H 3501 Session 112 (1997-1998)
H 3501 General Bill, By W.J. Young, Battle, Canty, Chellis, Davenport, Harvin,
J. Hines, Inabinett, Knotts, Leach, Limehouse, Littlejohn, McCraw, Meacham,
J.H. Neal, Phillips, Riser, Seithel, Simrill, R. Smith and Woodrum
Similar(S 593)
A BILL TO AMEND TITLE 45, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO
HOTELS, MOTELS, RESTAURANTS AND BOARDING HOUSES BY ADDING CHAPTER 11 SO AS TO
PROVIDE DEFINITIONS AND TO PROVIDE DEFINITIONS AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE
REGULATION OF BED AND BREAKFAST ESTABLISHMENTS IN THIS STATE.
02/20/97 House Introduced and read first time HJ-4
02/20/97 House Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and
Industry HJ-4
A BILL
TO AMEND TITLE 45, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH
CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO HOTELS, MOTELS,
RESTAURANTS AND BOARDING HOUSES BY ADDING
CHAPTER 11 SO AS TO PROVIDE DEFINITIONS AND TO
PROVIDE FOR THE REGULATION OF BED AND BREAKFAST
ESTABLISHMENTS IN THIS STATE.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South
Carolina:
SECTION 1. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"CHAPTER 11
Bed and Breakfast Facilities
Section 45-11-10. As used in this chapter:
(1) 'Bed and breakfast' means the following residential type
lodging facilities of ten guest rooms or less where transient guests are
lodged and fed for pay:
(a) 'bed and breakfast' or 'bed and breakfast inn' which is a
small lodging facility that generally has three to ten guest rooms with
breakfast served to registered guests;
(b) 'homestay bed and breakfast' which offers small lodging
facilities that have one to three guest rooms with breakfast served to
registered guests;
(c) 'country inn' which offers small lodging facilities that have
three to ten rooms with other meals, in addition to breakfast, offered
to registered guests.
(2) 'Residential-type lodging facility' means a bed and breakfast
which is residential in style and amenities primarily. A bed and
breakfast most frequently is a residential-type lodging facility which
has been transformed from a private residence or other building into
a combined innkeeper residence and in-home business.
(3) 'Guest room' means a bed and breakfast sleeping room or a
combination of rooms for sleeping and sitting which includes a
private or shared bathroom, clothes-hanging and storage amenities,
a selection of furniture, and lighting in addition to a bed or beds and
which may include a number of other amenities.
(4) 'Innkeeper' means the proprietor of a bed and breakfast.
(5) 'Breakfast' includes these two primary types of breakfast:
(a) Continental breakfast which is a breakfast meal restricted to
the following foods:
(i) beverages including, but not limited to, coffee, tea, and
fruit juices;
(ii) pasteurized Grade A milk;
(iii) fresh, frozen, or commercially processed fruits;
(iv) baked goods including, but not limited to, pastries, rolls,
breads, biscuits, and muffins which are not a potentially hazardous
food;
(v) cereals;
(vi) jams, jellies, honey, and breakfast syrups;
(vii) pasteurized Grade A creams and butters, nondairy
creamers, or similar products;
(viii) commercially manufactured hard cheeses, cream
cheeses, and yogurt;
(b) full breakfast which is a breakfast meal including foods
other than those enumerated in subitem (a).
(6) 'Residential kitchen' means a private home-type kitchen
utilized in most bed and breakfasts.
(7) 'Potentially hazardous foods' means food that consists in
whole or in part of milk or milk products, eggs, meat, poultry, fish,
shellfish, edible crustacea, or other ingredients, including synthetic
ingredients, and which is in a form capable of supporting rapid and
progressive growth of infectious or toxigenic microorganisms. The
term does not include foods that have a pH level of 4.6 or below, a
water activity (aw) value of 0.85 or less under standard conditions,
or food products in hermetically sealed containers commercially
processed to prevent spoilage.
Section 45-11-20. (A) Food service, which includes continental
or full breakfast service, and other meal service, may be offered to
registered guests in a bed and breakfast with a residential kitchen
without a permit if the bed and breakfast meets the regulations set
forth in this chapter. Food service may not be offered to the general
public without an appropriate permit. Notwithstanding this section,
a bed and breakfast may offer a 'tea type service' to the general
public if the final products served are not potentially hazardous
foods.
