The proposal also would require more training and statewide certification for building inspectors.

A plan is expected to be completed this fall and filed as legislation in December.

The task force has been working on the proposal since last fall when the state labor agency asked a group of fire professionals, building codes officials, architects, contractors and others to help overhaul South Carolina's fire regulations, some of which dated back to 1917.

The task force proposal does not change local codes but would strengthen local fire departments' ability to enforce them.

Across the state, some fire marshals have enforcement authority and some do not, leading to uneven inspection systems across the state.

Different communities have different inspection schedules and some skip inspections of certain buildings, such as apartment complexes.

There also is little uniformity in who does inspections. In some parts of the state, building inspectors handle the job.

In others, firefighters who are not trained as fire marshals are asked to inspect buildings.

The overhaul of the state's fire enforcement regulations is long overdue, said Sharon Dantzler, an attorney for the state Labor, Licensing and Regulation Department.

Dantzler said stronger enforcement could prevent future hotel fires, though she said it probably could not have prevented a fatal motel fire in Greenville last January.

Six people were killed in that blaze.

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