City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: August 23, 2022
Agenda Item: 5.K
1 of 3
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Danny Alvarez, Fire Chief, Fire Department
Subject: Adoption of a Resolution accepting a report on the status of all statemandated annual fire inspections in the City of Santa Monica in conjunction with SB1205 and California Health and Safety Code Section 13146.4.
Recommended Action
Adopt a Resolution acknowledging receipt of a report on the status of state mandated annual fire inspections in the City of Santa Monica pursuant to California Health and Safety Code Section 13146.4
Summary
With the signing of SB 1205 (Hill) on September 27, 2018 by the Governor, the California Health and Safety Code was amended by adding Section 13146.4, which requires that all fire departments perform annual inspections pursuant to Sections 13146.2 and 13146.3 and report annually to its administrating authority on its compliance. These sections mandate that annual inspections of all public and private schools, hotels, motels, lodging houses, and all apartment and condominium buildings be performed by the fire department. The purpose of annual fire inspections is to mitigate known hazards, reduce risk to the community and ensure reasonable compliance with the California Fire Code. The Fire Department completed annual fire inspections of these facilities for Fiscal Year 2021-2022. A resolution to accept the City’s FY 2021-22 annual fire inspections report is included as Attachment A.
Discussion
SB 1205 requires that every city or county fire department or district to perform the above- described inspections and to report annually to its administering authority on 2 of 3
the department or district’s compliance with the above-described inspection requirements. The bill also requires the administering authority to acknowledge receipt of the report in a resolution or a similar formal document. Further, the acceptance of this compliance report and the recommended Resolution fulfills the statutory requirements contained in California Health and Safety Code Sections 13146.2, 13146.3 and 13146.4, as amended by SB 1205.
The California Building Code also specifies that condominiums should be considered apartments for building code application. An apartment shall consist of three or more attached units and excludes all duplex style buildings. Last fiscal year, the Fire Department inspected 3,861 apartment/condominium buildings with three or more units.
The following is the mandated reporting of the inspections from the Santa Monica Fire Department for the Fiscal Year 2021-2022.
Occupancy
Type
Inspections
Completed Total Number
Percentage
Completed
Schools Public 18 18 100%
Schools Private 40 40 100%
Jails SMPD PSF 1 1 100%
Multi-Family
Residential
Three Units + 3,548 3,861 92%
Total Inspections Completed
*Only 92% of Multi-Family Residential were
completed due to staffing shortage.
3,607
During Fiscal Year 2021-2022 the Fire Department conducted 3,607 state-mandated annual inspections under California Health and Safety Code Sections 13146.2, 13146.3 and 13146.4 and 1,875 other types of annual inspections shown in the table below.
In addition to the mandated reporting of the specific occupancies above, the following are the remaining inspections conducted by the Santa Monica Fire Department on an annual basis, reported for Fiscal Year 2021-2022.
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Occupancy Type
Inspections
Completed
Total
Number
Percentage
Completed
Assemblies, Institutions,
Hospitals
212 328 64%
Highrise 80 80 100%
Underground Storage Tanks 39 39 100%
New Construction Plan Review
and Inspections
1,544 1,544 100%
Business and Mercantile** 0 4,139 0%
*Assemblies, Institutions, Hospitals were not all completed due to staffing shortages and shifting of duties to ensure state mandated inspections were completed. In FY2022-23, inspections for Assemblies, Institutions, Hospitals will be on track targeting a 100% completion rate. **Business and Mercantile inspections are not state mandated inspections and due to staffing shortages were not completed to ensure state mandated inspections were completed. Business and Mercantile inspections will commence again in FY2022-23.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of the recommended action.
Prepared By: Terese Toomey, Principal Administrative Analyst Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. SB 1205 21-22 Reso