Administrative
Report
N.2., File # 23-5642 Meeting Date: 3/14/2023
To: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
From: PATRICK BUTLER, INTERIM FIRE CHIEF
TITLE
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING IMPLEMENTATION OF A REDONDO BEACH
FIRE DEPARTMENT RISK BASED FIRE INSPECTION (RBFI) PROGRAM
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Redondo Beach Fire Department is responsible for approximately 4200 annual fire inspections.
These inspections are conducted by firefighters, fire inspectors and other sworn staff. In an effort to increase efficiency and enhance fire prevention services to the community, the Redondo Beach Fire Department is seeking to pilot a Risk-Based Fire inspection (RBFi) program. This program is designed to change the inspection cycle for approximately 1530 buildings to three years, a 30% reduction in annual inspections, and to focus annual inspections on the 2670 higher risk residential and public assemblage buildings in the City, as determined by state law and the RBFi program. This program will enhance public safety, reduce costs to residents and apply a risk-based approach to fire inspections, in keeping with industry best practices.
BACKGROUND
Redondo Beach Fire Department’s (Department) inspection program includes approximately 4200 annual inspections. The Department, along with other fire departments across the region, have experienced an increase of 5-8% calls for emergency services over the past five years. This demand, coupled with state mandates on inspection reporting, makes it difficult to balance the 4200 inspections with daily needs to provide fire suppression, emergency medical response, code enforcement and marine safety services to the City.
The Redondo Beach Deputy Fire Marshal researched best practices from local agencies, the National Fire Protection Association and other sources and determined that similar jurisdictions conducted inspections every two to three years. This data, along with internal analysis of the Department’s existing fire inspection program, indicates that a three-year inspection cycle is adequate for a number of occupancies with a lower risk profile. Shifting to a three-year model will allow the Department to adequately address its inspection workload and implement efficiencies in its inspection system.
California law, under the Health and Safety Code, requires annual inspections of buildings with three or more dwelling units, including apartments, motels, hotels, and schools, by the responding fire department. These criteria apply to approximately 1,990 properties in the City of Redondo Beach. In addition, approximately 400 business occupancies are identified in the RBFi risk profile, which includes restaurants and eating establishments with fire suppression hood systems, properties
N.2., File # 23-5642 Meeting Date: 3/14/2023
includes restaurants and eating establishments with fire suppression hood systems, properties requiring hazardous material permits and businesses or assembly properties with an occupancy load of more than 49 people.
In order to create a risk-based rubric for the public and firefighters to reference for guidance, the Department created a risk-based matrix using current best practices coupled with unique permit requirements such as restaurants with fire suppression hood systems, hazardous material permits or occupancy loads that would present fire safety challenges. The proposed RBFi Matrix is listed below and can be adjusted as needed.
RBFi Matrix (RBFiM):
a) Occupancy with fire suppression systems - annual inspection b) Occupancy requiring hazardous materials permit - annual inspection c) Occupancy designated public assemblages with a permit load of more than 49 people - annual inspection
d) Occupancy not included in a, b, c, will be inspected every three years e) Office buildings with common assemblage areas only require a single inspection rather than each individual office space being inspected (Approx. 350 reduction)
Following these guidelines would reduce the number of annual inspections by approximately 30% and would apply to the City’s occupancies as follows: 1963 residential properties, 27 schools, and 400 business occupancies as identified by the RBFiM would require annual inspections, as per Health & Safety Code; and 1529 business occupancies would shift to a three-year cycle, an average of 509 per year.
Inspection fees, which cover administrative workload, on site field inspections, data base entry and follow-up, typically account for an hour of service time per inspection. This fee is billed through a third-party service at a rate of $113.50 per inspection. The 1529 building or business owners that would be transitioned to the RBFi three-year inspection cycle will see a 66% reduction in inspection fees, with the Department still able to
ensure public safety.
At this time, the Department recommends:
· Annual inspections for all buildings with three or more dwelling units, including apartments, motels, hotels and schools, as required by state law · Annual inspections for businesses occupancies with an increased risk profile as determined by occupancy load, business type and the RBFi Matrix · A three-year inspection cycle for business occupancies with a decreased risk profile as determined by the RBFi Matrix
· Conducting single inspections for office buildings with multiple units that share common assemblage areas and fire extinguishers instead of conducting separate inspections for each individual office
· Implementing fire inspection fees based on the new RBFi program The new approach would benefit the community by allowing personnel to focus their efforts on higher
N.2., File # 23-5642 Meeting Date: 3/14/2023
The new approach would benefit the community by allowing personnel to focus their efforts on higher -risk occupancies, limit interruptions to the 1529 business occupancies deemed to be low-risk and bring overall improvement to the Department’s fire prevention services.
The Fire Chief, under Section 104 of the Fire Code, is granted authority to render interpretations of this code and to adopt policies, procedures, rules and regulations in order to clarify the application of its provisions. Nothing in this new program prevents the Fire Chief from ordering additional inspections and/or reverting to annual inspection cycle based on public safety needs.
COORDINATION
The Redondo Beach Fire Department coordinated the preparation of this item with surrounding fire agencies to determine best practices by doing a comparison study of fire inspection programs, risks per occupancies and inspection schedules.
FISCAL IMPACT
Costs associated with the RBFi program will be recovered through fees collected for inspections.
APPROVED BY:
Mike Witzansky, City Manager