The functions of the office shall be to foster, promote and develop ways and means of protecting life and property against fire and panic.

The State Fire Marshal shall be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate and shall hold office at the pleasure of the Governor. In order to be eligible for appointment, he or she shall have had not less than eight years experience in a regularly organized fire department in this State. He or she shall be paid the annual salary provided for by Chapter 6 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

The State Fire Marshal may appoint those assistant or deputy state fire marshals as he or she may consider necessary from among active chiefs of fire departments, fire marshals of cities, counties, and districts providing fire protection, and the salaried field assistants of the State Fire Marshal.

The State Fire Marshal and the assistant or deputy state fire marshals shall exercise the functions of peace officers.

The State Fire Marshal shall aid in the enforcement of all laws and ordinances, any rules and regulations adopted under the provisions of Division 11 (commencing with Section 12000) of, and Part 1 (commencing with Section 13000) and Part 2 (commencing with Section 13100) of Division 12 of, the Health and Safety Code, and building standards adopted by the State Fire Marshal and published in the State Building Standards Code relating to fires or to fire prevention and protection.

The State Fire Marshal shall, if possible, attend, and take charge of and protect all property which may be imperiled by any fire other than:

Except on property which has been deeded to the state for taxes, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection may abate fire hazards existing on property owned, controlled, or held in trust by the state, in areas not under the jurisdiction of the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection, upon the request of the legislative body of the city, county, or city and county within which the property is situated. The cost of the abatement shall be paid out of any money in the State Treasury appropriated for that purpose.

The State Fire Marshal may determine the existence of a fire hazard on any property which has been deeded to the State for taxes and may serve a written notice of condemnation of the fire hazard on the State Controller, or on any person designated by the Controller. The fire hazard is then subject to removal in accordance with the law relating to removal of public nuisances on tax deeded property.

The State Fire Marshal shall encourage the adoption of fire prevention measures by means of education, engineering, and enforcement and shall prepare or cause to be prepared for dissemination information relating to the subject of fire prevention and extinguishment.

The State Fire Marshal, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, shall develop fire prevention, response, and recovery measures for utility grade lithium-ion battery storage facilities.

The State Fire Marshal shall establish or cause to be established a program of fire prevention training for fire prevention inspectors employed by local fire protection agencies. The training program shall be conducted on a regional basis located near such agencies which employ or contract with such inspectors.

On or before July 1, 2023, the State Fire Marshal, with the involvement of the Statewide Training and Education Advisory Committee, shall develop a curriculum for livestock producers eligible for the livestock pass program described in Section 2350 of the Food and Agricultural Code. The curriculum shall, at a minimum, provide education regarding basic fire behavior, communications during a disaster emergency, and incident command structure. The curriculum shall provide for the initial certification as well as the continuing education or recertification of livestock producers eligible for the livestock pass program. It is the intent of the Legislature that any certification training utilizing the curriculum developed pursuant to this section be no more than

four hours in duration, ensuring that commercial livestock producers may avail themselves of the curriculum.

During the existence of a fire, the State Fire Marshal may protect any property which is affected thereby until the arrival of the owner or claimant. If the owner or claimant does not take charge of the property within twenty-four hours, the State Fire Marshal may store it at the owner’s or claimant’s expense.

The State Fire Marshal may investigate every break, and shall investigate every explosion or fire, involving a pipeline reported by a local agency pursuant to Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 51010) of Division 1 of Title 5 of the Government Code. The State Fire Marshal may immediately order any pipeline closed when it is determined to be necessary to do so in the interests of public safety. The pipeline shall remain closed until it is determined that operations may be resumed with safety or until any discovered safety defect has been remedied or repaired.

and maintenance of equipment and furnishings that present unusual fire hazards in any state institution or other state-owned building or in any specified state-occupied building. The State Fire Marshal shall adopt those regulations as are reasonably necessary to define what buildings shall be considered as state-occupied buildings.

published in the California Building Standards Code in all state-owned buildings, specified state-occupied buildings, and state institutions throughout the state. Upon written request from the chief fire official of any city, county, city and county, or fire protection district, or a Designated Campus Fire Marshal, pursuant to Section 13146, the State Fire Marshal may authorize that person and their authorized representatives, in their geographical area of responsibility, to make fire prevention inspections of state-owned or specified state-occupied buildings, other than state institutions, for the purpose of enforcing the regulations relating to fire and panic safety adopted by the State Fire Marshal pursuant to this section and building standards relating to fire and panic safety published in the California Building Standards Code. Authorization from the State Fire Marshal shall be limited to those fire departments or fire districts that maintain a fire prevention bureau staffed by paid personnel.

wards.

