Health, Fire and Police recommendations for a construction permit

It is Chapter 9.12 of Joint Regulation No. 9473, titled Health and Safety Recommendations. Act 161-2009 empowered OGPe, through the Health and Safety Division, to evaluate compliance of each of the recommendation applications required for construction works corresponding to the Government Entities Concerned: the Health Department, the Puerto Rico Fire Corps Bureau and the Puerto Rico Police Bureau. To that end, those entities designate Permit Officers, as specified in Article 4.1 of Act 161-2009, as facilitators in the recommendation processes. The chapter covers the design phase of construction, remodelling, expansion or change-of-occupancy works, and applies to both new and existing constructions. Do not confuse it: this is not the Fire Bureau’s operating permit for an open business, which is a separate procedure with its own fee schedule.

This chapter applies to design, to new and existing constructions and to buildings, structures or establishments intending to process or obtain a Construction, expansion, remodelling or change-of-occupancy Permit. Anyone applying for a construction permit before OGPe, a Profesional Autorizado or an Autonomous Municipality with Hierarchies I to III must file, together with the permit application, the Final Determination of the Health and NCBPR Recommendation, except single-family and two-family dwellings. The Police Bureau’s recommendations apply to every application which, under Puerto Rico’s Arms and Explosives laws, is made in cases pertaining to trade in or storage of explosives, arms and ammunition.

• Filing, with the construction permit application before OGPe, a Profesional Autorizado or a hierarchy I-III autonomous municipality, the Final Determination of the Health Recommendation and that of the Fire Corps Bureau, except for single-family and two-family dwellings.Verified against the official source
• Accompanying every recommendation application with a certification from the designer or specialist that the construction project conforms to applicable laws and regulations.Verified against the official source
• Requesting an evaluation by recommendation of the proposed project’s plans or design before obtaining the construction permit.Verified against the official source
• For Fire: that the proposed project’s plans and documents comply with the Puerto Rico Building Code and the Puerto Rico Fire Codes in force and any other applicable regulation adopted by OGPe or by the Bureau.Verified against the official source
• For Fire: completing the corresponding Permit with the NCBPR after the recommendation has been issued.Verified against the official source
• For Police, for explosives or armouries: a certification that the building has the structural security necessary for an armoury or explosives storage, as to security and noise.Verified against the official source
• For Police: that the business owner appear to testify before any forum hearing appeals or other matters related to the recommendations issued.Verified against the official source

• Health Recommendation: an explanatory letter (memorial) of the project and the service sought as regards Health; the designer’s or specialist’s certification that the project conforms as regards health; and stamped and signed plans with a site plan showing the water and sanitary connection, architecture with elevations, sections, bathrooms, kitchens and equipment, electrical system, plumbing with sanitary piping and hot or cold potable water, connection to the public sanitary system and the individual used-water disposal system, and the design of the individual black-water disposal system if applicable.
• Fire Recommendation: construction plans; an explanatory letter (memorial) of the project and the service sought as regards the NCBPR; the designer’s or specialist’s certification that the project conforms as regards fire safety; and stamped and signed plans with a site plan showing fire hydrants within 200 feet of the project, architecture with its measurements — elevations, sections, means of egress and floor plans — electrical system with emergency lights, egress signage, alarm systems and detection system as applicable, and plumbing with automatic sprinklers, hydraulic calculations, hose cabinets, siamese connection and equipment specifications such as risers, pump system and water supplies.
• For evaluating tanks and flammable liquid storage: an explanatory letter (memorial) of the project with its purpose and the type and quantity of fuel to be stored; and stamped and signed plans with a site plan showing distances from the tank to important buildings, including those on the same property, boundaries and public roads, and tank capacities, details and specifications. Where the liquids are different, a separate filing must be made.
• For construction or location consultations before the Fire Bureau: an explanatory letter (memorial) of the project and the service sought as regards the NCBPR, and the designer’s or specialist’s certification that the project conforms as regards fire safety.
• For the Police Bureau’s recommendation on trade in, use of and storage of explosives or explosive materials: a certification that the building has the structural security necessary for an armoury or explosives storage, as to security and noise.

1. 1

   Step 1: Check whether it applies to you

   The rule is short and has a written exception. Anyone applying for a construction permit before OGPe, a Profesional Autorizado or an Autonomous Municipality with Hierarchies I to III must file, together with the permit application, the Final Determination of the Health and NCBPR Recommendation, except single-family and two-family dwellings. If you are building your house or a two-unit one, that requirement does not apply to you under this text. If it is a commercial premises, a building, a change of occupancy or an expansion, it does. The chapter applies to design and to new and existing constructions alike.

2. 2

   Step 2: Get the designer’s certification

   Every recommendation application must be accompanied by a certification from the designer or specialist that the construction project conforms to applicable laws and regulations. It is not an optional paper or a formality at the end: it is a filing requirement of the application itself. And there is a subject-specific certification: the Health one says the project conforms as regards health, and the Fire one says it conforms as regards fire safety.

3. 3

   Step 3: File the Health Recommendation

   Every Health Recommendation application for a construction, remodelling, expansion or change-of-occupancy project complies with the applicable provisions of Chapter 4.3 of the Regulation, which we did not read. With the application you submit the explanatory letter or memorial of the project and the service sought as regards Health, the designer’s certification, and stamped and signed plans with this information: site plan with the water and sanitary connection; architecture with elevations, sections, bathrooms, kitchens and equipment; electrical system; plumbing with sanitary piping and hot or cold potable water; connection to the public sanitary system and the individual used-water disposal system; and the design of the individual black-water disposal system, if applicable.

