The National Planning and Building Committee, headed by Interior Ministry Director-General Mordechai Cohen, approved this week a proposal to advance new regulations that will enable the conversion of existing structures (offices and commercial) that were built before 2009 into hotels or student dorms in line with meeting the fire safety building requirements. The new regulations will now go to Interior Minister Aryeh Deri for approval.
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One of the problems with converting old buildings into hotels and dorms is that some do not meet fire safety requirements, even though that when it comes to the safety of the inhabitants, they can be approved for use under alternative requirements. The proposal is based on the American rationale for regulations (NFPA) which deals with engineering requirements of a structure before its new use. Additionally, to the extent that the design instructions cannot be met from an engineering point of view, alternative safety measures, such as the addition of relevant equipment and extinguishing measures, will apply.
The proposal for changing the regulations sets an easing of regulations on physical elements, such as a stairwell and the width of an access route, as long as other requirements are met. For example, a stairwell can be 90 centimeters (instead of 1.10 meters).
The width of the access route can be 2.7 meters (instead of the 4 meters required today), however, if the route is smaller than 3.5 meters, a sprinkler system will be installed in all areas of the building, including the protected stairwells.
The proposal was advanced at the request of the Tourism Ministry after being examined by professionals in the Planning Administration and in the National Fire and Rescue Services. It was discussed in the subcommittee for regulations in September, where it was decided to recommend to the committee to approve the proposal.
The original proposal discussed in the subcommittee dealt with the conversion of commercial or office space into hotels or dorms, but the subcommittee for regulations decided that it will be applied on any existing structure, with no connection to the original use.
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Ruthie Schwartz Hancoch, the Deputy Director of the Planning Administration for regulations: "This is a change in regulations that will allow for easier conversion of existing structures for tourism usage in terms of meeting building requirements while using alternative means. This comes out of the understanding that tourism is an important growth engine in the economy of a city, and in general."
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