The State Fire Marshal, in consultation with the Bureau of Household Goods and Services, shall review the flammability standards for building insulation materials, including whether the flammability standards for some insulation materials can only be met with the addition of chemical flame retardants. Based on this review, and if the State Fire Marshal deems it appropriate, he or she shall, by July 1, 2015, propose for consideration by the California Building Standards Commission, to be adopted at the sole discretion of the commission, updated insulation flammability standards that accomplish both of the following:

travel between walls and into confined areas, including crawl spaces and attics, for occupants of the building and any firefighters who may be in the building during a fire.

adopted pursuant to this section shall also apply to buildings located in very high fire hazard severity zones designated pursuant to Chapter 6.8 (commencing with Section 51175) of Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 5 of the Government Code, and other areas designated by a local agency following a finding supported by substantial evidence in the record that the requirements of the building standards adopted pursuant to this section are necessary for effective fire protection within the area.

this section to high fire hazard severity zones during the next triennially occurring code adoption cycle.

exclude from the requirements of these building standards any area in its jurisdiction following a finding supported by substantial evidence in the record at a public hearing that the requirements of these building standards are necessary or not necessary, respectively, for effective fire protection within the area. Changes made by a local agency to an urban wildland interface community area following a finding supported by substantial evidence in the record shall be final and shall not be rebuttable.

The State Fire Marshal may adopt regulations specifying the access to roof areas of commercial establishments which firefighters shall have and may limit or restrict the use of razor wire fences, chain link fences, or any other fences which would obstruct that access.

For purposes of this section, “commercial establishment” shall not include any facility of a public utility.

The State Fire Marshal shall adopt regulations to require a public address system with an emergency backup power system for all buildings or structures constructed on or after July 1, 1991, which are intended for public assemblies of 10,000 or more persons.

The State Fire Marshal shall adopt regulations to require any existing building or structure intended for public assemblies of 10,000 or more persons which, on or after January 1, 1991, has or subsequently installs a public address system, to have an emergency backup power system for the public address system.

The State Fire Marshal, his or her deputies, or his or her salaried assistants, the chief of any city or county fire department or fire protection district and their authorized representatives may enter any building or premises not used for dwelling purposes at any reasonable hour for the purpose of enforcing this chapter. The owner, lessee, manager or operator of any such building or premises shall permit the State Fire Marshal, his or her deputies, his or her salaried assistants and the chief of any city or county fire department or fire protection district and their authorized representatives to enter and inspect them at the time and for the purpose stated in this section.

licensing, reporting, operation, and maintenance. Regulations that are building standards shall be submitted to the State Building Standards Commission for approval pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 18935) of Part 2.5 of Division 13.

The State Fire Marshal shall, before the next triennial edition of the California Building Standards Codes (Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations) adopted after January 1, 2025, propose to the California Building Standards Commission updates to the fire standards described in Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations relating to requirements for those lithium-based battery systems that are compliant with UL 9540 at facilities under the exclusive control of communications utilities in order to support compliance with regulations adopted by the Public Utilities Commission relating to 72-hour backup power requirements pursuant to Section 776.2 of the Public Utilities Code. The updates proposed by the State Fire Marshal pursuant to this section shall address the specific environments in which communications utilities

shall deploy lithium-based battery systems in order to meet the requirements implemented pursuant to Section 776.2 of the Public Utilities Code.

