Codes & Standards

Terminology

  • Amending Motion: A motion that may be presented for NFPA membership action at an NFPA Technical Meeting in accordance with Section 4.5 of the Regulations.
  • Amendment: A recommended change to a proposed NFPA Standard adopted by the NFPA Membership through the passage of an Amending Motion in accordance with Section 4.5.3.2 of the Regulations.
  • Appeal:  Any request submitted in writing to the Standards Council for the adoption, reversal, or modification of any action taken by any Technical Committee, any Correlating Committee, the NFPA Membership, or the Standards Council, at any time in the NFPA standards development process. (Regulations, 1.6.)
  • Code: A standard that is an extensive compilation of provisions covering broad subject matter or that is suitable for adoption into law independently of other codes and standards.(Regulations, 3.3.6.1)
  • Comment: A suggested revision to the First Draft submitted in accordance with Section 4.4 of the Regulations.  There are two types of Comments: Public Comments and Committee Comments.
  • Committee Member: A person, regardless of voting status, who serves on an NFPA Technical Committee or Correlating Committee.
  • Consent Standard: A proposed NFPA Standard that is in accordance with 4.4.8.4 and 4.5.2.5 of the Regulations, forwarded directly to the Standards Council for issuance without consideration at an NFPA Technical Meeting.
  • Correlating Committee: A Committee, as established and operated in accordance with Section 3 of the Regulations that is assigned to manage and coordinate the activities of two or more Technical Committees.
  • Errata: An errata is a correction issued to an NFPA Standard, published in NFPA News, the National Fire Codes Subscription Service (NFCSS), and included in any further distribution of the Standard.
  • Extract Update: A change issued to the extracted text of a document because the source document has been changed.
  • First Revision: A revision developed by a Technical Committee contained in the First Draft.
  • First Draft Report: Part one of the Technical Committee Report, which documents the Input Stage.  The First Draft Report consists of the First Draft, Public Input, Committee Input, Committee and Correlating Committee Statements, Correlating Notes, and Ballot Statements (see 4.2.5.2 and Section 4.3, Regulations).
  • Formal Interpretation (FI):  A formal interpretation provides formal explanation of the meaning or intent of the Technical Committee on any specific provision or provisions of any NFPA Standard in accordance with Section 6 of the Regulations.
  • Input: A suggested revision to a proposed new or existing NFPA Standard submitted during the Input Stage in accordance with Section 4.3 of the Regulations.  There are two types of Input: Public Input and Committee Input.
  • NFPA Member: A member of the NFPA permitted by the NFPA Bylaws (Article 3 and Section 4.5) to vote at NFPA Technical Meetings; collectively, NFPA Membership.
  • Notice of Intent to Make a Motion (NITMAM):  a Notice that is required to be submitted in order to make an Amending Motion at an NFPA Technical Meeting. (Regulations, 4.5)
  • Panel: See "Technical Committee". (Regulations, 1.4)
  • Petition: A request seeking the intervention of the NFPA Board of Directors pursuant to the Regulations Governing Petitions to the Board of Directors from Decisions of the Standards Council. (Regulations, 1.7)
  • Preliminary Draft: The draft of a proposed new NFPA Standard developed by the responsible Committee in order to receive Public Input in accordance with 4.3 of the Regulations.
  • Regulations Governing the Development of NFPA Standards (Regulations):  The Regulations Governing the Development of NFPA Standards is the process of developing and revising NFPA Standards and the role of the Board of Directors, Standards Council, Correlating Committees, and Technical Committees in this process. (Regulations, 1.1)
  • Second Draft Report: Part two of the Technical Committee Report, which documents the Comment Stage. It consists of the Second Draft, Public Comments with corresponding Committee Actions and Committee Statements, Correlating Notes and their respective Committee Statements, Committee Comments, Correlating Revisions, and Ballot Statements (see Section 4.2.5.2 and 4.4., Regulations).
  • Standard: An NFPA Standard, the main text of which contains only mandatory provisions using the word "shall" to indicate requirements and that is in a form generally suitable for mandatory reference by another standard or code for adoption into law. Nonmandatory provisions are not to be considered a part of the requirements of a standard and shall be located in an appendix, annex, footnote, informational note, or other means as permitted in the NFPA Manuals of Style.  When used in a generic sense, such as in the phrases "standards development process" or "standards development activities", the term "standards" includes all NFPA Standards, including Codes, Standards, Recommended Practices, and Guides. The term NFPA Standard also includes, as the context requires, proposed NFPA Standards that are in the process of development or revision. (Regulations, 3.3.6.1)
  • Standards Council: The Standards Council is the body established by the NFPA Board of Directors in accordance with Article 8 of the Bylaws to administer the NFPA Standards Development Process in accordance with Section 2 of the Regulations.
  • Task Group: An ad hoc group appointed to address a specific topic or problem. (Regulations, 3.1.3.4)
  • Technical Committee (TC): A committee, as established and operated in accordance with Section 3 of the Regulations, that is responsible for development and revision of NFPA Standards within its assigned scope of activities.  A Technical Committee reporting to a Correlating Committee can also be termed Panel.
  • Technical Committee Report: is the Report of the responsible Committee(s) in accordance with the Regulations, in preparation of a new or revised NFPA Standard. The Technical Committee Report is in two parts: the First Draft Report and the Second Draft Report.
  • Technical Meeting: NFPA Technical Meeting as defined in Section 4.2 of the NFPA Bylaws. Also referred to as "Tech Session". (Regulations, 1.4) 
  • Tentative Interim Amendment (TIA):  A Tentative Interim Amendment is an amendment to an NFPA Standard processed in accordance with Section 5 of the Regulations. It has not gone through the entire standards development process of being published in a First Draft Report and Second Draft Report for review and comment. TIAs are effective only between editions of the Standard. A TIA automatically becomes a public input for the next edition of the Standard, as such it then is subject to all of the procedures of the standards development process. TIAs are published in NFPA News, NFCSS, and any further distribution of the Standard, after being issued by the Standards Council.