Editorial note: This article was published long ago in anticipation of a looming deadline. Since then, the deadline for certain apartment buildings to upgrade fire alarm systems has passed, but it's not too late to get up to compliance.

We know there are laggards and wanted to report that the San Francisco Fire Department Division of Fire Prevention and Investigation will be hosting an online event to discuss the new sleeping area upgrade requirements - also known as the "pillow test."

We encourage the community of San Francisco housing providers to attend this Microsoft Teams meeting to hear from Assistant Fire Marshal Kathy Harold and Senior Fire Protection Engineer Sagiv Weisee-Ishai, PE.

When: Wednesday, September 6, 2023 from 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM

Link: Use this Microsoft Teams Link →

A special thanks to our friends at the Small Property Owners of San Francisco for bringing this topic front and center.

 

Upgrades required for certain SF apartment buildings

Several laws were passed years ago and only now are we having to deal with them. One of them, Ordinance 1103.7.6.1, requires owners of buildings with three or more residential units to upgrade the fire alarm system to comply with sound level requirements for sleeping areas. This is called the "pillow test.”

The pandemic bought owners some time but now, with the July 1, 2023 deadline nearing, permits have to be pulled, and if you've done any business in San Francisco you know that permitting is not a speedy process.

A "fire alarm system" is not to be confused with individual smoke or carbon monoxide detectors. Also, there are many buildings with three or more units that have no fire alarm system. If it doesn't apply, let it fly. Buildings with no pre-existing fire alarm need not install one now.

Much like seismic retrofit requirements imposed on owners, the requirement to upgrade fire alarm systems has placed an enormous financial and logistic burden squarely on the shoulders of landlords. We may disagree with the law, but we still have to comply with it.

 

To get some lingering questions answered, we turned to Kevin Sullivan

Kevin is the Director of Business Development at Vert Energy Group. Here's our introductory conversation in a two-part series.

Edited for brevity and length.

The first question is that of applicability. What buildings are subject to the ordinance?

Buildings with three or more units if you have a central fire alarm system that needs to be monitored. An exception is if the building is motel-style like when you open the door to the outside, that doesn't have to comply, either. There are no internal hallways, in other words; it's all exterior.

 

So, the first step is to ascertain the current decibel level? Make a diagnosis of the acoustics?

In theory, yes, but we stopped doing this. In every building, without exception, when we go in and shut the front door and the bedroom door, and turn on the fire alarm, the test fails. Not one building has reached the threshold of 75 decibels..

 

What is the cost to upgrade the system to 75+ decibels?

It depends on the size of the building. As a general rule of thumb, it is likely $2K - $2.5K per door. The more units, obviously, the bigger the expense. Yet there could be variables. Going through back walls, etc., so it just varies. 5-10 units, a good range is $25K - $30K, and then on up.

 

In terms of timing, we see a lot of laggards who will wait till the last minute or wait for a deadline to pass. For example, complying with the City's rent registry. July seems like a long time away, but would you recommend taking the steps now to bring fire alarm systems up to compliance?

Yes, that is prudent. You'll have to pull the proper permits, and this takes a long time - up to 3 or 4 months. You could pay for the expedited service, but it's in everyone's best interest to start it now. Everyone is going to be scrambling to get this done.

 

That's a scary word. Permits.

It has to be done, and that's where there are unscrupulous contractors that take shortcuts. They unfortunately will take an owner's money and claim they are in compliance but come to find out, they are not.

 

What do you expect the enforcement to be, if owners do not comply?

As I understand, you'll get a letter from the city and have to go in front of a judge to explain why you didn't have to comply, and it falls into the judge's lap.

Obviously, the deadline isn't until July 1, so we haven't had the opportunity to see exactly what will happen in the event of noncompliance, but we can draw a parallel with one of our clients who failed to do a seismic refit. The client got a letter in the mail and was dragged into court, and they are making him do that. Essentially, you get a certain amount of time to do the work, and you go back in front of the judge to tell the court the work has been completed.

 

So no automatic, punitive fine? It's at the discretion of the judge?

Right. There hasn't been any dollar amount put to this. At this early juncture, we just don't know. But I guess what I would say to clients is, let's not test their resolve - you don't want to find out what the penalties will be.

 

And the SFFD will be the enforcing agency. How will they know whether a building is not in good graces with the new law?

They will know that the proper permits have not been pulled. They have a good list.

 

There's been some criticism that this new regulatory regime is too costly and onerous for landlords to comply with, and that fire alarms are loud enough now. What say you? You may not want to get into the politics of this topic, but is this regulation overkill?

I don't think it is when it comes to life and death, no. People are at risk of dying and we want to prevent this at all costs. It's a peripheral concern, of course, but it also protects owners from lawsuits, so in the long run, a fire and safety measure really isn't overkill in my opinion. It's analogous to the law passed on balcony inspections when people plummeted to their death.

 

Kevin, you've been a wealth of information - thank you. We like to give information to our community in an easily digestible fashion, so there's a part two to this conversation we'll take on at a later time. How can someone get in touch with you?

Thanks for giving me the opportunity. Happy to help owners comply and keep residents safe. I can be reached via email at Kevin.Sullivan@vertenergygroup.com.