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<br />7C <br />Page 1 <br /> <br />REPORT <br /> <br />To the Honorable Mayor and City Council <br />From the Ci ""ana er <br /> <br />January 7,2008 <br /> <br />SUBJECT <br />Commercial Occupancy Fire Inspection Program Status Report. <br /> <br />RECOMMENDATION <br />For information only, no action required. Staff will provide a brief presentation at the <br />Council meeting. <br /> <br />BACKGROUND <br />On June 18, 2007, the Redwood City Council approved a one-time allocation of $75,000 <br />to be used to catch up on commercial occupancy inspections conducted by the Fire <br />Department. These funds were provided to relieve a backlog of commercial occupancy <br />inspections that were not being completed in a timely manner. This is a follow-up report <br />requested by Council on June 18, 2007. <br /> <br />The demands on the fire prevention bureau have dramatically increased over the past <br />several years, which caused these inspections to fall behind. Current work loads and <br />work schedules of fire prevention personnel leave only about 10% of their regular work <br />hours to conduct field inspection in existing commercial buildings. In addition to being <br />responsible for commercial occupancy inspections, fire prevention personnel conduct <br />State Health and Safety Code mandated inspections of Educational Facilities and <br />Institutions/Hospitals, plan review, new construction site inspections, fire investigations, <br />public education, complaint follow-up and mitigation. Three Fire Prevention Officers <br />share this workload and time spent in each of these activities is constantly increasing. <br /> <br />There are approximately 3,684 commercial occupancies in Redwood City. <br />Approximately 630 of these occupancies require at least one fire safety permit. <br />Occupancies that are issued a fire permit are those that by the nature of their operation <br />are recognized as operating at a higher hazard to life and property. Fire safety <br />inspections will continue to focus on those occupancies that hold a fire permit. There is <br />currently limited capacity to inspect all commercial occupancies on an annual basis, <br />Occupancies that do not hold a fire safety permit are inspected when they change <br />occupancy use or ownership. <br /> <br />The additional $75,000 provided an opportunity for Fire Department management to <br />evaluate the best way to get the commercial occupancy inspection program caught-up. <br />From July 2007, to date, staff has focused on identifying the number of commercial <br />occupancies, evaluating existing programs and developing a work plan. In the work plan <br />developed, current Fire Department personnel, both fire prevention and operations, will <br />conduct commercial occupancy inspections on their normal days off. Another aspect of <br />the plan is to hire a casual part-time civilian fire safety inspector and a data entry clerk. <br /> <br />The Department has pursued hiring outside part-time fire inspectors to augment the <br />efforts of fire prevention personnel in conducting field inspections. Unfortunately, <br />recruiting efforts have not secured personnel that possess the knowledge, experience <br />and availability necessary to conduct such inspections. The Department is looking for <br />seasoned and experienced fire inspectors that can hit the ground running with little or <br />