Title 25 — Fire Protection and Safety

Nothing in this chapter shall apply to firefighters employed on July 1, 1971, and such firefighters are not required to meet the requirements of Code Section 25-4-8 or Code Section 25-4-9 as a condition of tenure or continued employment; nor shall their failure to fulfill such require…

As used in this chapter, the term: (1) “Airport” means any airport located in this state which has regularly scheduled commercial air carrier service or commuter airline service as required for certification under Section 139.49 of the Federal Aviation Administration regulations. …

Quorum, §25-4-6. Reports. Annual report, §25-4-6. Rules for transaction of business, adopting, §25-4-6. Staff, §25-4-7.1. Terms of office, §25-4-3. Vacancies in office, §25-4-3. Training. Adoption of higher training requirements. Employing agencies, §25-4-11. Applicability of cha…

(a) The council is vested with the following functions and powers: (1) To promulgate rules and regulations for the administration of the council; (2) To provide rules of procedure for its internal management and control; (3) To enter into contracts or do such things as may be nec…

(a) Except as provided in Code Section 25-4-12, any employee, volunteer, or private contractor of a fire department operating in this state or certified as a firefighter shall, as prescribed by the council: (1) Be at least 18 years of age; (2) Not have been convicted of, or pleaded g…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in Code Section 25-4-12, any person volunteering at a volunteer fire department as a volunteer firefighter shall, as prescribed by the volunteer council: (1) Be at least 18 years of age; (2) Not have been convicted of, or pleaded guilty to, a felony …

(a)(1)(A) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, full-time, and part-time firefighters, including airport firefighters, shall successfully complete a basic training course. The council shall determine the course content, number of hours, and all other matte…

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Firefighter’s Mediation Act.” History. Ga. L. 1971, p. 565, § 1.

The mediators shall conduct the hearing and render their decision upon the basis of a prompt, peaceful, and just settlement of wage or hour disputes between the firefighters and the corporate authority. The factors, among others, to be given weight by the mediators in arriving at a…

The expenses incurred by the bargaining agent in connection with the mediation shall be borne by the bargaining agent. The expenses incurred by the corporate authorities in connection with the mediation shall be borne by such authorities. The necessary expenses incurred by the th…

Limitation as to duration, §25-5-6. Reduction of agreement to written contract, §25-5-6. Obligation of corporate authority and agent, §25-5-6. Requests. Service of process, §25-5-13. Rights of firefighters, §25-5-4. Selection of bargaining agents, §25-5-5. Service of notice for req…

Submission to mediation, §25-5-7. Contracts. Duration of contract, §25-5-6. Reduction of agreement to written contract, §25-5-6. Declaration of public policy, §25-5-3. Definitions, §25-5-2. Interpretation and construction. Applicability of chapter, §25-5-14. Labor organizations. R…

(a) Before a municipality with a population of 20,000 or more and its firefighters may come under this chapter, the governing authority of the municipality must agree by ordinance that the municipality will be so covered. (b) In no case may a city with a population of less than 20,…

As used in this chapter, the term: (1) “Corporate authorities” means the proper officials within any municipality whose duty it is to establish the wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours, working conditions, and other terms and conditions of employment of firefighters, as defined in p…

(a) The protection of the public health, safety, and welfare demands that the permanent members of any paid fire department of a municipality should not be accorded the right to strike or engage in any work stoppage or slowdown. This necessary prohibition, however, shall not prohi…

Firefighters shall have the right to bargain collectively with their respective corporate authorities and to be represented by a labor organization in such collective bargaining as to wages, rates of pay, 97 25-5-6 hours, working conditions, and all other terms and conditions of e…

Board. Chairman, §25-5-8. Composition, §25-5-8. Decisions. Effect, §25-5-9. Factors to be considered in reaching, §25-5-10. Hearings, §25-5-9. Opinions, §25-5-9. Selection, §25-5-8. Decisions. Effect, §25-5-9. Factors to be considered in reaching, §25-5-10. Expenses, §25-5-11. Pa…

It shall be the obligation of the proper corporate authority and the bargaining agent to meet and confer in good faith within 30 days after receipt of a written notice from the bargaining agent of the request for a meeting for collective bargaining purposes. This obligation may i…

If the bargaining agent and the corporate authorities are unable, within 30 days from and including the date of their first meeting, to reach an agreement on a contract, any and all unresolved issues shall be submitted to mediation. History. Ga. L. 1971, p. 565, § 7.

