To: Board of Directors
From: Lewis Broschard, Chief, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District
Report Title: Accepting the 2025 Occupancy Inspection Compliance Report
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
ACCEPT the 2025 Occupancy Inspection Compliance Report from the Fire Chief pursuant to California Health and Safety Code Section 13146.2 and 13146.3; and ADOPT a Resolution acknowledging receipt of the report pursuant to Section 13146.4 of the California Health and Safety Code.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with adopting this resolution.
BACKGROUND:
Section 13146.2 requires the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District (District) to annually inspect all hotels, motels, lodging houses, apartment houses, and dwellings, and associated accessory structures for compliance with building standards and other regulations of the State Fire Marshal. Single-family dwellings, including duplexes, are excluded.
The occupancies covered by this statute are defined in the “Group R” occupancy classifications within the California Fire and Building Codes. Section 13146.3 requires the District to inspect all public or private schools at least once per year. The occupancies covered by this statute are also defined in the “Group E” occupancy classifications within the California Fire and Building Codes. It should be noted that a school is defined as containing grades K-12 and does not include daycare, colleges, or adult learning facilities.
Effective January 1, 2019, Section 13146.4 of the California Health and Safety Code mandates that all city or county fire departments and fire districts responsible for conducting mandated annual occupancy inspections of Group E and Group R occupancies report annually to their governing body regarding their compliance with these two inspection programs. Additionally, the governing body must adopt a resolution acknowledging receipt of the report. For the 2025 reporting period, the District completed 100% of the required annual inspections of both Group E and Group R occupancies within its jurisdiction. The number of inspections increased from 2024 due to the annexation of the Rodeo Hercules Fire District.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If the Board fails to accept the report and adopt the resolution, the District will be in violation of Section 13146.4 of the California Health and Safety Code until the report is accepted and the resolution is adopted.
THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
and for Special Districts, Agencies and Authorities Governed by the Board
IN THE MATTER OF Acknowledgement of receipt of the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District’s 2025 Occupancy Inspection Compliance Report,
WHEREAS, California Health & Safety Code Section 13146.4 was added in 2018, and became effective on January 1, 2019; and
WHEREAS, California Health & Safety Code Sections 13146.2 and 13146.3 requires all fire departments, including the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, that provide fire protection services to perform annual inspections in every building used as hotels, motels, lodging houses, apartment houses and dwellings, and associated accessory structures for compliance with building standards and other regulations of the State Fire Marshal, as provided; and
WHEREAS, California Health & Safety Code Section 13146.2 requires all fire departments that provide fire protection services, including the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, to report annually to its administering authority on its compliance with Sections 13146.2 and 13146.3; and
WHEREAS, the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Board of Directors intends this Resolution to fulfill the requirements of the California Health & Safety Code regarding acknowledgment of the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District’s compliance with California Health and Sections 13146.2 and 13146.3;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Board of Directors expressly acknowledges the measure of compliance of the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District with California Health and Safety Code Sections 13146.2 and 13146.3 in the area encompassed by the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District in 2025, as follows:
A. EDUCATIONAL GROUP E OCCUPANCIES Educational Group E occupancies are those public and private schools used by more than six persons at any one time for educational purposes, including kindergarten through the 12th grade. Within the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, there were 242 such Group E occupancies, buildings, structures and/or facilities.
During calendar year 2025, the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District completed 100% of all Group E occupancies, buildings, structures and/or facilities.
B. RESIDENTIAL GROUP R OCCUPANCIES Residential Group R occupancies, for the purposes of this resolution, are generally those occupancies containing sleeping units, and include hotels, motels, apartments (three units or more), as well as other residential occupancies (including a number of residential care facilities). Within the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District there were 7,881 Group R (R-1, R-2, R-2.1, and R-4) occupancies, including accessory and secondary structures, of this nature known to the District. Not included within this list are all Group R occupancies in the planning, design, or new construction phase that are not constructed or occupied, as well as duplex residential occupancies which should be classified as Group R-3 (single family) occupancies.
During calendar year 2025, the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District completed 100% of all constructed and occupied Group R occupancies, buildings, structures and/or facilities