HB2554: Uniform Statewide Building Code; emergency communication equipment.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 36-99.6:2 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 36-99.6:2. Installation of in-building emergency communication equipment for emergency public safety personnel.
The Board of Housing and Community Development
shall promulgate regulations as part of the Building Code requiring suchAll
new commercial, industrial, institutional, and multifamily buildings
as
determined by the Board shall be
(i) designed and constructed so that emergency public safety personnel may send
and receive emergency communications from within those structures or (ii)
equipped with emergency communications equipment so that emergency public
safety personnel may send and receive emergency communications from within
those structures.
For the purposes of this section:
"Emergency communications equipment" includes, but is not limited to, two-way radio communications, signal boosters, bi-directional amplifiers, radiating cable systems or internal multiple antenna, or any combination of the foregoing.
"Emergency public safety personnel" includes firefighters, emergency medical services personnel, law-enforcement officers, and other emergency public safety personnel routinely called upon to provide emergency assistance to members of the public in a wide variety of emergency situations, including, but not limited to, fires, medical emergencies, violent crimes, and terrorist attacks.