TITLE:
title
SB 1205 COMPLIANCE REPORT FOR 2023 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 the City Council adopt a resolution to accept this Compliance Report on the status of all 2023 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. These sections 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 2023 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, FireRMS, 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 2023, CMFR requested that the FireRMS consultant complete the batch with mandated inspections tagged as SB 1205 to prioritize them over the non-mandated fire and life safety inspections.
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 29 hotels and motels identified in FireRMS.
Section 13146.2 also mandates that the local fire department inspect all apartment buildings, except dwelling individual units. An apartment shall consist of three or more attached units and excludes all duplex-style buildings. CMFR inspected 100% of the 1198 apartment locations identified in FireRMS with three attached units or greater.
Section 13146.3 also mandates that the local fire department inspect all public and private schools annually. CMFR inspected 52 of 52 public and private school locations identified in FireRMS.
CMFR completed 100% of the 1279 mandated annual inspections during the 2023 calendar year as required by the California Health and Safety Code mandate.
ALTERNATIVES:
There are no alternatives considered for this item.
FISCAL REVIEW:
There are no fiscal impacts with the filing and acceptance of this report.
LEGAL REVIEW:
According to H&S Code Section 13146.4, this Report shall be made when the City Council discusses the annual budget or at another time as determined by the Council.
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 2023. Currently, FireRMS functions independently from the City’s existing construction permit and land management program PermitsPlus. FireRMS lacks a direct connection to update the over 6,000 occupancies as changes in use or occupancy are permitted in PermitsPlus. It is critical that occupancy data and inspection schedules are updated in real-time with changes of use so that annual inspection scheduling is completed according to HSC 13146.2 and 13146.3. CMFR plans to shift all of the fire occupancy management portions of the annual inspection and operational permit programs from FireRMS to the new Tyler Fire Inspect inspection software in 2024. As part of the City’s new Tyler Fire Inspection implementation, all occupancy records, including educational and residential, will be examined and assigned appropriate scheduling according to mandates before import. CMFR is committed to 100% compliance in 2024, and staff will be deployed to meet the goal.
Therefore, staff recommends that the City Council adopt the attached Resolution accepting this report from CMFR’s on the status of all 2023 state-mandated annual fire inspections in the City of Costa Mesa as required by H&S Code Section 13146.4.