State Fire Marshal: home hardening.

Plain English Breakdown

The effectiveness of home hardening standards and reports in reducing fire risks is not addressed by the official source material.

Home Hardening Standards and Reporting

This law requires county recorders to maintain construction records related to home hardening and share them with the State Fire Marshal, who must develop standards for home hardening by January 1, 2028, and compile a report on homes in fire hazard zones by July 1, 2030.

What This Bill Does

• Requires county recorders to maintain construction records related to making homes more resistant to fires (home hardening).
• Allows the State Fire Marshal to request these home hardening records from county recorders.
• Requires the State Fire Marshal to create standards for home hardening by January 1, 2028.
• Requires a report on homes in fire hazard zones to be compiled and made public by July 1, 2030.

Who It Names or Affects

• County recorders who must keep and share construction records related to home hardening.
• The State Fire Marshal who will develop standards and compile reports.
• Homeowners in fire hazard zones whose properties may be included in the report.

Terms To Know

home hardening

Making homes more resistant to fires through construction methods or materials.

fire hazard severity zone

An area classified by the State Fire Marshal based on how likely it is for a fire to start and spread there.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if county recorders do not comply with the new requirements.
• It's unclear exactly how much this will cost local agencies, which could affect state reimbursement decisions.

Official Summary Text

AB 1964, as amended, Bennett.
State Fire Marshal:
county recorder:
home hardening.
Existing law establishes various county offices, including the office of the recorder. Existing law requires the recorder to, among other things, accept for recordation any instrument, paper, or notice that is authorized or required to be recorded, as provided. Existing law requires the recorder to maintain various indices of specified documents and records.
Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal to identify areas in the state as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones, as specified. Existing law also requires the State Fire Marshal to classify lands within state responsibility areas into fire hazard severity zones, and, by regulation, to designate fire hazard severity zones and assign to each zone
a rating reflecting the degree of severity of fire hazard that is expected to prevail in the zone. Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal to periodically review very high fire hazard severity zones that are not state responsibility areas, and designated and rated zones that are state responsibility areas, as provided.
This bill would require a county recorder to maintain construction records related to home hardening and to share, upon request, construction records related to home hardening in a state or local responsibility area with the Office of the State Fire Marshal. By imposing additional duties on county
recorders, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill would require the Office of the State Fire Marshal, on or before January 1, 2028, to develop home hardening standards, as provided. The bill would require the State Fire Marshal to, on or before January 1, 2030, compile a report concerning homes in moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones in state and local responsibility areas. The bill would require the State Fire
Marshal
Marshal, on or before July 1, 2030,
to make the completed report available on its internet website and
to, on or before July 1, 2030,
to
submit copies to the Legislature, as provided. The bill would require the report to include, among other things,
estimates of both
the number of homes that meet those home hardening standards and the number of homes that require more home hardening to meet those standards in each responsibility area and county.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF