The Council of the District of Columbia, for protection against fire, is hereby authorized, after public hearing, to promulgate regulations to require the owner entitled to the beneficial use, rental, or control of any building now existing or hereafter erected, other than a private dwelling, which is 3 or more stories or over 30 feet in height, or is used as a hospital, school, asylum, sanitarium, convalescent home, or for similar use, or as a place of amusement, public assembly, restaurant, or for similar use, to provide, install and maintain sufficient and suitable means of egress, guide signs, guide lights, exit lights, hall and stairway lights, standpipes, fire extinguishers, alarm gongs and striking stations, and such other appliances as the Council may deem necessary for such buildings.

(Dec. 24, 1942, 56 Stat. 1083, ch. 818, § 1.)

1981 Ed., § 5-518.

1973 Ed., § 5-317.

This section is referenced in § 6-703.04, § 6-703.05, § 6-703.06, § 6-703.07, § 6-703.08, and § 6-703.09.

This section originated at a time when local government powers were delegated to a Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia (see Acts Relating to the Establishment of the District of Columbia and its Various Forms of Governmental Organization in Volume 1). Section 402(119) Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967 (see Reorganization Plans in Volume 1) transferred all of the functions of the Board of Commissioners under this section to the District of Columbia Council, subject to the right of the Commissioner as provided in § 406 of the Plan. The District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, 87 Stat. 818, § 711 ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.11), abolished the District of Columbia Council and the Office of Commissioner of the District of Columbia. These branches of government were replaced by the Council of the District of Columbia and the Office of Mayor of the District of Columbia, respectively. Accordingly, and also pursuant to § 714(a) of such Act ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.14(a)), appropriate changes in terminology were made in this section.