The State Fire Marshal shall gather statistical information on all fires, medical aid incidents, and hazardous materials incidents occurring within this state. The chief fire official of each fire department operated by the state, a city, city and county, fire protection district, organized fire company, or other public or private entity which provides fire protection, shall furnish information and data to the State Fire Marshal relating to each fire which occurs within his or her area of jurisdiction. The chief fire official of each fire department operated by the state shall, and the chief fire official of fire departments operated by a city, city and county, fire protection district, organized fire company, or other public or private entity which provides fire protection may, also furnish information and data to the State Fire Marshal relating to medical aid incidents and hazardous materials incidents which occur within their area of jurisdiction. The State Fire Marshal shall adopt regulations prescribing the scope of the information to be reported, the manner of reporting the information, the forms to be used, the time the information shall be reported, and other requirements and regulations as the State Fire Marshal determines necessary.

The State Fire Marshal shall annually analyze the information and data reported, compile a report, and disseminate a copy of the report, together with his or her analysis, to each chief fire official in the state. The State Fire Marshal shall also furnish a copy of his or her report and analysis to the State Emergency Medical Services Authority and any other interested person upon request.

The State Fire Marshal shall establish and maintain a registry of burn injuries and deaths, and shall annually compile a statistical report of such injuries and deaths.

The director of every burn center which examines, treats, or admits a person with a burn or smoke inhalation injury or a person who suffers a burn-related death shall file a report with the State Fire Marshal describing the injury or death at the end of the examination or treatment or at the time the patient is discharged from the burn center or at the time of the patient’s death.

As used in this section, the term “burn center” means an intensive care unit in which there are specially trained physicians, nursing and supportive personnel and the necessary monitoring and therapeutic equipment needed to provide specialized medical and nursing care to burned patients.

The State Fire Marshall shall, in cooperation with the burn centers, develop the form to be used in reporting information to the State Fire Marshal under this section.

The State Fire Marshal may adopt a model ordinance for adoption by any local agency authorized pursuant to Article 3.6 (commencing with Section 50078) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 5 of the Government Code to establish uniform schedules and rates for assessments for fire suppression services as provided in Section 50078.2 of the Government Code.

The State Department of Health shall establish and administer a program which will make loans available to private nonprofit children’s institutions and private nonprofit homes for the aging which are nonprofit community care facilities for adults under subdivision (a) of Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code from such funds as may be appropriated by the Legislature to pay the cost of the installation of automatic sprinkler systems or detectors responding to invisible products of combustion other than heat approved by the State Fire Marshal. Any loan pursuant to this section shall bear interest at a rate of 5 percent per annum and shall not be for a term exceeding 30 years.

The State Department of Health shall adopt and enforce such regulations as may be necessary for the reasonable administration of the loan program which it is required by this section to establish and administer.

Every person who violates any provision of this chapter, or any order, rule, or regulation made pursuant to this chapter, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) or more than five hundred dollars ($500), or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or by both.

A person is guilty of a separate offense each day during which he or she commits, continues, or permits a violation of any provision of, or any order, rule, or regulation made pursuant to, this chapter.

Notwithstanding Section 1463 of the Penal Code, all fines and forfeitures imposed by or collected in any court of this state, as a result of citations issued by the State Fire Marshal or salaried deputy state fire marshals employed by the State of California, for any violation of this part or of any regulation adopted pursuant to this part, shall be deposited, as soon as practicable after the receipt of the fine or forfeiture, with the county treasurer of the county in which the court is situated. Amounts so deposited shall be paid at least once a month as follows:

All revenue collected pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 13112.1 shall be deposited in the California Fire and Arson Training Fund and shall be available, when appropriated by the Legislature, for the office of the State Fire Marshal to support fire training.

following conditions are satisfied:

been performed on the construction site and shall not be construed to mean that the hospital, home, nursery, institution, sanitarium, or a portion thereof, is in the planning stage.

The State Fire Marshal shall adopt regulations requiring the installation of automatic fire devices activated by products of combustion other than heat in all facilities within the scope of Sections 13143 and 13143.6, which provide 24-hour per day care, which house six or fewer persons, and which do not have automatic sprinkler systems.

listed by the State Fire Marshal pursuant to Section 13114.

section.

high-rise structure, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 13210 and regulated by Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 13210), and which is used for purposes other than as dwelling units intended for human occupancy, is exempt from the requirements of this section.

this section for a deficient smoke alarm when he or she has not received notice of the deficiency.

by a maximum fine of two hundred dollars ($200) for each offense.

