The Whole Spray Paint Thing (Again)

DMS General
#21

As explained at that board meeting, on a visit from the Fire Marshal he informed DMS that “rattle can” spray paints were not permitted due to a potential fire hazard. Most have propane or other flammables as propellants. And as Rich Meyer @richmeyer has also mentioned, the FM informed us that the person doing this could be fined up to $2,000. The individual would be personally cited and liable for the fine.

While DMS may not be fined, it would bring unwanted and additional scrutiny from the FM, something not desirable. By prohibiting it it does two things: (A) it puts members on notice they shouldn’t be doing this at DMS (I personally didn’t realize spray paint at DMS wasn’t permitted) and (B) Even though DMS wouldn’t be liable, it would bring unwanted additional attention to DMS. Once they are here, they tend to take a look around - and I don’t believe they have never gone away without warning us on something. Fortunately no fines.

Would the preferred course of action be, say nothing and let someone get fined? I can hear it now: Why weren’t we told/warned! We don’t need the attention.

What a person can do at home and what they can do at DMS are two very different things. Another similar item that keeps coming up is pouring chemicals down the drains. Making them a neutral pH isn’t enough. Any of those violations WILL be against DMS.

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#22

Awesome post!
Thank you.
To the best of my knowledge, this is the first (and to date, only) time HOW this announcement came to be has been made available to the membership at large (save rumor-mill). While I would still love to see the basis of the fire marshall’s having informed us, I appreciate your letting us in on how it came to our consciousness at all. I, too, would never have dreamed a member could be cited by anyone for spray painting something in or near our building (I still really don’t believe it, and won’t until I see the written word, but I appreciate the Announcement, the directors taking action to prevent an event none of us needs, and your candor in this thread). Thank you.

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#23

Remember, this is the same Fire Marshal that told us that we weren’t allowed to have a book on Beer Brewing on site. I personally feel that his opinion is not very reliable. YMMV

Russell Ward

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#24

Horseshit.

I should be able to read laws anytime and anywhere. That doesn’t mean I can force someone else to publish them for me for that purpose. But it does mean government shouldn’t prevent someone from doing so.

#25

Thanks for putting together a response. For those folks unable to attend said board meeting, we had been off and on asking for a year now since the posters around the space did not adequately explain where the rule was stated and who was enforcing it. I think between this reply and Rich’s offer to look at the locked away books we have enough to cobble together the situation.

So next question. If only rattle cans were explicitly stated, why the panic about anything and everything aerosol? I guess we can start stocking spray accelerator for CA again. Possibly spray Ceremark if it doesn’t have a ball bearing inside the can.

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#26

Does the ruling state anything about handheld paint sprayers? I couldn’t find anything, but also admit that it is very possible that i missed something

#27

No idea. The only way to know for sure is to wait for someone to let us into the locked expansion room and read through the (probably hundreds) of pages of fire code to be sure (as Rich above In this thread). I personally do not plan to do that since I don’t use spray paint at DMS, but I’m also not a fan of being told to follow a rule with zero backup. I feel like a lot of our 1900 members probably feel the same. Future lesson here is if our directors do speak to a city official and are told we can or cant do something, maybe ask where that rule lives so it can be cited.

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#28

is there a way that we can talk to the fire marshal directly and ask for a ruling/exception/what we would need in order to be able to do this?

#29

Probably, but you will need BOD approval to do so if you intend to reference DMS. Otherwise there’s no rule about calling and asking anonymously.

#30

Come on in. I am at the Makerspace daily Monday thru Friday from 9 AM till about 4:30 PM. Several other people have a key to that office as well. Remember, I am a volunteer as well as a lot of other folks.

You will need permission from the Board of Directors to contact any City official on behalf of DMS. Currently I am the main contact with the Fire Marshall.

The Fire Marshall has already been approached on this subject matter. The Fire Marshal has said “No spray painting is allowed at the Dallas Makerspace”. I strongly suggest that you do not try to buck the system, accept that decision at face value. The answer is no, the Board of Directors has accepted that answer and every member of DMS should too. Do your spray painting at home or some other place, DMS is a business and the rules are different.

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