(a) Any responsibilities of the State Fire Marshal to adopt, through a formal rulemaking process as provided in Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to building standards, including, but not limited to, Sections 13108, 13143, 13143.6, and 13211, are hereby transferred to the commission.
(b) The State Fire Marshal shall remain the state agency responsible for developing building standards to implement the state’s fire and life safety policy. In its role as the fire and life safety standard developing agency, the State Fire Marshal shall continue its existing activities and forums designed to facilitate compromise and consensus among the various individuals and groups involved in development of the state’s codes related to fire and life safety.
(c) The state’s fire and life safety building standards, as developed by the State Fire Marshal and as adopted by the commission, shall continue to be based on the state’s fire and life safety policy goals and mandates as they existed prior to the enactment of this chapter and as they are amended.
(d) The role of the commission in reviewing and adopting fire and life safety building standards shall be strictly limited to a technical review of those standards, through a process integrated with the technical review of all other state building standards, and a determination as to whether those standards conform to the requirements of Section 18930 commonly known as the “nine point criteria.”
(e) The commission may not rewrite or modify any fire or life safety building standard without the express mutual agreement of the State Fire Marshal. If the State Fire Marshal does not agree with the modification of a fire or life safety building standard as proposed by the commission, the authority of the commission shall be limited to disapproval of the standard, pursuant to the “nine point criteria” in Section 18930.
(Added by Stats. 1991, Ch. 865, Sec. 24.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018