The West Chester Fire Department will now enforce the most current version of Ohio Fire Code in order to remain on the forefront of fire and life safety.
Each year, the West Chester Fire Department conducts thousands of fire safety inspections and conducts hundreds of plan reviews for fire safety. The move to enforce the most current Ohio Fire Code, approved by the Board of Trustees on Aug. 27, allows Fire Safety Inspectors to apply the most current and relevant fire codes.
Safeguarding Life And Public Welfare
In 1985, the Fire Chief, with approval of the Union Township Board of Trustees, formally adopted Resolution 7-85; the 1984 Building Officials & Code Administrators (BOCA) code. This code established minimum requirements to safeguard life, property and public welfare from the devastating effects of fire.
In 2002, West Chester Fire Department recommended the International Fire Code (IFC) be formally adopted by the West Chester Board of Trustees as the official Township Fire Code. Therefore, in 2002, the West Chester Board of Trustees formally adopted Resolution 32-2002 to make the IFC 2000 our West Chester Fire Code.
Cutting Edge Of Code Enforcement
The IFC 2000 is now 19 years old and it was time to consider how best to enforce fire codes that would always be relevant and current. With the approval of the Board of Trustees, the West Chester Fire Department will now solely enforce the most current editions of the Ohio Fire Code. As the Ohio Fire Code is updated, the West Chester Fire Department will immediately have the ability to enforce the updates to the code.
“The intent of Resolution 16-2019 (approved Aug. 27) is to not only bring us up to date with the most current code cycle, but to allow us to continuously fall under the most current edition of the Ohio Fire Code,” said Fire Chief Rick Prinz. “I am confident the current version and future versions of the Ohio Fire Code are sufficient to keep us on the cutting edge of code enforcement to keep our community safe.”