(a) Except as provided in Section 18930, the State Fire Marshal, with the advice of the State Board of Fire Services, shall prepare, adopt, and submit building standards for approval pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 18935) of Part 2.5 of Division 13 and shall prepare and adopt other regulations establishing minimum requirements for the prevention of fire, and for the protection of life and property against fire and panic, in any building or structure used or intended for use as an asylum, jail, mental hospital, hospital, home for the elderly, children’s nursery, children’s home or institution not otherwise excluded from the coverage of this subdivision, school, or any similar occupancy of any capacity, and in any assembly occupancy where 50 or more persons may gather together in a building, room, or structure for the purpose of amusement, entertainment, instruction, deliberation, worship, drinking or dining, awaiting transportation, or education, and for any laboratory or research and development facility that stores, handles, or uses regulated hazardous materials. The State Fire Marshal shall adopt and submit building standards for approval pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 18935) of Part 2.5 of Division 13 for the purposes described in this section. Regulations adopted pursuant to this subdivision and building standards relating to fire and panic safety published in the California Building Standards Code shall establish minimum requirements relating to the means of egress and the adequacy of exits from, the installation and maintenance of fire extinguishing and fire alarm systems in, the storage and handling of combustible or explosive materials or substances, and the installation and maintenance of appliances, equipment, decorations, security bars, grills, grates, and furnishings that present a fire, explosion, or panic hazard, and the minimum requirements shall be predicated on the height and fire-resistive qualities of the building or structure and the type of occupancy for which it is to be used. The building standards and other regulations shall apply to auxiliary or accessory buildings used or intended for use with any of the occupancies mentioned in this subdivision. Violation of any building standard or other regulation shall be a violation of this chapter.

In preparing and adopting building standards for approval pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 18935) of Part 2.5 of Division 13, and in preparing and adopting other regulations affecting public schools, the State Fire Marshal shall also secure the advice of the State Department of Education. No regulation adopted by the State Fire Marshal shall conflict with any rule, regulation, or building standard lawfully adopted or enforced by the Department of General Services pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 39140) of Chapter 2 of Part 23 or Article 7 (commencing with Section 81130) of Chapter 1 of Part 49 of the Education Code.

In addition to any other requirements for location of exit signs or devices in any building or structure used or intended for use as an asylum, jail, mental hospital, hospital, home for the elderly, children’s nursery, children’s home or institution not otherwise excluded from the coverage of this subdivision, school, or any similar occupancy of any capacity, and in any assembly occupancy where 50 or more persons may gather together in a building, room, or structure for the purpose of amusement, entertainment, instruction, deliberation, worship, drinking or dining, awaiting transportation, or education, the State Fire Marshal shall adopt building standards pursuant to this section establishing minimum requirements for the placement of distinctive devices, signs, or other means that identify exits and can be felt or seen near the floor. Exit sign technologies permitted by the model building code upon which the California Building Standards Code is based, shall be permitted. These building standards shall be adopted before July 1, 1998, and shall apply to all newly constructed buildings or structures subject to this subdivision for which a building permit is issued, or construction commenced, if no building permit is issued, on or after January 1, 1989.

(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) and Section 13143.6, facilities licensed pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 1500) of Division 2 which provide nonmedical board, room, and care for six or fewer ambulatory children placed with the licensee for care or foster family homes and family day care homes for children, licensed pursuant to Chapter 3.6 (commencing with Section 1597.50) of Division 2, with a capacity of six or fewer and providing care and supervision for ambulatory children or children two years of age or younger, or both, shall not be subject to Article 1 (commencing with Section 13100) or Article 2 (commencing with Section 13140) of this chapter or regulations adopted pursuant thereto. No city, county, or public district shall adopt or enforce any requirement for the prevention of fire, or for the protection of life and property against fire and panic, with respect to structures used as facilities specified in this subdivision, unless the requirement would be applicable to a structure regardless of the special occupancy. Nothing in this subdivision shall restrict the application of state or local housing standards to those facilities, if the standards are applicable to residential occupancies and are not based upon the use of the structure as a facility specified in this subdivision.

“Ambulatory children,” as used in this subdivision, does not include nonambulatory persons, as defined in Section 13131, and relatives of the licensee or the licensee’s spouse.

(c) The State Fire Marshal shall adopt building standards establishing regulations providing that all school classrooms constructed after January 1, 1990, not equipped with automatic sprinkler systems, which have metal grills or bars on all their windows and do not have at least two exit doors within three feet of each end of the classroom opening to the exterior of the building or to a common hallway used for evacuation purposes, shall have an inside release for the grills or bars on at least one window farthest from the exit doors. The window or windows with the inside release shall be clearly marked as an emergency exit, in accordance with regulations adopted by the State Fire Marshal.

(Amended by Stats. 2008, Ch. 367, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2009.)