BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1394
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 8, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 1394 (Lowenthal) - As Amended: June 11, 2012
Policy Committee: Housing and
Community Development Vote: 7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill delays the date by which an owner must install a
carbon monoxide device in an existing hotel or motel unit from
January 1, 2013 to January 1, 2016, and makes a number of
changes to existing laws relating to the installation of smoke
detectors in residential dwellings. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the Department of Housing and Community Development
(HCD), on or before July 1, 2014, to submit to the Building
Standards Commission (BSC) for adoption, building standards
for the installation of carbon monoxide detectors in hotel and
motel units. In developing these standards, HCD must convene
and consult a stakeholder group and review and consider the
most current national standards available related to the
installation of carbon monoxide detectors.
2)Requires the Department of Housing and Community Development
(HCD), on or before July 1, 2014, to submit to the Building
Standards Commission (BSC) for adoption building standards for
the installation of carbon monoxide detectors in hotel and
motel units
3)After January 1, 2014, requires that a smoke alarm, in order
for the State Fire Marshal to approve and list the device,
display the date of manufacture, provide a place where the
date of installation can be written, incorporate a hush
feature (which allows a resident to manually turn off a
sounding alarm), incorporate an end-of-life feature providing
notice that the device needs to be replaced, and, if
battery-operated, contain a battery that cannot be replaced or
removed and is capable of powering the smoke alarm for a
SB 1394
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minimum of 10 years.
4)Requires the State Fire Marshal to approve the manufacturer's
instructions for each smoke alarm and ensure that the
instructions are consistent with current building standard
requirements for the location and placement of smoke alarms.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor costs, less than $25,000 to the State Fire Marshal and the
Department of Housing and Community Development.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . The author notes smoke alarms detect and alert
people to fire in its early stages. Properly operating smoke
alarms can mean the difference between life and death.
According to the author, data clearly shows that most fire
deaths today - over two-thirds - happen in homes with no smoke
alarms or no working alarms. The author states SB 1394 will
enhance the effective utilization of smoke alarms in single
and multi-family dwellings in order to better prevent fire
related injuries or death and will implement some of the
recommendations of the State Fire Marshal's recent Smoke Alarm
Task Force. The author argues that installing a battery
operated alarm that has a 10-year tamper-resistant battery
will eliminate virtually all those instances where alarms fail
due to dead batteries or batteries that have been removed.
In addition, the author seeks to give hotel and motel owners
more time and more direction on how to comply with recent
legislation requiring the installation of carbon monoxide
alarms because, according to the author, the current location
placement standards may not be appropriate for hotels and
motels.
2)Background . The California Building Standards Law establishes
the California Building Standards Commission (BSC) and the
process for adopting state building standards. Under this
process, relevant state agencies propose amendments to model
building codes, which the BSC must then adopt, modify, or
reject. The Department of Housing and Community Development
(HCD) is the relevant state agency for residential building
standards.
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3)Task Force . In early 2011, the SFM convened the smoke alarm
task force to study and update smoke alarm requirements.
Among the consensus recommendations of the task force are the
following:
a) Smoke alarms should be required in existing residential
occupancies that are being sold, leased, or rented to
conform to current building standards for the location of
smoke alarms. The smoke alarms should bear a
manufacturer's marking confirming they are less than 10
years old and be either AC powered with battery backup or
be powered by a long life primary battery.
b) Smoke alarms and smoke detectors should be required to
be replaced when they fail to respond to operability tests
or no longer than 10 years from the date of manufacture
marked on the product.
c) Smokes alarms that are solely battery powered should be
required to with a 10-year battery and have a feature to
silence the alarm.
1)Previous legislation . Under SB 183 (Lowenthal), Chapter 19,
Statutes of 2010, an owner of an existing dwelling unit must
install a carbon monoxide device approved by the State Fire
Marshal in each existing dwelling unit having a fossil fuel
burning heater or appliance, fireplace, or an attached garage,
by July 1, 2011 for all existing single-family homes and
January 1, 2013 for all other existing dwelling units.
2)There is no registered opposition to this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Roger Dunstan / APPR. / (916) 319-2081