ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland - Newfoundland and Labrador have adopted the 2006 edition of National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 101®, the Life Safety Code®, effective immediately.

The Life Safety Code is used with the National Building Code of Canada and the National Fire Code of Canada to address existing buildings and rehabilitation areas not addressed by either of these codes.

"The Life Safety Code provides important direction on minimum standards and requirements concerning building structures," said Fred Hollett, fire commissioner of Newfoundland and Labrador. "It has been an important resource in assisting with training and implementation for national building and fire codes for the province and is essential to ensure that public safety interests are met."

The Newfoundland and Labrador model that addresses existing buildings and building rehabilitation is being promoted to the other Canadian provinces to solve the current gap in the codes.

“This is not a great leap for many of these jurisdictions as NFPA 101 is well used as a source of information to augment information that might not already be in the Canadian Model Codes,” said Sean Tracey, Canadian regional manager for NFPA. “There are numerous examples of code equivalencies and interpretations from the provinces using the Life Safety Code.”

The province of Prince Edward Island has adopted NFPA’s Life Safety Code for over 20 years. It is currently used in every U.S. state and adopted statewide in 39 states.

Newfoundland and Labrador will be participating in a training program developed by NFPA and offered to states that have adopted NFPA 1, NFPA 101, and other key NFPA codes and standards. This training is being customized for the specific needs of Newfoundland and Labrador and will cover the code’s requirements and the numerous ways it can be utilized and enforced with the National Building and Fire Codes of Canada. The training and the associated codebooks are free to government code enforcement officials.

For more information, visit www.nfpa.org.

Publication date:05/21/2007