Monthly Report
California State Fire Marshal
June 2004

Code Development and Analysis

California Code of Regulations - Title 24

Review of NFPA 5000 & NFPA 1

On June 2, 2004 the California Building Standards Commission convened the Coordinating Council to discuss in an open public meeting the issues surrounding the state agency’s review of the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) Building Construction & Safety Code NFPA 5000. The Coordinating Council is comprised of the following state agencies:

Building Standards Commission (BSC)
Housing & Community Development (HCD)
Division of the State Architect (DSA)
State Fire Marshal (SFM)
Office of Statewide Health Planning & Development (OSHPD)
Department Of Health Services (DHS)
California Energy Commission (CEC)

Each agency representative clearly indicated that their agency had elected to stop any further reviews and or actions towards the development of NFPA 5000 and additionally for the SFM, the NFPA 1, Uniform Fire Code as the base codes for Parts 2 and 9 of Title 24, California Code of Regulations. These decisions were based on the following concerns:

Each agency is preparing their 2004 Annual Code Cycle rulemaking packages for submission to CBSC on August 2, 2004.

The submission of the 2004 Annual Cycle rulemaking creates a hardship and conflicts with CBSC’s timeline for the submission of each agency’s proposed rulemaking for the NFPA 5000 and 1.

The hardship is; because each agency has experienced significant reductions to their resources as a result of the State’s budget challenges, each agency has experienced the loss or reduction of staff assigned to their rulemaking development. For some agencies there simply is not enough staff to review the NFPA codes as well as develop rulemaking for the 2004 Annual Cycle.

The conflict is; on or about January 2006, it is anticipated that CBSC would approve the 2004 Annual Code Cycle’s rulemaking for codification and publication as the 2004 California Building and Fire Codes. At this juncture, the agencies are also expected to submit their proposed NFPA rulemaking documents on January 30, 2006.

Thereby meaning, it is not practical to expect these agencies under such complex conditions to complete two large rulemaking tasks on concurring timelines as required by CBSC.

OSHPD, HCD and DSA expressed their concerns regarding the apparent copyright infringement by NFPA’s use of technical model code text of the, but limited to, International Code Council’s, International Building Code (IBC), with the intention to make this extracted text from the IBC and others available to the state agencies as if it were model code text of the NFPA 5000 and 1.

These agencies concur that until such a time that the copyright issues are resolved, it is not sensible for them to pursue the development of a California Building Code, when its base document is under scrutiny for copyright infringements.

In support of these state agencies decisions, the SFM finds that is not prudent to continue efforts in developing proposed California Building and Fire Codes absent these agencies participation, until such a time that the copyright matter is resolved.

Any questions regarding this matter may be directed to Randy Roxson, Assistant Deputy Director at (916) 323-9637.

400 R Street, 1^st Floor Hearing Room

Time: 10:00

It is anticipated that the Coordinating Council will again discuss the matters mentioned above. The public is welcomed to participate by offering public comments. Interested parties may also send letters, fax or email comments to the CBSC prior to the meeting to be made a part of the public record. CBSC may be contacted as follows:

Building Standards Commission
2525 Natomas Park Drive, Suite 130
Sacramento, CA 95833

Phone: (916) 263-0916

Fax: (916) 263-0959

Email: cbsc@dgs.ca.gov

2004 Annual Code Cycle

The Governor’s 180-Day Executive Order, Number S-02-4 expired on May 17, 2004. As a result of this action the CBSC has announced that rulemaking submittals will be accepted on August 2, 2004 for inclusion to the 2004 Annual Code Cycle relating to the following Parts of Title 24:

Part 2 - 2001 California Building Code (CBC)
Part 3 – 2001 California Electrical Code (CEC)
Part 4 – 2001 California Mechanical Code (CMC) [Triennial Code Edition]
Part 5 – 2001 California Plumbing Code (CPC) [Triennial Code Edition]
Part 9 – 2001 California Fire Code (CFC)

The proposed code changes listed below where SFM anticipates including but not being limited to the submission of the following code changes:

Part 2 – CBC Various sections:

Definition of "New Public School Campus"

Automatic sprinkler systems in public schools

Placement of existing regulations relating to Group R, Division 6 Occupancies - Residential group care facilities into section 310.1.7

Updated referenced standards

Part 4 – CMC Adopt by reference the 2003 Edition of the Uniform Mechanical Code (UMC)

Bring forward existing amendments of the 2001 CMC that are based upon the 2000 Edition of the UMC

Part 5 – CPC Adopt by reference the 2003 Edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC)

Bring forward existing amendments of the 2001 CPC that are based upon the 2000 Edition of the UPC

Part 9 – CFC Various sections:

Automatic sprinkler systems in public schools

Updated referenced standards

Group I, Divisions 1.2, 2 & 3 Occupancies relating to nurse’s stations in existing facilities

For more information on the SFM’s proposed rulemaking visit the SFM’s web site at http://osfm.fire.ca.gov

Please contact Leslie R. Haberek at (916) 327-4998 or leslie.haberek@fire.ca.gov

Fire Life and Safety Advisory Board (FLSAB)

On July 22, 2004 the SFM’s FLSAB will meet to review and make recommendations to the SFM regarding the above mentioned rulemaking for the 2004 Annual Code Cycle.

