Where occupants are sheltered-in-place is decided by building management or by agreement between building management and tenants. If it is determined that the most appropriate location for a shelter is on a floor and the floor has windows (operational or non-operational) that is permitted.