4. 4

   Step 4: Identify which of the four Fire recommendations you need

   The chapter lists four: for construction, remodelling or expansion; for modifications or changes of occupancy; for the storage, use and handling of flammable or combustible liquids and liquefied petroleum gas; and for the installation of flammable or combustible liquid and LPG tanks. And it adds a sequence worth being clear about: a recommendation is issued and afterwards the corresponding Permit must be completed with the NCBPR. That is, the recommendation is not the permit; it is the prior step.

5. 5

   Step 5: Prepare the plans the Fire Bureau asks for

   The proposed project’s plans and documents must conform to and comply with the provisions of the Puerto Rico Building Code and the Puerto Rico Fire Codes in force. With the application you submit the construction plans, the explanatory letter, the designer’s fire-safety certification, and stamped and signed plans with: a site plan showing fire hydrants within 200 feet of the project; architecture with its measurements, elevations, sections, means of egress and floor plans; electrical system with emergency lights, egress signage, alarm systems and detection system, as applicable; and plumbing with automatic sprinklers, hydraulic calculations, hose cabinets, siamese connection and equipment specifications such as risers, pump system and water supplies.

6. 6

   Step 6: If there are tanks or flammable liquids, extra requirements apply

   For evaluating tanks and flammable liquid storage, the memorial must state the project’s purpose and the type and quantity of fuel to be stored. The stamped and signed plans will include a site plan with distances from the tank to important buildings — including those on the same property — to boundaries and to public roads, and the tank capacities with their details and specifications. And a rule that saves rejections: where the liquids are different, a separate filing must be made.

7. 7

   Step 7: Explosives, arms and ammunition: the Police come in

   The Police Bureau’s recommendations are granted under Chapter 2 of Act 26-2017, Act 168-2019 or Puerto Rico Arms Act of 2020, Act No. 134 of 29 June 1969 or Explosives Act, Treasury Department Regulation 3980, and Act 22-2000. They apply to every application made in cases pertaining to trade in or storage of explosives, arms and ammunition. Every application for establishing trade in, use of and storage of explosives or explosive materials is processed through OGPe, and comes accompanied by a certification that the building has the structural security necessary for an armoury or explosives storage, as to security and noise. The perimeter and neighbouring structures are taken into account so as to comply with Act No. 134, and OGPe additionally weighs proximity to public roads, residences, schools, sports facilities, gasoline stations and any other structure that could be affected.

8. 8

   Step 8: The visual inspection and the duty to testify

   The application is referred to a Police Bureau representative for the corresponding evaluation and analysis. A visual inspection of the site and the adjacent perimeter is carried out. The geographic location relative to roadways, proximity to schools and government buildings, vehicle flow, access to sports areas or nearby residences, and the inferred impact the granting of the permit may have on residents’ quality of life, in terms of safety and traffic, are all evaluated. And there is an obligation many do not see coming: the business owner is responsible for appearing to testify before any forum hearing appeals or other matters related to the recommendations issued.

9. 9

   Step 9: From the notice to the Final Determination

   The procedure has two distinct issuances and they should not be confused. Once all the project’s information and plans have been evaluated, the Government Entity Concerned issues a Recommendation notice that the proposed project complies with the applicable regulatory provisions. And once that notice is issued and all the design provisions applicable to the project under the Regulation and under the regulations adopted by OGPe are met, a Final Recommendation Determination is issued, authorised by the Secretario Auxiliar. What you file with the construction permit application is the Final Determination, not the intermediate notice.

OGPe evaluates compliance of these applications through its Health and Safety Division, and the Government Entities Concerned — the Health Department, the Fire Corps Bureau and the Police Bureau — designate Permit Officers as facilitators. Health recommendation applications are filed under Rule 7.9 on Filing Service Applications of Volume II, and Fire ones under Rule 2.1.9 of the same Volume, as each rule cites. Recommendation applications for trade in, use of and storage of explosives or explosive materials are processed through OGPe and referred to a Police Bureau representative. The Final Recommendation Determination is authorised by the Secretario Auxiliar, and it is what accompanies the construction permit application before OGPe, the Profesional Autorizado or the hierarchy I-III autonomous municipality.

• Filing the construction permit without the Final Determination of the Health and NCBPR Recommendation, which goes with the application.
• Believing the exception covers any dwelling: the text excepts single-family and two-family ones, nothing more.
• Confusing the recommendation notice with the Final Determination authorised by the Secretario Auxiliar.
• Thinking the Fire recommendation replaces the Permit that must be completed afterwards with the NCBPR.
• Submitting the application without the designer’s or specialist’s certification of conformity with applicable laws and regulations.
• Handing in a Fire site plan without the location of fire hydrants within 200 feet of the project.
• Submitting tanks of different liquids in a single application, when the regulation requires separate filings.
• Forgetting that the business owner must appear to testify before any forum hearing appeals about the recommendations issued.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Oficina de Gerencia de Permisos (OGPe)

  OGPe

  docs.pr.gov

• Permit Management Office

  ogpe

  ogpe.pr.gov

• Health Department

  salud

  www.salud.pr.gov