_{Photo Courtesy of Mark Brady, Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department.}

The Fire & Life Safety Section conducts all reviews of projects that require a fire review within DPIE’s Building Plan Review Division. These include commercial building plans, suppression systems and fire alarm systems. We maintain a strong commitment to life safety, and sound code enforcement remains the paramount objective while delivering high quality services to the public. This function receives overall management and administration from the Fire Code Official.

NOTICE:  Fire Protection Designers, Consultants and Peer Reviewers

Effective Friday, July 1, 2016, all Fire Sprinkler Site releases for single family residences are required to go through the Third-Party Review and Approval process. This requirement, per Section 4-158 of the County Code, was postponed from the original implementation date of January 1, 2016 to allow for additional time to meet this mandate.

Should you have questions regarding this Notice, please call the Building Plan Review Division at 301-636-2070.

Third Party Review Program

Beginning January 2016, Fire Sprinkler Systems, Fire Suppression Systems, Voice Alarm Systems and Fire Alarm Systems MUST go through the Third Party Review/Approval Process. The Third Party Review Program (TPRP) provides a quality assurance plan that reviews the process for ensuring the agency will perform contracted plan review, report non-conforming items to the attention of the owner/designer, and provide timely reports for each review or re-review, and submit a final signed report to DPIE.

Prince George’s County mandates a Third Party Plan Review Program for the review and approval of Fire Protection Systems through the Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement (DPIE). This program requires owners and applicants to select a DPIE-authorized Third Party Plan Review Agency (TPPRA) at their own cost to review and approve shop drawings of Fire Protection Systems in lieu of County staff. TPPRAs must be retained for Fire Protection Systems Review on all residential and commercial building projects. Shop drawings approved by the authorized TPPRA for Fire Protection Systems will be accepted by DPIE for permit issuance after paying all applicable permit fees.

Please refer to the following resources:

• "Third Party Plan Review Process for Fire Protection Systems" Manual
• "Third Party Plan Review Process for Fire Protection Systems" Application Package
• Certified Third Party Reviewers for Fire Protection Systems
• A good example of the importance of sprinklers can be found on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Website at http://www.nist.gov/fire/dormsleeping.cfm. Their study showed the "Impact of Sprinklers on the Fire Hazard in Dorms: Sleeping Room Fire Experiments" College Dorm Overview.
  
  

Applicable Codes

Our most frequently used codes and standards (other adopted codes and standards not listed here may be determined to be applicable based on the scope of work) are located under Building Codes and Bulletins.