Does it need a hazardous materials permit?
Pick the hazard category, its physical state and the amount. The answer is whether the 2021 International Fire Code requires an operational permit under Section 105.5, with the table row and its citation, what the code excepts, the notes whose published copies disagree, and whether NFPA 704 signs follow. What decides the answer and was not given is asked for, never guessed. Free from FireInspection360, the fire prevention platform built by fire inspectors.
Is an operational permit required?
2021 IFC Tables 105.5.9, 105.5.11 and 105.5.22 and Sections 105.5.16, 105.5.18 and 105.5.29. A permit is required only in excess of the amount the code names.
Not decided: no amount was given to compare with the 25 gallons of Class II or Class IIIA liquids inside a building (2021 IFC 105.5.18 item 3, by Table 105.5.22); no amount was given to compare with the 60 gallons of Class II or Class IIIA liquids outside a building (2021 IFC 105.5.18 item 3, by Table 105.5.22).
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NFPA 704 signs
Whether NFPA 704 signs are required at the entrances follows the permit answer, which is not decided (2021 IFC 5003.5).
Section 5003.5: "Unless otherwise exempted by the fire code official, visible hazard identification signs as specified in NFPA 704 for the specific material contained shall be placed on stationary containers and above-ground tanks and at entrances to locations where hazardous materials are stored, dispensed, used or handled in quantities requiring a permit and at specific entrances and locations designated by the fire code official."
2021 IFC 5003.5
The rows of the code that apply
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Class II or Class IIIA liquids Inside a building
The code's amount. 25 gallons (95 L)
Stated in. gallons
2021 IFC 105.5.18 item 3, by Table 105.5.22 -
Class II or Class IIIA liquids Outside a building
The code's amount. 60 gallons (227 L)
Stated in. gallons
2021 IFC 105.5.18 item 3, by Table 105.5.22
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What the code excepts
Fuel oil used with oil-burning equipment needs no permit under this item. 2021 IFC 105.5.18
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Activities that need a permit of their own
Using or operating a pipeline that moves flammable or combustible liquids within a facility (not an off-site pipeline regulated by the Department of Transportation, and not a piping system). 2021 IFC 105.5.18 item 1
Taking Class I or II liquid out of an underground storage tank that fuels motor vehicles by any means other than the approved stationary pumps on site. 2021 IFC 105.5.18 item 5
Operating tank vehicles, tanks, plants, terminals, wells, fuel-dispensing stations, refineries, distilleries and similar facilities where these liquids are produced, processed, transported, stored, dispensed or used. 2021 IFC 105.5.18 item 6
Taking an underground, protected above-ground or above-ground tank out of service for more than 90 days. 2021 IFC 105.5.18 item 7
Changing what a tank holds to a material more hazardous than the tank was designed and built for. 2021 IFC 105.5.18 item 8
Manufacturing, processing, blending or refining these liquids. 2021 IFC 105.5.18 item 9
Dispensing liquid fuel into motor vehicles at commercial, industrial, governmental or manufacturing establishments (Section 5706.5.4), or on-demand mobile fueling (Section 5707). 2021 IFC 105.5.18 item 10
Using a site to fuel vehicles, marine craft and other equipment from tank vehicles (Section 5706.5.4), or, where the fire code official requires it, a site for on-demand mobile fueling (Section 5707). 2021 IFC 105.5.18 item 11
From the 2021 International Fire Code, Section 105.5 (operational permits): Tables 105.5.9, 105.5.11 and 105.5.22, Sections 105.5.16, 105.5.18 and 105.5.29. The code your jurisdiction adopted, and its amendments, govern.
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An operational permit starts above an amount, and the amount depends on the category, the state and sometimes the place.
Section 105.5 of the International Fire Code lists the activities that need an operational permit from the fire code official. For hazardous materials the permit turns on an amount: Table 105.5.22 names one per hazard category and physical state, and sends some categories to their own rules, compressed gases to Table 105.5.9, cryogenic fluids to Table 105.5.11, flammable and combustible liquids to Section 105.5.18, explosives to Section 105.5.16 and LP-gas to Section 105.5.29. A permit is required in excess of the amount, so the amount itself needs none, and some rows require one for any amount at all.
Some answers turn on facts beyond the category. Class I, II and IIIA liquids and cryogenic fluids have one amount inside a building and another outside; carbon dioxide in an enrichment system or a beverage dispenser has its own row; LP-gas is its own section. Where one of these decides the answer and was not given, the check tries both ways and says which question to ask. Two notes of Table 105.5.22 raise the amount for a Class 3 oxidizer kept for maintenance, and their published copies disagree on a quantity in them, so the answer points to the adopted code instead of quoting either.
The permit also decides the signs. Section 5003.5 requires NFPA 704 hazard identification signs at the entrances to where hazardous materials are stored, dispensed, used or handled in quantities requiring a permit, so the answer says whether the signs follow.
Permits in FireInspection360
FireInspection360 issues and tracks operational permits: the application, the fee, the inspection it needs and the permit itself, with the business able to apply and pay online.
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