How ASHE members can submit comments to change the LSC

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) replaced the 2000 edition of the National Fire Protection Association’s NFPA 101^®, Life Safety Code^® (LSC), with the LSC 2012 edition when it was adopted in July 2016. LSC 2024 would be the next edition adopted if CMS follows the same interval between adopted editions of the LSC. 

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Revisions to the Life Safety Code

The NFPA code development process begins almost three years before the code is published. The closing date for submitting public inputs for the 2024 editions of the LSC and NFPA 99, Health Care Facilities Code, is July 1, 2021. This schedule only allows six months to review the 2021 editions before the public inputs are required to be submitted.

Anyone can submit a public input to change the code because NFPA does not require the submitter to be a member of NFPA. American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE)-generated videos on how to submit code changes for NFPA documents can be accessed by ASHE members at. Another video details how to sign up for NFPA document notifications, which detail important deadlines and reports related to specific NFPA documents.

One LSC 2015 change failed a floor vote at the NFPA Technical Meeting by only four votes, which exemplifies that getting involved can make a difference. Communicating ideas for code changes with a local ASHE chapter code advocacy liaison is another way to get involved. The coming months could be the beginning of the last chance to affect the codes the health care field will be required to follow for years to come. Participation from facility professionals could make a difference.