Within five days from the expiration of the 30 day period referred to in Code Section 25-5-7, the bargaining agent and the corporate authorities shall each select and name one mediator and shall immediately thereafter notify each other in writing of the name and address of the per…

(a) The mediation board, acting through its chairman, shall call a hearing to be held within ten days after the date of the appointment of the chairman and, acting through its chairman, shall give at least seven days’ notice in writing to each of the other two mediators, the barg…

Pacts in existence on July 4, 1976, are authorized to continue to operate under their articles of incorporation or organizational policy. History. Ga. L. 1976, p. 742, § 11. 25-6-11. Penalty for violations of chapter.

General provisions, §§25-4-1 to 25-4-12. Labor and employment relations, §§25-5-1 to 25-5-14. LOCAL LAWS. Utility facility protection. Preemption of ordinances imposing fines or additional marking/locating requirements, §25-9-11.1. LODGING PLACES.

Penalty, §25-6-11. Withdrawal from pacts, §25-6-7. Nomenclature act of 1996, §§25-13-1 to 25-13-10. Attorneys’ fees. Actions for civil damages, §25-13-9. Citation of act. Short title, §25-13-1. Damages. Actions for violations, §25-13-9. Definitions, §25-13-3. Injunctions. Violatio…

(a) When two or more jurisdictions desire to establish a pact, each jurisdiction shall designate its fire chief or person or position in charge of its fire department to act for that jurisdiction on all matters relating to the activities and functions of the pact, once it has been …

(a) It shall be the primary purpose of a pact to coordinate the emergency fire services of all jurisdictions belonging to it, so as to provide better, more efficient, and more effective cooperation in the protection of life and property from fires or other immediate response emerge…

(a) There shall be no liability imposed by law on a pact or any member jurisdiction or its personnel for failure to respond for the purpose of extinguishing or controlling any fire or other immediate response emergency. This immunity is not exclusive of other similar immunities gr…

Formation of pacts. Authorized, §25-6-2. Gifts. Acceptance, §25-6-6. Intent of pact, §25-6-2. Joining of pacts. Jurisdiction not having fire department, §25-6-7. Jurisdiction. Defined, §25-6-1. Resolutions, §25-6-3. Liability, §25-6-5. Loss of men or equipment. Liability, §25-6-5. …

(a) Should the member jurisdictions of one or more pact districts desire to merge with another district, the merger may be accomplished in keeping with the intent of Code Section 25-6-8 and as agreed by the board of directors of the concerned pacts. (b) Nothing in this chapter sh…

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Georgia Fire Academy Act.” History. Ga. L. 1976, p. 1725, § 1. 25-7-2. Creation; purposes.

There is created the Georgia Fire Academy, the purposes of which shall be, through training and research: (1) To reduce the costs in suffering and property loss resulting from fire; (2) To provide professional training to paid, volunteer, and other publicly or privately employed fi…

The superintendent of the Georgia Fire Academy shall be responsible for the selection of a staff. He shall also be responsible for the execution of all policies, programs, directives, and decisions promulgated by the 110 25-7-8 Board of Public Safety and for the direction of the …

Subject to the rules and regulations prescribed by the Board of Public Safety, the training program of the academy shall be made available to all firefighters and may also be made available to other persons who evidence interest in entering the fire-fighting profession. The board is …

Resolution of wages, hours, working conditions, etc., of firefighters, §§25-5-1 to 25-5-14. Local fire departments. General provisions, §§25-3-1 to 25-3-6. Minimum requirements, §§25-3-20 to 25-3-27. Mutual aid resource pacts, §§25-6-1 to 25-6-11. Regulation, etc., of fire and other …

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Georgia Blasting Standards Act of 1978.” History. Ga. L. 1978, p. 1624, § 1.