Section 45-11-30. (A) Food must be in sound condition and safe
for human consumption. Food must be obtained from sources that
comply with the applicable laws relating to food safety. The use of
food in hermetically sealed containers that was not prepared in a food
processing establishment is prohibited, with the exception of properly
sealed and refrigerated homemade jams, jellies, and preserves, which
must be monitored by the innkeeper for freshness.
(B) Fluid milk and fluid milk products must be pasteurized and
must comply with applicable law. Dry milk and milk products used
must be made from pasteurized milk and milk products. Raw milk
may not be provided or used in a bed and breakfast.
(C) Only clean shell eggs meeting applicable grade standards or
pasteurized liquid, frozen, or dry eggs or pasteurized egg products
may be used.
(D) Only ice which has been manufactured with potable water and
handled in a sanitary manner may be used.
Section 45-11-40. (A) At all times, including while being stored,
prepared, offered, dispensed, or transported, food must be protected
from cross-contamination between foods and from potential
contamination by insects, insecticides, rodents, rodenticides, unclean
equipment or utensils, unnecessary hand contact, draining, or
overhead leakage or condensation, dust, coughs and sneezes, or other
agents of public health significance.
(B) The temperature of potentially hazardous foods must be
forty-five degrees Fahrenheit or below or one hundred forty degrees
Fahrenheit or above at all times, except during necessary times of
preparation. Refrigerators and ovens must have nonstationary,
interior thermometers to monitor food temperatures.
(C) Hermetically sealed packages must be handled so as to
maintain product and container integrity.
(D) Pets may be present on the premises but must be kept out of
food preparation and dining areas during food preparation and
serving for the public.
(E) Laundry facilities may be present in the residential kitchen but
may not be used during food preparation and service.
(F) The bed and breakfast kitchen cooking facilities may not be
available to guests.
Section 45-11-50. (A) Food must be prepared with a minimum of
manual contact and must be prepared on food contact surfaces and
with utensils that are clean and have been sanitized.
(B) Raw fruits and vegetables that will be cooked, cut, or
combined with other ingredients, or that will be otherwise processed
into food products by the bed and breakfast, must be cleaned
thoroughly with potable water before being used.
(C) Potentially hazardous food processed by cooking must be
cooked to heat all parts of the food to a minimum temperature of one
hundred forty degrees Fahrenheit.
(D) For a residential kitchen in a bed and breakfast serving a
continental breakfast only, ingredients which are potentially
hazardous such as milk, cream, and eggs may be used in food
preparation if the final product is not a potentially hazardous food.
(E) For a residential kitchen in a bed and breakfast serving a full
breakfast, potentially hazardous foods must be cooked and served to
guests immediately. The following food handling practices are
prohibited:
(1) cooling and reheating before service;
(2) hot holding for more than two hours;
(3) service of previously served foods.
(F) Potentially hazardous foods must be thawed:
(1) in refrigerated units at a temperature not exceeding
forty-five degrees Fahrenheit;
(2) under potable running water at a temperature at seventy
degrees Fahrenheit, or below, with sufficient water velocity to agitate
and float off loose food particles into the overflow, and for a period
not exceeding that reasonably required to thaw the food;
(3) in a microwave oven only when the food is transferred
immediately to conventional cooking units as part of a continuous
cooking process or when the entire, uninterrupted cooking process
takes place in the microwave oven; or
(4) as part of the conventional cooking process if the food is
less than or equal to three pounds.
Section 45-11-60. (A) Unprocessed whole raw fruits and
unprocessed raw vegetables must be thoroughly rinsed before display
and consumer use. Other foods on display must be protected from
contamination by the use of packaging or easily cleanable serving
containers. Fiber or reed containers may not be used without a
disposable liner.
(B) Table service condiments, seasonings, and dressings may be
served in the original container or pour-type dispensers. Self-service
condiments must be provided in individual packages or in pour-type
dispensers.
(C) Ice for consumer use must be dispensed with scoops, tongs, or
other ice-dispensing utensils or through automatic self-service ice
dispensing equipment. Ice-dispensing utensils must be stored on a
clean surface or in the ice with the dispensing utensil's handle
extended out of the ice. Between uses, ice transfer receptacles must
be sanitized and stored in a way that protects them from
contamination.
(D) Once served to a consumer, portions of leftover food may not
be reused or reserved, except that packaged food that is still intact
and in sound condition may be reserved. Single service creamers and
completely wrapped pats of butter or margarine may be reserved if
still packaged and in sound condition.
