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From Civic Allah, this is TrueCode, a podcast explaining what code enforcement is, why our communities need it, and why you should care.
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From first hand experiences, we discuss quality of life issues to reveal the truth about code enforcement.
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I'm your host, Matt Silver.
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Welcome and thanks for tuning in to this episode of the True Code Podcast.
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Today we're talking about Senate Bill 721.
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Senate Bill 721 is a California law that went into effect a couple of years ago, 2018.
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So it's not new, but it is new, I think, to the radar for a lot of local jurisdictions.
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I know for me, several years went by where I didn't even know about it.
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SB 721 in a nutshell requires property owners of three or more units.
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So think multifamily properties, apartment complexes, etc., to hire certain kinds of inspectors to inspect their balconies to make sure they won't fail.
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This comes out of a tragedy, as many of these kind of laws do, that many of you might remember up in Berkeley, California, where a bunch of college kids were hanging out on a balcony and it collapsed.
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And six of them died, and six more were injured.
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Now that balcony wasn't even that old.
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It was only a couple years old.
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It should have lasted a lot longer.
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However, unbeknownst to the city and perhaps the property owner, the waterproofing on it wasn't done very well.
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So over time, drip, drip, drip, the water permeated into that balcony and destroyed the wood, as water does.
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And unknowing of that, those kids stepped out of there to have a party and it came down.
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And of course, tragedy ensued.
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There have been other balcony disasters throughout time and throughout history.
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However, that was the one that really motivated the change in the law to make sure it doesn't happen again.
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So along comes Senate Bill 721, eight years ago, and requires property owners to hire very specific kinds of inspectors.
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It's not just any old inspector, and it can't be an inspector for the city.
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So this is a case where they can't contact the city and put it on you to go out and do the inspection, at least the initial one.
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They have to hire a certain kind of architect or a certain kind of engineer or a certain kind of qualified contractor.
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That contractor has to
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inspect at least 15% of all the what are called exterior elevated elements, triple E's, at a property with three or more units.
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And that includes more than just a patio.
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That includes a balcony or a deck or even a staircase or a walkway.
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As long as we're six feet above the ground or more, that inspector has to then pump out an initial report that identifies two kinds of things.
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One is any immediate hazards and then has to recommend the immediate steps the owner needs to take to prevent collapse.
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That might even include the owner preventing occupancy or use of that area, which could be a real problem if we're talking about stairs or a walkway that people have to use.
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The second kind of thing is a long-term report.
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So after it's initial report for immediate dangers, they will issue a long-term report.
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That one has to go to the cities.
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So up until now, you're probably wondering well, Matt, if the owner has to hire somebody and a private party has to do the inspection, how are we involved in this?
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How does this affect us?
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Why are you talking about this?
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Well, the reason is here.
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When that report comes to the city, the city has to have a process to receive that report.
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And then the law requires us to enforce those violations.
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So if those violations actually occur, in other words, report doesn't come back with a clean bill of health, then now the burden shifts to us to issue notices to correct administrative fines and presumably escalated enforcement after that if they won't comply.
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They have 180 days to comply.
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And after that, we have to start taking enforcement action.
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But all along the way, folks, as always, we have to be tracking the intake of the report.
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We have to track what the report says, and code enforcement needs to follow up with its inspections and enforcement as necessary as well.
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Now, of course, the question then comes up about cost.
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This requires more personnel time, might involve attorneys like us or your attorney, whoever that may be.
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State law allows you to recoup all that time.
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But as with anything, you have to update your municipal codes, or if you're a county, your counting codes to provide for those additional costs or fees and enforcement.
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So, in addition, state law, they take this very seriously.
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So they allow cities to adopt even stricter ordinances than what this minimum state law says.
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But suffice it to say, we can now add this to our to-do list of things that we have to do and reasons that we can face liability if we don't.
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Thank you everybody for joining us.
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Stay tuned for our next episode.
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Catch us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and of course our website, civicalaw.com.
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Thank you for joining us today.
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Thank you for joining us on this journey.
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If you enjoyed what you heard, don't forget to subscribe, follow, rate, and review us wherever you're listening right now.
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Until next time.