The bill amends several sections of the Louisiana Revised Statutes concerning the fire marshal's authority and the Louisiana State Uniform Construction Code. A significant change is the replacement of the National Fire Protection Association's Life Safety Code with the Louisiana State Uniform Construction Code as the standard for newly constructed structures. The fire marshal will now enforce compliance with fire protection, egress, and accessibility provisions of this state uniform code, while outdated sections of the law are repealed. Additionally, the bill introduces provisions for municipalities and parishes to enforce building codes in alignment with state standards and grants the fire marshal the authority to enter into agreements for code enforcement.

Furthermore, the legislation emphasizes accessibility by adopting the International Building Code Chapter 11-Accessibility, which supersedes previous references to the Americans with Disabilities Act Standards. It also stipulates that all legal actions regarding compliance issues with public or private buildings must be filed in the district court of the parish where the non-compliant structure is located, and it repeals existing laws R.S. 40:1732 and R.S. 40:1734 through 1736. The bill is set to take effect on July 1, 2026, unless vetoed by the governor and subsequently approved by the legislature, in which case the effective date will be the day following that approval or July 1, 2026, whichever is later.

Statutes affected:
SB489 Original: 17:62(7), 17:66(A)(1), 40:2(A), 40:1575(A), 40:3(9), 40:23(H), 40:28(A)(1), 40:23(J)
SB489 Engrossed: 17:62(7), 17:66(A)(1), 40:2(A), 40:1575(A), 40:3(9), 40:23(H), 40:28(A)(1), 40:23(J)
SB489 Reengrossed: 40:6(A), 40:7(A), 40:22(A), 40:23(A), 40:28(A)(1), 40:39(A)(1), 40:1737(A), 40:1738(A)
SB489 Enrolled: 40:7(A), 40:22(A), 40:23(A), 40:28(A)(1), 40:39(A)(1), 40:1737(A), 40:1738(A)
SB489 Act 534: 40:7(A), 40:22(A), 40:23(A), 40:28(A)(1), 40:39(A)(1), 40:1737(A), 40:1738(A)