Section 45-11-70. (A) No innkeeper or employee, while infected
with a disease that can be transmitted by foods or who is a carrier of
organisms that cause such a disease or while affected with a boil,
infected wound, or acute respiratory infection, may work in a bed
and breakfast in any capacity in which there is a likelihood of the
person contaminating food or food-contact surfaces with pathogenic
organisms or transmitting disease person to other persons.
(B) Innkeepers and employees engaged in food preparation,
service, and warewashing operations shall wash their hands and the
exposed portions of their arms thoroughly with soap or detergent and
warm water before starting work, after smoking, eating, using the
toilet, and as often as necessary during work to keep them clean.
Innkeepers and employees shall keep their fingernails trimmed and
clean.
(C) Innkeepers and employees shall maintain a high degree of
personal cleanliness, shall wear clean outer clothing, and shall
conform to good hygienic practices during all food service and food
handling periods.
(D) Innkeepers and employees shall consume food only in
designated areas. Recognizing that a number of bed and breakfasts
utilize a portion of their residential kitchens as a dining area for
guests, as well as themselves, the designated areas may not be located
immediately adjacent to food preparation areas or surfaces or in areas
where the eating of food may result in contamination of food
preparation areas, food, equipment, or utensils.
(E) Innkeepers and employees may not use tobacco in a bed and
breakfast kitchen and food preparation areas.
Section 45-11-80. (A) Food preparation areas, equipment, and
utensils must be constructed and repaired with safe materials,
including finishing materials, must be corrosion resistant and
nonabsorbent, and must be smooth, easily cleanable, and durable
under conditions of normal use. Single service articles must be made
from clean, sanitary, and safe materials. Equipment, utensils, and
single service articles may not impart odors, color, taste, or contribute
to the contamination of food.
(B) Safe plastic or safe rubber or safe rubber-like materials that are
resistant under normal conditions of use to scratching, scoring,
decomposition, grazing, chipping, and distortion that are of sufficient
weight and thickness to permit cleaning and sanitizing by normal
warewashing methods are permitted for repeated use.
(C) Single service articles may not be reused.
(D) All food preparation areas, equipment, and utensils must be
maintained in good repair.
Section 45-11-90. (A) Food equipment and utensils must be
stored in a manner to avoid contamination.
(B) Food contact surfaces must be smooth and easily cleanable.
(C) Food contact equipment, surfaces, tableware, and utensils must
be cleaned and sanitized before food preparation for the public and
after each use.
(D) Sinks, basins, or other receptacles used for cleaning of
equipment and utensils must be cleaned before use.
(E) Equipment and utensils must be preflushed and prescraped
and, when necessary, presoaked to remove food particles and soil.
(F) Cleaning and sanitizing must be conducted as follows:
(1) Commercial dishwashers must comply with applicable law.
(2) A domestic or residential dishwasher may be used if:
(a) the dishwasher effectively removes physical soil from all
surfaces of dishes and utensils;
(b) the dishwasher sanitizes dishes and utensils by the
application of sufficient accumulative heat;
(c) the dishwasher is installed and operated according to
manufacturer's instructions for the highest level of sanitization
possible, and the dishwasher water temperature is maintained at a
minimum of one hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit;
(d) manual cleaning and sanitizing includes the use of a
washing solution or detergent maintained at a temperature of one
hundred ten degrees Fahrenheit or above or as specified by the
manufacturer. Warewashing shall include prerinsing or scraping,
application of cleaners for soil removal, rinsing to remove any
abrasives and cleaning chemicals, draining, and air-drying. When
chemicals are used for sanitization, they may not have concentrations
higher than the maximum permitted by law.
Section 45-11-100. (A) Sufficient potable water for the needs of
the bed and breakfast must be provided from an approved water
supply. The use of an existing community or public water supply is
preferred; however, a private wellwater supply may be used if it
meets residential water quality standards.
(B) Bottled and packaged potable water must be obtained from a
source that complies with applicable law and must be handled and
stored in a way that protects it from contamination. Bottled and
packaged potable water for consumer self-service must be dispensed
from the original container.
Section 45-11-110. (A) An approved means of sewage disposal
must be provided. A public sewage system is the preferred means of
sewage disposal and, if available, must be used. If a sewage disposal
system is used, it must be constructed, maintained, and operated
according to applicable law.
