Child Care Fire and Life Safety operates under laws established by the State Fire Marshal and in conjunction with local jurisdictions. Fees are not assessed for Fire and Life Safety services.
Child Care Licensing, Fire & Life Safety Mission Statement
The mission of the Fire and Life Safety Office of Child Care Licensing, a program of the South Carolina Department of Social Services, is to aid child care providers in creating a fire safe environment for children in South Carolina through quality customer service, education for providers, thorough fire plan examinations, and comprehensive fire inspections to ensure that facilities comply with the consensus codes and standards for fire and life safety.
About SC DSS Child Care Licensing Fire & Life Safety Office
In accordance with SC State Laws, Regulations and Codes DSS Child Care Licensing (CCL) has responsibility for regulating child care facilities statewide. That process includes Fire and Life Safety Inspections for licensed or registered Child Care facilities.
For Licensing and Registration purposes, DSS Child Care Licensing has implemented a centralized inspection service that has as its priority conducting the needed Fire Plan Examinations and Inspections. This provides a benefit of easing the licensing/registration process, assists with consistency, and will best serve our Child Care customers by having the ability to prioritize these inspections for them.
This service is not intended to “replace” or “take over” required local jurisdiction inspections, but to be in conjunction with the continued local inspections. Child Care licensing or registration inspections are typically conducted when a facility is newly opened, when making changes to their existing facility, and on bi-annual bases. DSS Fire and Life Safety Officers will verify compliance with SC State Laws, Regulations and Codes relating to Child Care facilities as established under the authority of the State Fire Marshal.
DSS phased in a DSS CCL Fire and Life Safety Inspector for each Child Care Licensing and Regulatory Region. You may refer to the Child Care Fire Inspection Map for assignment of Fire and Life Safety Inspectors. November 1, 2008, DSS CCL Fire and Life Safety Office began providing Fire Plan Examinations for Child Care Facilities.
Plans are required to be submitted to: SC DSS Child Care Licensing and Regulatory, Fire & Life Safety, ATTN: Plan Examination, 2638 Two Notch Rd. Suite 217, Columbia, SC 29204
In accordance with the SC Fire Sprinkler Law, plan review responsibility for Fire Sprinklers will remain with the SC State Fire Marshal.
Both the Department of Social Services and the Office of State Fire Marshal are confident that this new process will save providers and staff an inordinate amount of time in mediating problems and in ensuring that all inspections are scheduled and completed in a timely manner. This will make our processes for licensing/re-licensing much easier and is a very positive step toward streamlining the process for issuing permits.
Click here for SC State Fire Marshal letter (dated July 15, 2008).
Want to know more about your Fire Inspection Report? Click here.