Fire Marshal

[stevieray54]

Be sure your gas cans are OSHA approved and not the plastic ones. If not he may request them and then come back to follow up. Most all will give you X amount of time to correct and then show up.

Keep in mind. If you have a sign you will need a sign permit,if you have a electrical gate you will need a gate permit, if you have Burglar alarm you need a permit.
The problem with the City of Houston, they had a lot of old timers retire and now they have promoted about 20 some younger guys that are out bringing in revenue

[Johnny Dangerr]

Be sure your gas cans are OSHA approved and not the plastic ones. If not he may request them and then come back to follow up. Most all will give you X amount of time to correct and then show up.

Keep in mind. If you have a sign you will need a sign permit,if you have a electrical gate you will need a gate permit, if you have Burglar alarm you need a permit.
The problem with the City of Houston, they had a lot of old timers retire and now they have promoted about 20 some younger guys that are out bringing in revenue

Lovely...........

[txfireguy2003]

What city? What model fire code are they using? Has the city formally adopted said code? The only thing that may give you fits is that you fall under a mixed use occupancy classification, which sometimes makes things confusing.... even for the inspector.

In general, make sure you have a "5lb ABC" extinguisher mounted at a reasonable height so that is easily visible and accessible to a person in a wheel chair. The extinguisher souks have been inspected within the last 12 months, or purchased in the same time frame with the dated receipt taped to it. Make sure nothing blocks the path to the extinguisher also. No storage within 18" of the ceiling or 36" in front of the breaker panel. Make sure there are no open spaces in the panel, if there are, fill them with a blank. No extension cords used as permanent wiring, you should be able to truthfully say that the cord is unplugged and rolled up every evening at the end of the work day. Exit signage is likely NOT MANDATORY due to an occupancy load less than 50, but if it is present, it must be a lighted sign.

Frankly, I'm amazed that FMO's are demanding to inspect your home based business, especially one which doesn't serve customers face to face. Did the Fire Marshal actually call, or an assistant/ deputy FM? If you're in a city of much size, it is unlikely the actual FM will come out, more likely to be a firefighter with an inspector certification.

As mentioned earlier, don't sweat it. Fire inspectors are easy to get along with, most aren't even police officers, just fire inspectors, in addition to other jobs like plan examiners, public information and education officers etc. Very, very few people get fined for fire code violations, and the ones who do get fined usually deserve it.... they have usually ignored multiple attempts to have them correct the violations, and the violations are usually fairly severe life safety problems like chained exit doors in a night club type stuff. The purpose of the inspection is to promote safe practices, not penalize you.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

[Royal21973]

Emergency lights

[txfireguy2003]

I'm sure being a Fire Marshall he might have the "I'm not a real cop and not a real fireman either" attitude and may find every nit picky thing wrong with you because he has to show himself he's special.

He might, a few get on a power trip, just like a lot of patrol cops do, but more than likely, he'll have the attitude of, "I'm a real firefighter with multiple advanced certs, and a real cop with all the attendant duties and powers included and don't have anything to prove to anyone. I have more qualifications than the vast majority of either profession, and frankly, more authority. There's no reason for me to flex those muscles unless it's a serious life safety problem."

See, in the fire service, even on the code enforcement side, our goal is fire prevention, life safety and property conservation. If we can do that through effective customer service and education, we'd much rather do that and obtain voluntary compliance, than to go out looking for folks to make a mistake so we can write them a ticket.

The nit pickiest sons of guns I've ever seen were traffic cops, but I understand that a lot of that has bigger implications than writing a ticket for a tail light. I'm not likely to make a huge drug bust based on a burned out exit sign..... but I don't need the sign to develop reasonable suspicion for a stop either, I have authority to enter the building to conduct an inspection, so once I'm inside, if I find a meth lab...... well that not picky exit signage is irrelevant.

Oh yeah, BTW Thor, better hide your drugs. :-D

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

[Freight Mover]

Our fire Marshall just tells us what we need to fix never hassled us.

This

I've dealt with several Fire Marshals over the years.
Most just want you to follow code. Any deficiencies we would just set a plan and a time line for correction. I would update them on the status and when complete they would reinspect

Never got a fine

Never argue, just take notes

[Anvilheadtexas]

Call a safety meeting!!!!!

[UltraMax]

He might, a few get on a power trip, just like a lot of patrol cops do, but more than likely, he'll have the attitude of, "I'm a real firefighter with multiple advanced certs, and a real cop with all the attendant duties and powers included and don't have anything to prove to anyone. I have more qualifications than the vast majority of either profession, and frankly, more authority. There's no reason for me to flex those muscles unless it's a serious life safety problem."

See, in the fire service, even on the code enforcement side, our goal is fire prevention, life safety and property conservation. If we can do that through effective customer service and education, we'd much rather do that and obtain voluntary compliance, than to go out looking for folks to make a mistake so we can write them a ticket.

The nit pickiest sons of guns I've ever seen were traffic cops, but I understand that a lot of that has bigger implications than writing a ticket for a tail light. I'm not likely to make a huge drug bust based on a burned out exit sign..... but I don't need the sign to develop reasonable suspicion for a stop either, I have authority to enter the building to conduct an inspection, so once I'm inside, if I find a meth lab...... well that not picky exit signage is irrelevant.

Oh yeah, BTW Thor, better hide your drugs. :-D

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

Hook. Line. And sinker. Hahaha

[txfireguy2003]

;-D. Had a feeling you were baiting, figured what the heck, I'll throw the single cert popo a bone, just this one time. :-D

No, honestly though, Thor was on an increasing spiral of dread over what will be a very friendly encounter more than likely, had to calm his nerves and toss a little rivalry humor in the mix at the same time. We know all you cops are really just jealous of us.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

[Johnny Dangerr]

;-D. Had a feeling you were baiting, figured what the heck, I'll throw the single cert popo a bone, just this one time. :-D

No, honestly though, Thor was on an increasing spiral of dread over what will be a very friendly encounter more than likely, had to calm his nerves and toss a little rivalry humor in the mix at the same time. We know all you cops are really just jealous of us.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

Yes I am freaking a bit. Will work on it today. Got a letter then a call by a clerk saying they were coming.
My son opened a tattoo shop and it took 4 years for the health dept to come by.
Thanks all.............

[IowaHunter]

As mentioned before--sign with red arrow pointing to the extinguisher, and exit signs too. Also think of OSHA and EPA issues that might be applicable. Dang overreaching gub-mint. And, in my town, no storage within 24" (I think) of ceiling.

Have a garage sale before the guy shows up.

I think he'll just go through his punch list, detail needs and be on the way. At the end offer a water or coke for the ride away.

Make sure some of your archery stuff is readily visible in the garage. I find people are alway intrigued by our sport.