(B) Toilet facilities must be installed according to applicable law
and must be at least one and not less than the number required by
law. While private guest room bathrooms are preferable, there must
be at least one toilet facility per two guest rooms. Shared bathrooms
shall contain appropriate cleaning agents and disinfectants for
self-service by guests. At least one bathroom must be conveniently
located and accessible to innkeepers and employees at all times.
(C) Bathrooms opening to the kitchen or dining area shall have
adequate mechanical ventilation.
(D) Bathrooms used by food handlers shall have hot and cold
potable water, soap dispenser, and disposable towels or a hand drying
device providing heated air, a supply of toilet tissue, and an easily
cleanable receptacle for waste materials.
(E) Toilet facilities, including toilet fixtures and all related
facilities and any related vestibules must be kept clean and in good
repair.
Section 45-11-120. (A) Effective measures must be utilized to
minimize the entry, presence, and propagation of rodents or of flies,
cockroaches, and other insects. A bed and breakfast must be
maintained in a condition that prevents the harborage or feeding of
insects and rodents.
(B) No person may apply insecticides or rodenticides except in
accordance with manufacturer's labeling and in such a way that food,
food contact surfaces, and the supply of potable water are not
contaminated.
Section 45-11-130. Garbage and refuse must be disposed of often
enough and in a manner to prevent the development of objectionable
odors and the attraction of pests.
Section 45-11-140. (A) A bed and breakfast shall provide a safe
and secure environment for guests, visitors, and staff. The following
synopsis of fire prevention and building safety regulations for a bed
and breakfast outlined by the United States Fire Prevention and
Building Safety Commission as regulations and exemptions
pertaining exclusively to bed and breakfasts are incorporated in this
chapter.
(B) The Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission
regulations define bed and breakfasts as a new class of residential
establishments, Group R-2, and the regulations and exemptions set
forth for a bed and breakfast do not include hotels, motels, boarding
houses, or food service establishments.
(C) A bed and breakfast is not required to have bath and toilet
facilities for each sex.
(D) Guest rooms that are used for sleeping purposes must be
provided with smoke detectors. Detectors must be installed in
accordance with manufacturer's instructions. Smoke detectors may
be battery operated when installed in existing buildings or in
buildings without commercial power or in buildings which undergo
alterations, repairs, or additions. Smoke detectors in new
construction shall receive their primary power from the building
wiring when the wiring is served from a commercial source. Wiring
must be permanent and without a disconnecting switch other than
those required for over current protection.
Section 45-11-150. (A) An occupant load factor of 2.5 is applied
to guest rooms on a floor. As an example, four guest rooms on the
second floor of a bed and breakfast times the load factor equals a ten
guest maximum on that floor. Occupancy over these numbers
requires one hour safety corridor and a second exit. Windows are not
exits.
(B) One exit is allowed from an occupied roof, if the area is less
than five hundred square feet and is not higher than immediately
above the second floor. Rooms within dwelling units may exit
through more than one intervening room.
(C) Corridors and exit balconies in an existing bed and breakfast
may be as narrow as thirty-six inches. Guest rooms located not
higher than the second floor above ground level do not require an
enclosed stairway.
(D) A bed and breakfast shall provide exit illumination but does
not have to have emergency or a separate source of power for the
illumination.
Section 45-11-160. If a bed and breakfast has a swimming pool
which is available to guests, it must be constructed and operated in
accordance with Department of Health and Environmental Control
regulations and approved by the department annually.
Section 45-11-170. (A) The sales and accommodations tax, as
provided for in Section 12-36-920, equal to seven percent based on
the gross proceeds derived from the rental or charges for a room, and
which exempts facilities consisting of fewer than six sleeping rooms,
from collection and payment of sales tax, when the facilities are
contained on the same premises and used as the individuals' place of
abode, is clarified to mean that a bed and breakfast with five or fewer
rentable guest rooms in a single building, which is also the
innkeeper's place of abode, qualified for this exemption.
(B) A bed and breakfast shall collect the state sales tax of five
percent, plus local option sales tax if applicable on additional guest
charges which includes, but is not limited to, room service, amenities,
entertainment, and special items in promotional tourist packages, as
delineated in Section 12-36-920. To meet the provisions of this
requirement, a bed and breakfast which assesses additional guest
charges of any kind must maintain a current retail license with the
South Carolina Department of Revenue.
(C) A bed and breakfast must be licensed by its appropriate county
and local authorities as applicable.
Section 45-11-180. A bed and breakfast shall maintain
appropriate bed and breakfast or other commercial insurance,
including property and liability coverage as a lodging facility."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
-----XX----- |