A. There is adopted for the purpose of prescribing regulations governing conditions hazardous to life and property from fire, hazardous materials or explosion, that certain document, not less than one copy is filed in the office of the Fire Department and one in the office of the Building Division of City of Visalia, being marked and designated as the California Fire Code, 2022 edition published by the International Code Council, including Appendix Chapters 4 (Special Detailed requirements Based on Use and Occupancy), B (Fire-Flow Requirements for Buildings), C (Fire Hydrant Locations and Distribution), D (Fire Apparatus Access Roads as amended by section L), H (Hazardous Materials Management Plan (HMMP) and Hazardous Materials Inventory Statement (HMIS) Instructions), I (Fire Protection Systems-Noncompliant Conditions), N (Indoor Trade Shows and Exhibitions) and O (Temporary Haunted Houses, Ghost Walks and Similar Amusement Uses), as published by the International Code Council, be and is hereby adopted as the Fire Code of the City of Visalia, in the State of California
regulating and governing the safeguarding of life and property from fire and explosion hazards arising from the storage, handling and use of hazardous substances, materials and devices, and from conditions hazardous to life or property in the occupancy of buildings and premises as herein provided, providing for the issuance of permits and collection of fees therefor, and each and all of the regulations, provisions, penalties, conditions, and terms of said Fire Code on file in the office of the City of Visalia are hereby referred to, adopted, and made a part hereof, as if fully set out in this ordinance, with the additions, insertions, deletions and changes, if any, prescribed this section 8.20.010.
B. All further references shall be to the 2022 California Fire Code, in Subsection 101.1 of the, the term "City of Visalia" shall be inserted.
C. Subsection 104.3.1.1. Warrant cost recovery, is added to read as follows:
104.3.1.1 Warrant cost recovery. Cost to the City of Visalia for obtaining and executing an Inspection Warrant is the responsibility of the property owner and steps to recover the costs will be taken, up to and including a lien against the property. Recovery costs may include staff time, legal fees, and court fees.
D. Subsection 111.1 Board of Appeals is amended to read as follows:
111.1 Appeals. See local Ordinance, Appeals Section 8.20.07.
E. Subsection 111.1 through 111.4 shall be deleted in their entirety.
F. Subsection 112.4 Change: Violation penalties, is amended to read as follows:
112.4 Violations penalties. Persons who shall violate a prevision of this code or shall fail to comply with any of the requirements thereof or who shall erect, install, alter, repair or do work in violation of the approved construction documents or directive of the fire code official, or a permit or certificate used under rovision of this code, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, infraction or both. Penalties shall be as prescribed in local Ordinance Section 1.12.010. Each day that a violation continues after due notice has been served shall be deemed a separate offense.
G. Subsection 112.5 Cost of abatement, is added to read as follows:
112.5 Cost of abatement. Cost of abatement is the responsibility of the property owner and steps to recover the costs will be taken, up to and including a lien against the property. Property owners shall be notified of any action taken as soon as possible. Recovery costs may include staff time, contractor's costs, legal fees and any and all cost associated with the abatement.
H. Subsection 113.4 Change: Failure to comply, is amended to read as follows:
113.4 Failure to Comply. Any person who shall continue any work after having been served with a stop work order, except such work as that person is directed to perform to remove a violation or unsafe condition, shall be liable to a fine prescribed in local Ordinance Section 1.12.010.
I. Subsection 107.7 Added: Visalia Fire Department Fee Schedule, is added to read as follows: 107.7 Visalia Fire Department Fee Schedule. The Fire Chief may establish a schedule of fees, as approved by the City Council, to be charged and collected for plan checking, required inspections services, and for the issuance of permits pursuant to Section 105 of this Code. In addition, this schedule may include a fire service Cost Recovery fee to be charged to any person, firm, corporation, or business that through negligence, violation of the law or as a result of carelessness is responsible for the cause of any fire service response to the scene of such an incident. A copy of the fee schedule shall be kept in the office of the City Clerk and the Office of the Fire Department and shall be available for public inspection.
J. Subsection 105.5.34 Exception, is amended to read as follows:
105.6.32 Exception: Recreational Fires, see Visalia Municipal Code Ordinance, Open Burning, Section 8.44.010.
K. Subsection 903.3.8.4.1 shall be added to read as follows:
903.3.8.4.1 Tamper Protection. All exterior risers, drain/test valves and backflow devices shall be protected from unauthorized tampering by approved means. Protection method shall be indicated on building plans.
L. Subsection C103.4 Buildings provided with a fire sprinkler system, is added to read as follows:
C103.4 Buildings provided with a fire sprinkler system. Any newly constructed building provided with a NFPA 13 or NFPA 13R fire sprinkler system shall provide a fire hydrant within fifty (50) feet of the fire department connection. Where an existing building is retrofitted with a NFPA 13 or NFPA 13R fire sprinkler system a fire hydrant shall be provided within seventy-five (75) feet of the fire department connection.
C103.4.1 An additional twenty-five (25) feet of distance between a fire hydrant and the fire department connection (FDC) may be granted by the Fire Marshal when a fire sprinkler system density is designed with an additional 25%.
Exceptions: The additional twenty-five (25) feet of distance between a fire hydrant and the fire department connection (FDC) shall not be permitted for Pipe scheduled and ESFR sprinkler systems.
M. Section D106 where required, "apparatus access roads" shall be available to public travel at all times.
N. Subsection D107.1 Shall read as follows:
One- or two-family dwelling residential developments. Developments of one- two family dwellings where the number of dwelling units exceeds 30 shall be provided with two separate and approved access roads available to public travel at all times.
O. Subsection D107.1 , Exception 1. shall be deleted in its entirety.
(Ord. 2022-15 § 2 (part), 2022 )