What are Life Safety Codes and why is compliance vital?

If you’ve ever wondered, “What are Life Safety Codes? What is life safety in the first place? Why does it matter?” then you are in the right place. In this article, we aim to provide answers to all these questions, and then some! We’ll define life safety, explore examples of codes pertaining to it, come to understand why such codes exist, and show how InspectNTrack’s software was made with life safety and code compliance in mind.

Life safety refers to equipment and procedures aimed at protecting people (and specifically preserving lives). When it comes to buildings, life safety is taken into account during every step of the design, construction, and operation processes. Life safety features can often go undetected; for many, we are so used to seeing them that we don’t even take notice of their presence! For instance, the anti-slip coating on the floor of a hallway leading to an exit is virtually invisible, yet it supports life safety by reducing the number of obstacles occupants might face when trying to evacuate.

There are tons of ways that we humans can be injured or even killed, but life safety practices do their best to minimize the chances of either injury or death occurring during all kinds of emergencies, including

• Earthquakes
• Fires
• Floods
• Gas leaks
• Medical emergencies
• Power failures
• Security breaches
• Terrorist attacks

Here is a non-exhaustive list of common life safety features:

• Accessibility features
  • Elevators
  • Ramps
• Emergency communication systems
  • Alarms
• Emergency egress routes
  • Emergency lighting
    • Backup power systems
  • Exit signs
• Fire protection and suppression systems
  • Fire barriers
  • Fire drills
  • Fire extinguishers
  • Manual pull stations
  • Sprinklers

The most well known code relating to life safety is NFPA 101, aptly named the Life Safety Code (LSC). This code classifies buildings according to occupancy levels and addresses of the features listed above for each classification. Though the LSC has only been adopted by 43 states within the United States, it is in use in all 50, as even states that have not adopted the code for themselves have smaller jurisdictions within them that have.

The LSC is often adopted by not just states, but by agencies as well. For example, the 2012 edition of the LSC has been adopted by

The International Code Council also explicitly explores life safety in chapter 9 of the International Building Code (IBC), titled “Fire Protection and Life Safety Systems.” Some iteration of the IBC has been adopted by every state in the United States, except for Arkansas, which has jurisdictions within it that have adopted the IBC for themselves.

The IBC is also in use in

• Guam
• Puerto Rico
• The District of Columbia (Washington D.C.)
• Northern Marianas Islands
• The U.S. Virgin Islands

(Despite its name, the IBC is essentially solely used in the United States and its territories.)

Hopefully, by now you can answer the question, “What are life safety codes?” So let’s turn to look at why life safety codes exist in the first place: to keep occupants safe and your name clear. Heaven forbid an emergency does occur, if you have been following the life safety code enforced by your authority having jurisdiction, people will be able to evacuate without any further incidence. Another important responsibility is documenting compliance. This way, if people become injured, you can prove that you did everything in your power to prevent it.

Luckily, InspectNTrack is here to keep all of your inspection, maintenance, and testing records in one place: the cloud! Prioritizing life safety is no joke, and neither is proving compliance. Let InspectNTrack help you feel confident in your life safety system’s ability to save lives and ditch the hassle of a paper-based record system today!