dwelling, as described in subdivision (a), whether the transfer is made by sale, exchange, or real property sales contract, as defined in Section 2985 of the Civil Code, shall deliver to the transferee a written statement indicating that the transferor is in compliance with this section. The disclosure statement shall be either included in the receipt for deposit in a real estate transaction, an addendum attached thereto, or a separate document.

have requested delivery from the transferor in writing. Delivery to the spouse of a transferee or transferor shall be deemed delivery to a transferee or transferor, unless the contract states otherwise.

relating to the disclosure required to be made by a transferor pursuant to this section. However, this subdivision does not apply to a licensee, as defined in Section 10011 of the Business and Professions Code, where the licensee participates in the making of the disclosure required to be made pursuant to this section with actual knowledge of the falsity of the disclosure.

with this section is an award of actual damages not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100), exclusive of any court costs and attorney’s fees.

alarm that is only operated by a battery shall contain a nonreplaceable, nonremovable battery that is capable of powering the smoke alarm for at least 10 years.

the regulatory process shall include, but are not limited to, fire alarm systems with smoke detectors, fire alarm devices that connect to a panel, or other devices that use a low-power radio frequency wireless communication signal.

To the extent that resources are available, the State Fire Marshal shall prepare and distribute for use by local agencies, community groups, and private firms, public education materials about the dangers of illegal burglar bars. These public education materials shall use multiple media, including Braille, 18-point type, cassette tape, and computer disk for those who are print impaired, and multiple languages, as the State Fire Marshal determines appropriate.

The governing body of any city or county may enact ordinances or laws imposing restrictions greater than those imposed by Sections 13113 and 13114.

material or are treated and maintained in a flame-retardant condition. This subdivision shall not apply to tents designed or manufactured for children’s play, camping, backpacking, or mountaineering, or those used to conduct committal services on the grounds of a cemetery, nor shall this subdivision apply to tents, awnings, or other fabric enclosures erected and used within a sound stage, or other similar structural enclosure that is equipped with an overhead automatic sprinkler system.

tent is made from flame-retardant fabrics or materials approved by the State Fire Marshal. A tent described in this subdivision shall be labeled in a manner specified by the State Fire Marshal. Any manufacturer of tents for sale in this state who fails to use flame-retardant fabrics or materials or who fails to label them as specified by the State Fire Marshal shall be strictly liable for any damage that occurs to any person as a result of a violation of this section.

subdivision (b), a tent that is constructed with fabric entirely from synthetic fibers shall be classified as being made from flame-retardant fabrics or materials.

Except as provided in Section 18930, the State Fire Marshal shall prepare and adopt rules and regulations establishing minimum requirements for the prevention of fire and panic in connection with the use of tents, awnings or other fabric enclosures. The State Fire Marshal shall adopt and submit building standards for approval pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 18935) of Part 2.5 of Division 13 of this code for the purposes described in this section.

All solvents offered for sale at retail shall be labeled as required by the regulations adopted pursuant to the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (Public Law 86-813; 74 Stats. 372; 15 U.S.C., Sec. 1261, et seq.) which are in effect on January 1, 1979, or which are adopted on or after that date.

Any person, firm, or corporation in violation of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

It is unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to establish, maintain or operate any night club, restaurant, cafe or any similar place where alcoholic liquors are sold for consumption on the premises, or any dance hall, skating rink, theater, motion picture theater, auditorium, school, or any other place of public assemblage used, or intended for use, as a place of amusement, entertainment, instruction, display, or exhibition, unless all drapes, hangings, curtains, drops and all other similar decorative materials that would tend to increase the fire or panic hazard, are made from a nonflammable material, or are treated and maintained in a flame-retardant condition as defined in Section 13115. The provisions of this section shall not apply to portions of the premises which are not a part of and are not directly connected with that portion of the premises used for any of the above purposes.

The State Fire Marshal shall establish minimum standard requirements, and shall adopt rules and regulations as are deemed necessary by him or her to properly regulate the manufacture, sale and application of flame-retardant chemicals and the sale of flame-retardant treated fabrics or materials used or intended for use in connection with any occupancy mentioned in Sections 13115 and 13119.

The State Fire Marshal shall, before approving any flame-retardant chemical, fabric or material, require that flame-retardant chemicals and flame-retardant fabrics or materials be submitted to a laboratory approved by him or her for testing in accordance with the standards established pursuant to Section 13120.

