Sec. 252.038.  FIRE SAFETY REQUIREMENTS.  (a)  A facility shall comply with fire safety requirements established under this section.
(b)  The executive commissioner by rule shall adopt the fire safety standards applicable to the facility.  The fire safety standards must be the same as the fire safety standards established by an edition of the Life Safety Code of the National Fire Protection Association.  If required by federal law or regulation, the edition selected may be different for facilities or portions of facilities operated or approved for construction at different times.
(c)  A facility that is licensed under applicable law on September 1, 1997, must comply with the fire safety standards, including fire safety standards imposed by municipal ordinance, applicable to the facility on that date.
(d)  The rules adopted under this section do not prevent a facility licensed under this chapter from voluntarily conforming to fire safety standards that are compatible with, equal to, or more stringent than those adopted by the executive commissioner.
(e)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a municipality may enact additional and more stringent fire safety standards applicable to new construction begun on or after September 1, 1997.
Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 693, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
Amended by: 
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 219), Sec. 3.0783, eff. April 2, 2015.