By Naomi Millan for Healthcare Facilities Today

As the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and The Joint Commission prepare to adopt the 2012 Life Safety Code, facility managers in healthcare facilities might be wondering just what the effects will be on them.

In a presentation at the NFPA Conference and Expo in Chicago, Tom Gardner, principal with The Protection Engineering Group, said the coming changes will be more on the order of ripples than big waves. "Many of the changes are not onerus and are good requirements," Gardner says. In addition, many facilities may already be complying with the changes, as local jurisdictions may already require more recent versions of the code.

There is an extensive list of small changes to the code, but the major changes can be found in just four areas: NFPA 13, 20, 25 and 72, according to Gardner.

NFPA 13: Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems. In this standard, one change that pertains to healthcare facilities regards the height at which privacy curtains must be installed below the sprinkler. Another impact is in compact storage, which now has a definition. Also, storage up to 8-feet high would typically be classified as an ordinary hazard but in the new code it can require light hazard protection.

NFPA 72: National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code. The change to note here has to do with electrically locked doors. In the latest version, the direction of egress is important to compliance. Also, the incident commander at a fire event will be the one to make the call as to when the doors are reset.

Another biggie — the evacuation signal doesn't have to operate in the exit enclosure. Code has caught up to the fact that occupants have been driven to the exit stairwell by signaling already, plus it can get painfully loud in there, causing occupants to leave prematurely. However, signaling can be desirable in the hardened stairwells, perhaps with different messaging than what is being provided elsewhere, Gardner says.

Pathway survivability is another area to note. The emergency communication system has to be able to survive as long as the pathway, but neither has to survive longer than the general building is meant to survive.

NFPA 20: Standard for the Installation of Stationary Fire Pumps for Fire Protection. The big news in this section is that variable speed controllers for fire pumps are now allowed. In the past, Gardner says, relief valves were used to compensate, which was wasteful and just poor design.

In NFPA 25: Standard for the Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems, Gardner says not a lot will change but there is special consideration for hospitals and other special occupancies.