Monthly Report
California State Fire Marshal
January 2003

Code Enforcement
Statutes and Regulations Course

The Statutes and Regulations course is being offered at the annual Fire Prevention Officers’ Workshop in Monterey in February. This course will be limited to 40 students. There will be a sign-up sheet coming to those attending the Conference from Penni Overstreet Murphy interested in attending this class in Monterey. You may sign-up for this class by returning the completed information as appropriate. Because attendance will be on a first come first served basis, you will want to sign-up soon to reserve your place in this class. So, be sure to return your sign- up sheet to Penni promptly. Students attending this class must bring a current CBC, CFC and Title 19 to this class. The SFM will begin conducting classes throughout the state after July 1, 2003.

SFM Health Services Contract Status

The SFM has for almost 30 years inspected health care facilities under contract with the Department of Health Services. Effective March 1^st, 2003 the SFM will no longer be responsible for conducting these inspections (Life Safety Code 101). This will ultimately free up some of the time of our field staff to provide better service to local fire authorities, as well as to concentrate on our statutory responsibilities.

Code Development and Analysis Division

Title 19

Fire Extinguisher Regulations (Six-Year Teardown) – The Final Statement of Reasons and the Final Text are posted on the SFM web site. The regulations went into effect January 1, 2003. For more information about the implementation of these regulations, contact Mike Waldron, Fire Extinguisher Program Coordinator.
High-Power Rocket Fees

- The Final Statement of Reasons and Final Text are posted on the SFM web site. The Office of Administrative Law has approved the regulations package for "High-Power Rocket Fees". The new fee schedule will become effective on November 21, 2002.

Group D Occupancies

– Title 19, CCR contains outdated references to Group D Occupancies in various articles. These outdated references to Group "D" Occupancies will be repealed and replaced with the correct occupancy classification of R-2 and/or R-6 as appropriate. This update is now under review by the Office of Administrative Law.

1979 Uniform Fire Code

– Title 19 makes outdated references to the 1979 Uniform Fire Code. This reference will be repealed and replaced with the "2000 Uniform Fire Code as amended in the 2001 California Fire Code." The submittal was sent to the Office of Administrative Law, and then withdrawn for review of several key issues, but will be re-submitted soon.

Fire Drill Regulations

– The SFM is putting together regulations regarding fire drills that will increase fire drills in high-rise buildings to twice a year, monthly fire drills at the elementary and secondary level and four times a year at the intermediate level, and proposes a quarterly fire drill for Adult Day Care facilities. The concept is being reviewed internally and will be out for comment by the next FPO meetings.

Fire Engineering

Information Bulletin

An Information Bulletin has been posted on the SFM web site highlighting recent revisions to California’s fire extinguisher regulations that become effective 1/1/03. The Fire Extinguisher Study Guide has been updated to reflect those changes and is available electronically on our web site: http://osfm.fire.ca.gov/fireextinguisher.html.

Motion Picture and Entertainment Training

A Fire Safety Officer class on Special Effects and Scene Safety is scheduled for February 26-28, 2003 in Ventura. A registration form and map have been placed on our web site. If you have any questions regarding this, please contact Al Adams, Senior Deputy State Fire Marshal, at Al.Adams@fire.ca.gov.