Next Steps

The technical committees are already planning for the 2013 edition of the Code. NFPA 72 will enter cycle in October 2010 and the technical committees are already planning meetings in advance of the Report On Proposals (ROP) meetings. The ROP meetings will be held January 17-21, 2011. All proposals for the 2013 cycle must be received by the NFPA before the proposal closing date of November 5, 2010.

There will, most certainly, be refinements to Chapter 24, Emergency Communications Systems. New technologies being driven by the marketplace will allow for better and more reliable communications between systems. These may include Internet- and cell phone-based communications.

Other planned changes may include significant changes to inspection, testing and maintenance requirements for all systems under the scope of NFPA 72 as well as enhanced documentation requirements. These may include new requirements for shop drawings, calculations and record (as-built) drawings. These documentation requirements would align NFPA 72 with other similar standards like NFPA 13, which already has a separate chapter on system documentation.