Questions regarding this meeting may be directed to Leslie R. Haberek at (916) 327-4998, fax number (916) 445-8459 or leslie.haberek@fire.ca.gov

Backup person for this meeting is Sylvia Gauntlett. She may be reached at (916) 445-4106, fax number (916) 445-8459 or Sylvia.gauntlett@fire.ca.gov

Additional information on this subject is available on the SFM’s web site at osfm.fire.ca.gov

2004 CBSC’s Code Advisory Committees

The 2001 California Building Standards Administrative Code, Article 1-9 outlines the purpose of the Code Advisory Committees (CAC) as a technical, advisory committee that shall make recommendations on each code change submittal.

Based upon subject matter expertise, CAC applicants are selected in an open forum by the CBSC.

Each code submittal shown above will be assigned to a CAC for their review and comment. These committees make their recommendations to the CBSC based on the "Nine-Point" criteria found in Health and Safety Code section 18930. The CAC’s recommendations are required to be one of the following actions:

Approve as submitted
Approve as amended (by either the CAC or agency or both in agreement)
Disapprove as submitted
Further Study

The public will have an opportunity to participate with the committee’s technical review of all proposed rulemaking on the following dates:

Accessibility – January 26 & 27, 2005
Health Facilities – February 2 & 3, 2005
Building, Fire & Other - February 9 & 10, 2005
Plumbing, Electrical, Mechanical & Energy - February 16 & 17, 2005
Structural / Lateral Forces - February 23 & 24, 2005

The CAC meetings will be held at:

CBSC

2525 Natomas Park Drive, Suite 130

Sacramento, Ca 95833

For more information about the CAC, visit CBSC’s web site at www.bsc.ca.gov

California Code of Regulations - Title 19

The latest in regulatory proposals to Title 19 are posted on the SFM website. Please contact Rodney Slaughter regarding these proposals.

Tire Fire Curriculum and Regulations

The former "Rings of Fire" video is being revised, and course materials should be available by August 2004. Several Train-the-Trainer classes will be scheduled for the Fall of 2004.

Any questions regarding the Tire Fire Curriculum should be directed to Rodney Slaughter at (916) 445-8454, or Rodney.slaughter@fire.ca.gov

Urban Wildland Interface Building Standards (UWIBS)

The SFM’s proposed regulations relating to building standards for structures located in Urban WildIand (UWI) areas is being developed for submission to the California Building Standards Commission (CBSC). However, in order for the SFM to respond in a timely manner to the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Fire Commission’s findings and recommendations, the SFM has determined that these regulations will be submitted to CBSC as emergency regulations on or about October 2004 instead of being included in the 2004 Annual Code Adoption Cycle.

The UWI workgroup has provided and continues to provide valuable assistance and technical expertise to the SFM in the development of these regulations. The SFM greatly appreciates the workgroup’s commitment and support in this code effort.

The SFM’s intent is to place these regulations in the 2001 California Building Code and the 2001 California Fire Code with complementary provisions in Title 19 that will correlate back to those of the CBC and CFC.

Should there be any questions regarding this subject please contact:

Rodney Slaughter at (916) 445-8454 or Rodney.slaughter@fire.ca.gov

Leslie R. Haberek at (916) 327-4998 or leslie.haberek@fire.ca.gov

California All Incident Reporting System (CAIRS)

With the latest round of Federal Firefighter Assistance Grants being awarded, the CAIRS program is continuing to grow. As NFIRS data is received and processed, participating fire departments should receive letters and/or e-mails acknowledging receipt of the data, along with information on any data validation errors and correction procedures. Program staff is currently working on creating a whole suite of new reports that are very useful for evaluating fire department workload, identifying fire and public safety hazards and more. For more information about this important program, please visit our web page at http://osfm.fire.ca.gov/cfirs.html.

Code Enforcement

Deputy State Fire Marshal Sandy Masten retired from State service on May 31^st. Sandy has had assignments in both Northern California and most recently in Southern California. She plans on being a full-time mom and devote her time to her family. An excellent example of dedication to the mission of the SFM, Sandy’s contribution to the SFM will be greatly missed.

Statutes and Regulations Course

SFM Division Chief Hugh Council and Division Chief Joe Garcia recently gave two Statutes and Regulations Courses in El Dorado County and in Monrovia. The SFM has been receiving excellent feedback on this course, if you are interested in hosting, please contact either Chief Council or Chief Garcia.

Fire Engineering

The 2004 Safe & Sane Fireworks Book, that will assist the California Fire Service in determining those firework items that have been classified by the OSFM as "Safe and Sane", is posted on our web site; http://osfm.fire.ca.gov/fireworks.html

The OSFM has posted a list of common Health and Safety Code Firework's violations on our web site; http://osfm.fire.ca.gov/fireworks.html

If illegal fireworks have been seized by the local authorities, and they want the OSFM to dispose of them, the following is required: Health and Safety Code Section 12723 states, "The authority seizing the fireworks shall notify the State Fire Marshal not more than three days following the date of seizure and shall state the reason for the seizure and the quantity, type, and location of the fireworks." This should be done in writing or per the form that is located on our web site, entitled "Fireworks Seizure Information".

A work group will update regulations used in our Flame Retardant Chemical and Fabric Program, which will include revisions to our test standards.

Fire Prevention Officers may access copies of all of our BML listings to assist with the plan review of fire alarm systems and equipment. Our website may be accessed at osfm.fire.ca.gov/bml.html.

The following two Information Bulletins have been posted to the web

UL 300 - Commercial Kitchen Hood Systems
New Fire Extinguisher Regulations in Effect (revised 6/1/04)