1. The owner or operator of every building or portion of a building used for public assembly:

(a) Which has a room or rooms which have a total floor area of more than 5,000 square feet and which are used for public assembly, within a building with a total floor area of 12,000 square feet or more, shall install automatic sprinklers for protection from fire as required by regulation of the State Fire Marshal, except in those areas where the authority waives this requirement. The authority may waive this requirement for any space which is separated from this area by construction whose resistance to fire has been approved by the authority.

(b) Which is certified for occupancy by more than 300 persons shall:

(1) Use interior finishes in the areas used for public assembly which comply with chapter 42 of the 1979 edition of the Uniform Building Code as it relates to retarding the spread of fire;

(2) Install automatic sprinklers in the areas used for public assembly for protection from fire as required by regulations adopted by the State Fire Marshal; or

(3) Apply a flame-retarding solution which has been approved by the authority and will produce an interior finish equal to that required by subparagraph (1).

2. For the purposes of this section, a building or a portion of a building is used for public assembly if 50 or more persons assemble there for any purpose other than in the normal course of their employment.

3. The provisions of this section do not apply to:

(a) Churches and buildings associated with them;

(b) Meeting halls of fraternal organizations;

(c) Gymnasiums which belong to schools or other nonprofit organizations; and

(d) Any other area which:

(1) Is at ground level;

(2) Has no public area more than 100 feet from an outside exit;

(3) Limits occupancy to 50 persons per 1,000 square feet or, in the case of an auditorium, has permanent seating capacity for less than 1,000 persons;

(4) Is not more than two stories in height; and

(5) Contains no areas regularly used for sleeping or living,

if the area complies with the requirements set by the authority for interior finishes in all areas and for smoke-detectors and domestic fire sprinklers in hazardous areas.

(Added to NRS by 1981, 1570; A 1983, 1225; 1985, 900)