BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 764|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 764
Author: Quirk (D), et al.
Amended: 6/29/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE: 10-0, 6/16/15
AYES: Beall, Allen, Bates, Gaines, Galgiani, Leyva, McGuire,
Mendoza, Roth, Wieckowski
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cannella
SENATE INSURANCE COMMITTEE: 8-0, 7/8/15
AYES: Roth, Gaines, Berryhill, Glazer, Hall, Hernandez, Liu,
Wieckowski
NO VOTE RECORDED: Mitchell
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/14/15 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Parking lots: design: insurance discount
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires the California Building Standards
Commission (CBSC), in collaboration with the State Architect and
the State Fire Marshall, to consider standards for installation
of vehicle barriers in the design of any new building and allows
an insurer to consider the installation of a vehicle barrier as
a safety measure and provide or offer a discount on the property
insurance of a commercial property owner who installs such a
vehicle safety barrier.
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ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Establishes the CBSC within the Department of General Services
(DGS), and requires any building standards adopted or proposed
by state agencies to be submitted to, and approved by, the
CBSC prior to codification into the California Standards Code
(CBC).
2)Requires the CSBC to adopt, approve, codify, and publish
building standards providing the minimum standards for the
design and construction of state buildings, including
buildings constructed by the Trustees of the California State
University and, to the extent permitted by law, to buildings
designed and constructed by the Regents of the University of
California.
3)Requires the State Fire Marshal to develop building standards
to implement the state's fire and life safety policy, and
transfers any responsibilities of the State Fire Marshal to
adopt building standards through a formal rulemaking process
to the CBSC.
4)Grants the State Architect jurisdiction over access compliance
requirements for all buildings in California (including
schools) that are publicly funded in whole or in part by the
use of state funds.
5)Requires specified insurance rates to be approved by the
Insurance Commissioner (IC) prior to their use under the
insurance Rate Reduction and Reform Act, or Proposition 103
(Prop. 103), as approved by the voters in 1988.
This bill:
1)Requires the CBSC, in collaboration with the State Architect
and the State Fire Marshal, to consider the installation of
vehicle barriers in the design of any new building at each
model code adoption review.
2)Defines a "vehicle barrier" as a horizontal or vertical
protective device placed to protect buildings or pedestrians
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from collisions by motor vehicles.
3)Authorizes an insurer to consider the installation of vehicle
barriers on a commercial property parking lot as a safety
measure and to provide or offer a discount on the property
owner's insurance of a commercial property owner who installs
such a vehicle safety barrier.
4)Requires any discount to be actuarially sound and approved by
the IC consistent with the requirements of Prop. 103.
Comments
Purpose of the bill. According to the author,
vehicle-into-building crashes have been reported to occur as
many as 60 times per day, with more than 3,600 pedestrians,
store patrons, and employees seriously injured each year,
nationwide. Sometimes called "storefront crashes," these
accidents are often caused by driver error. Most of these
accidents can be prevented with simple and inexpensive steps,
including the installation of vehicle barriers, that can be
taken in either the design phase or as part of a retrofit. This
bill seeks to prevent storefront crashes by encouraging the
adoption of protective barrier standards when considering
building occupant safety options for buildings, particularly in
commercial buildings, which have been slower to install vehicle
barriers than other types of properties. Additionally, it would
authorize an insurer to consider these vehicle barriers as a
safety measure eligible for discounted building insurance rates.
While the CBC has adopted regulations for vehicle barriers, the
author believes it is not clear what they are designed to
protect. This bill is intended to clarify that that vehicle
barriers adopted by the CBSC would protect building occupants
and pedestrians from storefront crashes.
Vehicle-into-building crashes. According to the Texas A&M
Transportation Institute (TTI), "With 500 people reportedly
killed each year by vehicles crashing into retail stores,
sidewalk cafes, hair salons, and other businesses, low-speed
barrier crashes have been called 'one of the largest unaddressed
safety issues in the country.'" According to TTI, these
accidents occur most frequently when a driver is entering or
leaving a parking space perpendicular to a building, and even at
relatively low speeds can cause serious injury or death. TTI
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notes, however, that simple, preventative measures can protect
pedestrians, store employees, and patrons from being injured or
killed when the accidents occur. In recognition of the safety
risks posed by errant vehicles and the increasingly important
use of protective barriers as a way to prevent or minimize the
damages from these types of accidents, the American Society for
Testing and Materials International, an international standards
development organization, in conjunction with the researchers at
TTI, recently approved a test standard, known as the Test Method
for Low Speed Barriers for Errant Vehicles, to set parameters
for bollards, barriers, and other devices most often seen
protecting storefronts and high-traffic pedestrian areas to help
standardize the use of protective barriers. Prior to the
adoption of this standard, there was no objective way to
evaluate the effectiveness of vertical pipes, decorative
planters, and other devices that could serve to protect a
business from damages caused by a vehicle-into-building
collision.
