Subject: Certificate of Exemption (Industrial Fire Brigade Exemption)

Revised July 2025

Purpose: Texas Local Government Code 233.062 (b), states that the fire code does not apply to those industrial facilities which have a fire brigade conforming to the requirement of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration. The certificate of exemption allows for Harris County to comply with this statute and allow for industrial facilities with a compliant fire brigade to be exempt from the fire code as it pertains to construction and operations of an industrial facility.

Fees: $300.00 Triennial

Definitions:

Advanced Exterior Firefighting. Offensive firefighting performed outside of an enclosed structure when the fire is beyond the incipient stage. Advanced exterior firefighting often requires Advanced Exterior Fire Brigade personnel to contain, control, and extinguish exterior fires involving site-specific hazards, such as flammable and combustible liquid spills or leaks and electrical substations. Advanced exterior firefighting is usually performed using hand lines flowing up to 300 gpm. Master streams, or similar devices for the manual application of specialized agents. Thermal protective clothing is required, and the use of selfcontained breathing apparatus could be required. These firefighters are not qualified to enter a structure to fight a fire. An Advanced Exterior Fire Brigade that uses Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), to enter a hot zone, must be a minimum of 4-Firefighters (1910.134, 1910.120)

Advanced Exterior/Interior Structural Firefighting. Firefighting performed that meets both the definition of Advanced Exterior Firefighting and Interior Structural Firefighting.

Certificate of Exemption. Is a document issued to an industrial facility that has made application and proven compliance with OSHA standards for a fire brigade. This document allows for exemption for a period not to exceed three years. A certificate of exemption is non-transferable and shall be renewed at expiration, any time a change of ownership of the facility, or if the status of a fire brigade changes.

Fire Brigade. A fire brigade means an organized group of employees who are knowledgeable, trained, and skilled in at least basic firefighting operations. A fire brigade shall be a certified assembly that meets the Occupational Safety and Health Standard (OSHA).

Incipient Fire Brigade. Firefighting performed inside or outside of an enclosed structure or building when the fire has not progressed beyond incipient stage. The incipient stage refers to the severity of a fire where the progression is in the early stage and has not developed beyond that which can be extinguished using portable fire extinguishers or hand lines flowing up to 125 gpm. A fire is considered to be beyond the incipient stage when the use of thermal protective clothing or self- contained breathing apparatus is required, or a Fire Brigade member is required to crawl on the ground or floor to stay below smoke and heat.

Incipient Fire Brigades are the most basic Fire Brigades as recognized by OSHA and NFPA and are not recognized for certification under the State Fireman’s and Fire Marshal’s Association Industrial Division/Texas Industrial Emergency Services Training Board (SFFMA/TIESB). Incipient Fire Brigades shall be teams and do not include employees trained in the common use of fire extinguishers.

Industrial Facility. Any land, or any building or other improvement thereon, which shall be maintained and utilized for the mechanical or chemical transformation of organic or inorganic substances into new products, characteristically using power-driven machines and materials handling equipment.

Common industrial facilities:

• Oil Refineries – Oil refineries process crude oil into petroleum products for fuels, chemical manufacturing and plastics. 
• Refineries for minerals or other resources – Many crude minerals require some type of refining to provide the proper purity for use in other products. 
• Petrochemical manufacturing – Petrochemical manufacturing takes refined petroleum products and processes them into chemical products. 
• Gas processing – Gas processing plants may further refine fuel gases or use gases as raw material to make other chemical or plastic products.
• Chemical manufacturing – Chemical processing plants take base chemicals to make a variety of materials to include pesticides, adhesives, paints, coatings, fungicides, herbicides, fertilizers and many other chemicals commonly used. 
• Plastics manufacturing – Plastic manufacturing facilities produce plastics from base petrochemicals or melt, mold, extrude and shape plastics into products or parts.
• Steel manufacturing – Steel processing includes smelting and shaping of metals for products. Steel manufacturing requires high amounts of energy and hot molten product handling. 
• Manufacturing – Heavy manufacturing and assemble of equipment. This may include assembly lines or other factories. 
• Packaging operations – Packaging operations may package bulk or individual products for common use. These products may be hazardous or non-hazardous. 
• Laboratory or other testing facilities – Lab or testing facilities are used to provide analytical testing and inspection of many feed stocks and chemicals. 
• Power plants or cogeneration plants – Power plants commonly use natural gas or coal to power generator sets for supplying electricity. 
• Pipeline terminals and tank farms – Terminals and tank farms are used for storage of bulk crude oil, petrochemicals or chemicals. These may be associated with cargo tanker, trail or marine loading operations. 
• Storage facilities – Warehouse or other storage yards for manufactured products. These may be associated with cargo tanker, rail or marine loading operations.