The Commissioner may approve variations from the requirements of this chapter when he finds that an emergency exists and that the proposed variations from the specific requirements are necessary, will not hinder the effective administration of this chapter, and will not be contrary…

(a) Whenever it appears to the Commissioner, either upon investigation or otherwise, that any person has engaged in, is engaging in, or is about to engage in any act, practice, or transaction which is prohibited by this chapter or by any rule, regulation, or order of the Commissi…

Making available to minors, §25-1-1. E E COLI. Raw dairy act. Chemical, bacteriological, and temperature standards, §26-2-458. EDEMA. Dropsy. Advertisements. Representing drug as having any effect in dropsy. When advertisement deemed false, §26-3-13. Laryngeal edema due to inhala…

As used in this chapter, the term: (1) “Blaster” means a person qualified by reason of training, knowledge, or experience to fire or detonate explosives in blasting operations and who has in his possession a valid blaster’s license issued by the Commissioner. (2) “Blasting operatio…

(a) The use of explosives for the purpose of blasting in the neighborhood of any public highway, railroad, airport, dwelling house, public building, school, church, commercial or institutional building, or pipeline shall be done in accordance with this chapter and the rules and r…

(a) In all blasting operations, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the maximum peak particle velocity of any component of ground motion recorded on a three-component seismograph (where the components — transverse, vertical, and longitudinal — are arranged mutually perp…

(a) Seismograph measurements may be used to increase the charge weight per delay period, provided that the velocity limit of two inches per second of any of the three mutually perpendicular components of ground motion is not exceeded. (b) Seismograph measurements must be used in …

Every person engaged in any use of explosives regulated by this chapter shall be licensed in accordance with the provisions of Code Section 25-2-17. History. Ga. L. 1978, p. 1624, § 6; Ga. L. 1994, p. 728, § 1.

Issuance of a license for the use of explosives may be refused or such a license which has been duly issued may be suspended or revoked or the renewal thereof refused by the Commissioner if the Commissioner finds that the applicant for or the holder of the license: (1) Has violate…

(a) A record of each blast shall be kept. All records, including seismograph reports, shall be retained at least three years and shall be available for inspection. (b) All records kept pursuant to subsection (a) of this Code section shall contain the following minimum data: (1) T…

The Commissioner may promulgate such rules and regulations, neither inconsistent nor contradictory with this chapter, as he deems necessary to effectuate this chapter. The Commissioner may also prescribe the forms required for the administration of this chapter. History. Ga. L. 1…

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Georgia Underground Facility Protection Act.” History. Code 1981, § 25-9-1, enacted by Ga. L. 2000, p. 780, § 1; Ga. L. 2022, p. 325, § 1/HB 1372. The 2022 amendment, effective September 1, 2022, substituted “Underground” for “…

(a)(1) On and after July 1, 2023, the Department of Transportation shall participate in and cooperate with the UPC for purposes of receiving locate requests in the Department of Transportation’s right of way for underground facilities following a process consistent with Code Sect…

Applicability of provisions in, §25-9-12. Defined, §25-9-3. Emergency 9-1-1 calls. Defined, §25-9-3. Strike of or damage to facilities carrying gas or hazardous liquid. Excavator’s duties, §25-9-3. Enforcement, §25-9-14. Excavation. Design locate requests. Request not used for exca…

Fire hazards, §25-2-19. LYMPHATIC CANCER. Fire departments. Insurance coverage for members diagnosed with cancer, §25-3-23. M MAIL. Prescriptions. Use to dispense, §26-4-60. MALLS. Fire and other hazards. Buildings presenting special hazards to persons or property, §25-2-13. MAND…