House panel reviews fire-code updates, adds carbon-monoxide detection and electronic incident reporting
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Summary
The state fire marshal told the committee SB 494 would update New Hampshire's fire code to the 2024 model cycle, add carbon-monoxide detection requirements in additional occupancies, modernize incident reporting to an electronic NEARIS system and create a narrow mechanism for the State Fire Marshal's Office to assist local inspections where municipalities lack capacity.
State Fire Marshal Sean Toomey briefed the committee on SB 494, a code-update package that aims to carry forward recent code cycles and address several operational and reporting gaps.
Toomey said the bill moves the state fire code from older editions to the 2024 code cycle and adds carbon-monoxide detection requirements for additional residential and other occupancies where the risk profile has changed. "The biggest change really is, some added carbon monoxide detection requirements for some of the additional uses that are beyond what we have today," he said, and described the requirement as a relatively low-cost intervention with substantial risk reduction.
The bill also updates incident reporting: New Hampshire statutes still refer to paper reporting, Toomey said, and the state is transitioning to the National Emergency Response Information System (NEARIS). The change aligns statute to current practice and modernizes data flow.
Finally, the bill includes a targeted provision allowing the state to assist local jurisdictions that cannot schedule timely inspections; the proposal would let the state conduct on-request inspections (with fees) and was accompanied by a fiscal note to fund an initial position. Committee members probed demand estimates and whether inspection revenue would offset personnel costs.
What happens next: The committee may consider timing and staffing details, including whether to phase in the inspection-assist provision or make it contingent on available appropriations.