California Building Standards. The California Building
Standards Law established the CBSC and the process for adopting
state building codes. Under this process, relevant state
agencies propose amendments to model building codes, which the
CBSC must then adopt, modify, or reject. For example, the
Division of the State Architect is responsible for public
schools, community colleges, and accessibility in public
accommodations and public housing. The Office of the State Fire
Marshal is responsible for life and life safety for hotels,
apartments, dwellings, and assembly and high-rise buildings.
Not all buildings fall under the jurisdiction of a relevant
state agency. Most commercial, industrial, and manufacturing
structures are considered "local buildings," over which local
governments may determine applicable building standards. The
CBSC is responsible for developing building standards for
state-owned buildings, including university and state college
buildings, and for developing green building standards for most
buildings except for housing, public schools, and hospitals.
Every three years, the CBSC adopts a new version of the CBC,
known as the triennial update. The building codes apply to all
building occupancies and related features and equipment
throughout the state, and set requirements for structural,
mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, and require
measures for energy conservation, green design, construction and
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maintenance, fire and life safety, and accessibility.
Local guidance. At present, local jurisdictions have the
authority to require the installation of vehicle barriers in new
buildings, and some have done so. For example, the City of
Artesia has required the installation of vehicle barriers in
specified commercial properties. While the CBSC is responsible
for developing standards for state buildings and local
jurisdictions are responsible for developing standards for
commercial structures, commercial builders often look to the CBC
for further guidance, particularly when a jurisdiction is silent
on an issue. For example, the CBC currently contains standards,
adopted from an international model, for the installation of
vehicle barriers if a builder chooses to install vehicle
barriers in state buildings. If a local jurisdiction fails to
regulate vehicle barriers for commercial properties, a builder
presently choosing to install vehicle barriers will look to the
CBC or another national standard for guidance.
Insurance provisions. Although this bill draws attention to the
safety aspects of vehicle barriers, insurers already consider
the condition and safety features of a commercial property when
writing a commercial insurance policy. Prop. 103, however,
generally requires historical loss-based actuarial data to
justify a discount in insurance premiums paid by an insured. The
development of standards and ability to evaluate barrier
effectiveness provided by this bill may make it easier for
insurers to assess the extent to which their risk and exposure
is reduced as a result of the installation of such barriers, and
provide an actuarial justification in a rate filing subject to
IC prior approval before a discount specific to vehicle barriers
could be offered.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified8/17/15)
California Restaurant Association
Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour Restaurants
Storefront Safety Council
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OPPOSITION: (Verified8/17/15)
Department of General Services
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The Storefront Safety Council supports
AB 764 and the authorization of safety barriers as a design
consideration, and the added benefit of insurance premium relief
as a reward for this positive safety effort. Farrell's Ice
Cream Parlour Restaurants supports AB 764 because of its own
experience with a vehicle crashing into one of its restaurants,
causing one death and several severe injuries to young children.
According to the CEO, "The carnage is something I hope other
business owners never have to go through. But they will unless
our state takes a step to fix a problem that has just evolved
due to the changing age of our population who are still driving,
and changes to parking design to accommodate the ADA ?
storefront crash deaths are easily preventable."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: The DGS, the department under which
the CBSC is administratively located, opposes this bill unless
the references to the CBSC are struck out. According to DGS,
the CBC already contains building standards for the construction
and design of a vehicle barrier. Further, requirements for the
installation of vehicle barriers for the purposes of protecting
persons or pedestrians do not constitute building standards and
would not be appropriate to include in the CBC. Additionally,
the bill requires the CBSC to consider installation of vehicle
barriers in each triennial code adoption cycle; however, once a
building standard is developed and adopted, it is no longer
necessary to consider those standards. Finally, the CBSC
already has the authority to propose changes to the national
model codes and opposes putting building standards, such as the
definition of "vehicle barrier," in statute rather than in
regulations through the administrative process.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/14/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
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Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Linder, Medina
Prepared by:Alison Dinmore / T. & H. / (916) 651-4121
8/19/15 20:47:27
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