TITLE:
title
SB 1205 COMPLIANCE REPORT FOR 2024 STATE-MANDATED ANNUAL FIRE INSPECTIONS
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DEPARTMENT: cOSTA MESA fIRE & RESCUE department / cOMMUNITY rISK rEDUCTION dIVISION
PRESENTED BY: JON NEAL, FIRE MARSHAL / Assistant Fire Chief
CONTACT INFORMATION: JON NEAL, FIRE MARSHAL (714) 754-5049
RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution to accept this Compliance Report as its report on the status of all 2024 state-mandated annual fire inspections in the City as required by California Health and Safety Code Section 13146.4.
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BACKGROUND:
California Senate Bill 1205 (SB 1205) was signed into law on September 27, 2018, after the tragic Ghost Ship Fire (December 2016) brought national attention to California and put a spotlight on fire safety laws as well as the performance of fire inspections. Effective January 1, 2019, SB 1205 amended the California Health and Safety Code (HSC) to add Section 13146.4. This new provision requires those fire departments mandated to perform annual inspections pursuant to Sections 13146.2 and 13146.3 to report annually to their administrating authority on compliance therewith. As provided in H&S Code Section 13146.4, the report shall be made when the City Council discusses the annual budget or at another time as determined by the Council. Sections 13146.2 and 13146.3 mandate that city and county fire departments conduct annual inspections of public and private schools, hotels, motels, lodging houses, and apartment buildings (except individual dwelling units).
Pursuant to SB 1205, the City of Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue Department (CMFR) submits this report to demonstrate its compliance with H&S Code Sections 13146.2 and 13146.3 for the 2024 calendar year.
ANALYSIS:
The purpose of annual fire and life safety inspections is to mitigate known hazards, reduce risk to the community, and ensure reasonable compliance with the California Fire Code. CMFR utilizes a fire records management system, Tyler Fire Inspect, to schedule the annual inspections and document observed code enforcement violations. Each year in January, inspections are batched according to occupancy and assigned to a Fire Station crew or Community Risk Reduction personnel, based on coverage area.
In 2024, CMFR staff completed the batch with mandated inspections tagged as annual inspections in Tyler Fire Inspect to prioritize them over the non-mandated fire and life safety inspections. Tyler Fire Inspect allows CMFR to track the mandated inspections annually by adding all the state-mandated addresses to a prepopulated annual inspection list that will regenerate every year.
HSC Section 13146.2 mandates that the local fire department inspect all hotels, motels, and lodging houses annually. There are no lodging houses identified in the City. CMFR inspected 100% of the 28 hotels and motels identified in Tyler Fire Inspect. Note that one motel was under construction throughout 2024.
HSC Section 13146.2 also mandates that the local fire department inspect all apartment buildings, except dwelling units. An apartment shall consist of three or more attached units and excludes all duplex-style buildings. CMFR inspected 100% of the 1,405 apartment locations identified in Tyler Fire Inspect with three attached units or greater. In 2023 CMFR relied on a third-party consultant to batch and close out the mandated inspections through FireRMS. When CMFR switched to Tyler Fire Inspect, the new system allowed for a more comprehensive and accurate tracking of apartment locations. The transition to Tyler Fire Inspect revealed previously unidentified apartment buildings. The new system enabled CMFR to ensure all relevant apartment locations were properly included and accounted for, leading to an increase in the identified number of 1,405 apartment buildings for inspection.
HSC Section 13146.3 also mandates that the local fire department annually inspect all public and private schools. CMFR inspected 56 of 56 public and private school locations identified in Tyler Fire Inspect. During the transition to Tyler Fire Inspect, CMFR identified that some school locations previously had only one inspection entry, when separate inspections were required for both preschool and elementary programs. This correction resulted in an increase of two inspections over the 52 schools reported last year. Additionally, in 2024, one of our Fire Protection Specialists discovered two new school programs that had not been previously captured in our records. This resulted in a total of 56 school inspections in 2024
CMFR completed 100% of the 1,489 mandated annual inspections during the 2024 calendar year as required by California Health and Safety Code mandate.
ALTERNATIVES:
There are no alternatives considered for this item.
FISCAL REVIEW:
There are no fiscal impacts to the Fiscal Year 2024-25 City Budget with the filing and acceptance of this report.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney’s Office has reviewed this Report and the attached resolution and approved them as to form.
CITY COUNCIL GOALS AND PRIORITIES:
Goal #1: Strengthen the Public's Safety and Improve the Quality of Life.
CONCLUSION:
CMFR achieved the goal of 100% compliance with H&S Code Sections 13146.2 and 13146.3 in 2024. Currently, Tyler Fire Inspect functions independently from the City’s existing construction permit and land management program TESSA. Tyler Fire Inspect has completed an integration with the Business License Module, allowing updated information to be imported when a new or existing business license is issued. CMFR successfully implemented the new Tyler Fire Inspect inspection software in 2024. As part of the City’s new Tyler Fire Inspect implementation, the occupancy records, including educational and residential, were examined, and assigned appropriate scheduling according to state mandates before import. CMFR is committed to 100% compliance in 2025, and staff will be deployed to meet the goal.
Therefore, staff recommends that the City Council adopt the attached Resolution accepting this report as CMFR’s Report on the status of all 2024 state-mandated annual fire inspections in the City of Costa Mesa as required by H&S Code Section 13146.4.