BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: sb 245
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: rubio
VERSION: 3/29/11
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: April 12, 2011
SUBJECT:
Mobilehomes: smoke detectors
DESCRIPTION:
This bill requires that beginning July 1, 2012 all used
mobilehomes have a smoke alarm installed in each room designed
for sleeping.
ANALYSIS:
Since 1976, federal law has required that all newly constructed
manufactured homes have operable smoke detectors installed in
each bedroom, the living room nearest the kitchen, and at the
top of the stairway in two-story homes. Beginning in 1973,
California's regulations contained a similar requirement, but
since 1976, the federal rules on construction of manufactured
homes have pre-empted state rules.
Since 1986, state law has required that all used mobilehomes and
manufactured homes that are sold have a smoke detector that is
operable on the date of the transfer of title. AB 2050
(Garcia), Chapter 737, Statutes of 2008, expanded this
requirement so that at the time of sale, all used manufactured
homes, mobilehomes, and multifamily manufactured homes have a
smoke alarm in each room designed for sleeping that is operable
on the date of the transfer of title.
This bill requires, beginning on July 1, 2012, that all used
manufactured homes, mobilehomes, and multifamily manufactured
homes have a smoke alarm installed in each room designed for
sleeping.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The author introduced this bill in response to a
tragedy that occurred on January 9, 2011, when four people
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died in a mobilehome park in south Bakersfield after a space
heater started a fire in a mobilehome that had no working
smoke detector. This mobilehome was not required to have a
smoke detector because it was built prior to 1973 and not sold
after 1986. The author notes that mobilehomes are highly
vulnerable to fires, can quickly become engulfed in flames,
and can have limited escape routes. The lack of smoke
detectors compounds the danger. The author introduced this
bill to help prevent future tragedies such as the one in
Bakersfield by requiring smoke detectors in all mobilehomes.
2.Changing the law, changing behavior ? Neither state nor
federal law required older (i.e., pre-1973) mobilehomes to
have smoke detectors installed at the time of construction.
Since 1986, state law has required that upon resale a
mobilehome must have a smoke detector installed. Thus, older
homes can legally be without a smoke detector. This bill
attempts to address that legal deficiency, but it is unclear
how this requirement would be enforced (see Comment #3 below).
One can surmise that the owners of these homes are of very
limited incomes and may not have installed smoke detectors due
to cost. To address this problem, many local fire
departments, mobilehome park owners, and community
organizations have donated smoke detectors to homeowners.
Still, changing the law to require smoke detectors,
particularly if it is coupled with a public education
campaign, may increase the number of owners of older
mobilehomes who do install smoke detectors in those homes.
3.Enforcement . Many, though not all, of those who live in
mobilehomes own their mobilehomes and rent the spaces in
mobilehome parks on which the homes are placed. State law
requires the Department of Housing and Community Development
(HCD) to enforce various laws pertaining to the construction
and installation of mobilehomes and to regulate mobilehome
parks to assure the health, safety, and general welfare of
park residents. One method HCD uses to enforce its regulatory
authority is the Mobilehome Park Maintenance Inspection
Program through which HCD, or a local agency acting in its
place, inspects mobilehome parks proactively, focusing on
those parks with complaints about serious health and safety
violations. These inspections, however, do not include
inspections of the interior of mobilehomes in the park, nor
would some consider it appropriate for HCD or local inspectors
to enter owner-occupied homes to conduct such an inspection.
It is unclear, therefore, how HCD or any governmental entity
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will ensure that this law is being followed.
4.Suggested amendment . Some find the manner in which this bill
amends existing law confusing because of the multiple dates
referenced and because of this bill's delayed implementation
date. To resolve any confusion, the author, therefore, wishes
to amend the bill to sunset existing law on June 30, 2012, and
then provide that effective July 1, 2012, all mobilehomes must
have smoke detectors installed in each sleeping room plus the
requirements of existing law governing the sale of
mobilehomes. Committee staff believes that these amendments,
while not changing the substance of the bill, would improve
its clarity.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday, April 6,
2011)
SUPPORT: California Fire Chiefs Association
Fire Districts Association of California
Western Manufactured Housing Communities
Association
OPPOSED: None received.