Interior Structural Firefighting. The physical activity of fire suppression, rescue, or both, inside of buildings or enclosed structures, which are involved in a fire situation beyond the incipient stage.

An Interior Structural Fire Brigade must be a minimum of 4-Firefighters (1910.134, 1910.120)

Requirements: Industrial facilities that have a trained fire brigade conforming to the OSHA standards for fire brigades can be exempt from the adopted fire code. To obtain this exemption the industrial facility shall make application and submit required supporting documentation to demonstrate compliance. This exemption shall be valid for a period not to exceed three years and is non-transferable. Renewals shall be made upon expiration, if the owner of the facility changes, or if the status of the facility fire brigade changes. This exemption is authorized under the Texas Local Government Code 233.062(b) which states; the fire code does not apply to an industrial facility having a fire brigade that conforms to the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration. The exemption allows the facility with the approved fire brigade to be exempt from the requirement of the adopted fire code as it pertains to construction and operations.

The certificate of exemption shall not interfere with the independent authority of the appointed Fire Marshal to investigate the origin and cause of fires and explosions or to inspect for fire and life safety hazards if called upon to do so, granted under the Texas Local Government Code 352. This certificate of exemption also does not exempt a facility from other required permitting or any other federal, state, or local code, law, or regulation.

A certificate of exemption can be applied for by any facility that has a compliant fire brigade. Facilities which only have EMS services, rescue only teams, hazardous materials only teams, or marine spill only teams do not qualify for fire code exemption. The recognized fire brigades are: 

• In-house (Site Owned) – These are industrial fire brigades that may be composed of full-time, volunteer, or assigned employees of the facility;
• By agreement – Facilities located inside a host facility that utilizes the host facility fire brigade for protection on that premise through an agreement;
• Shared services – Fire brigade that through agreement is shared by a combination of facilities within a host facility or located adjacent that functions as one fire brigade;
• Contract Services – An outside, full-time fire service company that is contracted by a facility to serve as the facilities fire brigade

Mutual aid organizations that are not on the same facility property or fire service provided by a 911 activated response fire department shall not qualify as a fire brigade. The fire brigade shall be on-site to maintain response on a 24/7 basis even if the site does not operate 24/7.

Those fire brigades that are trained to perform operations in SCBAs shall maintain a minimum of 4-firefighters on-site 24/7.

Procedure: To apply for industrial fire code exemption a facility shall complete the following steps:

If a facility is a member in good standing of Channel Industries Mutual Aid (CIMA) and the State Fireman’s and Fire Marshal’s Texas Industrial Emergency Service Board (SFFMA/TIESB) it is understood that the fire brigade is subject to inspections for compliance which is consistent with the requirements of OSHA. These applicants may complete an abbreviated application process to include the following:

• Complete the required application questions and information (Condensed Version) 
• Upload a copy of the most current complete CIMA Inspection Report 
• Upload certificate of membership or another document qualifying membership
• Upload a copy of the most current complete version of the SFFMA/TIESB Yearly Training Summary for participating members 
• Upload certificate of membership or another document qualifying membership

If a facility is not a member of CIMA and SFFMA/TIESB the applicant shall complete the following:

• Complete the required application questions and information 
• Upload a copy of the fire brigade organizational statement or policy. If the fire brigade services are provided through contract or agreement, upload a copy of the agreement or contract. 
• Upload a copy of the current and approved Emergency Action or Emergency Response Plan (EAP or ERP) 
• Upload a copy of an outline of the training and education program for the fire brigade 
• Upload a copy of an outline of the fire brigade leader and training instructor training and education program

Upon completion of the application process, all information submitted will be evaluated and a certificate of exemption issued for those facility fire brigade that demonstrate compliance with the OSHA standards as set forth in LGC 233.

Denial: If it is determined after review of the application that a facility has failed to show compliance with the standards set forth by OSHA for an industrial fire brigade, or refuses to provide all required documentation, the fire code official will deny or reject the application and return the application to the applicant with explanation for refusal.

Revocation: The fire code official is authorized to revoke a Certificate of Exemption where it is found that there has been false statement or misrepresentation as to the material facts in the application or supporting documentation on which the approval was based.