The State Fire Marshal shall promulgate and make available at cost of printing at least once each year a list of the flame-retardant chemicals, flame-retardant fabrics or materials, and flame-retardant application concerns approved by him or her. He or she may, without cost, furnish a single copy of each list to each flame-retardant chemical and application concern that is registered and approved by him or her and to all California fire officials.

The State Fire Marshal shall remove from his or her approved list the name of any flame-retardant chemicals, flame-retardant fabric or material or any flame-retardant application concern where he or she finds after a hearing that any of the following causes exists:

The proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, and the State Fire Marshal shall have all the powers granted therein. Pending hearing and decision the State Fire Marshal may temporarily remove any name from the approved list for a period not to exceed 30 days, if he or she finds that the action is required in the public interest. In any such case the order of temporary removal shall be effective upon notice to the persons affected thereby, and a hearing shall be held and a decision issued within 30 days after the notice.

The name of any chemical, chemical concern or flame-retardant application concern whose name has been removed from the approved list shall not be restored to the approved list for a period of 90 days from the date of the removal.

The name of any chemical, chemical concern or flame-retardant application concern shall not be restored to the approved list until a new application, accompanied by a new registration fee, has been filed with the State Fire Marshal.

With the advice of the State Fire Advisory Board, the State Fire Marshal shall prepare and adopt rules and regulations establishing minimum standards and specific procedures for the approval of flame-retardant chemicals, flame-retardant materials and flame-retardant applicator concerns whose names are to appear on the approved list.

The annual registration fee renewal period for chemical manufacturing concerns, concerns marketing a flame-retardant fabric or material, and general applicators shall begin on January 1 and end on May 1 preceding the registration year for which the renewal is requested. A penalty of 50 percent of the listing fee shall be assessed in all cases where the renewal fees are not paid on or before May 1, preceding the registration year for which renewal is requested.

All money collected pursuant to this chapter shall be deposited in the State Fire Marshal Licensing and Certification Fund established pursuant to Section 13137, and shall be available to the State Fire Marshal upon appropriation by the Legislature to carry out the purposes of this chapter.

“Nonambulatory persons” means persons unable to leave a building unassisted under emergency conditions. It includes any person who is unable, or likely to be unable, to physically and mentally respond to a sensory signal approved by the State Fire Marshal, or an oral instruction relating to fire danger, and persons who depend upon mechanical aids such as crutches, walkers, and wheelchairs. The determination of ambulatory or nonambulatory status of persons with developmental disabilities shall be made by the Director of Social Services or his or her designated representative, in consultation with the Director of Developmental Services or his or her designated representative. The determination of ambulatory or nonambulatory status of all other disabled persons placed after January 1, 1984, who are not developmentally disabled shall be made by the Director of Social Services, or his or her designated representative.

Every person, firm, or corporation maintaining or operating any facility for the care of the mentally handicapped shall file a statement with the fire authority having jurisdiction within five days of the admission or readmission of a patient stating that such patient is an ambulatory or a nonambulatory person and enumerating the reasons for such classification. Such a statement shall also be filed for each existing patient within 30 days of the effective date of this section.

Any statement required to be filed pursuant to this section shall be certified as to its correctness by the person attending such patient.

It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation required to file a statement pursuant to this section to include false statements therein. Any such act shall be in violation of this section and subject to the provisions of Section 13112.

Code, as adopted and amended by the State Building Standards Commission.

zones, the entire roof covering of every existing structure where more than 50 percent of the total roof area is replaced within any one-year period, every new structure, and any roof covering applied in the alteration, repair, or replacement of the roof of every existing structure, shall be a fire retardant roof covering that is at least class B as defined in the Uniform Building Code, as adopted and amended by the State Building Standards Commission.

than 50 percent of the total roof area is replaced within any one-year period, every new structure, and any roof covering applied in the alteration, repair, or replacement of the roof of every existing structure, shall be a fire retardant roof covering that is at least class A as defined in the Uniform Building Code, as adopted and amended by the State Building Standards Commission.

Fire Marshal.

less stringent than the standards set forth in subdivision (a), in which case the ordinance shall not be valid on or after the effective date for the relevant roofing standard specified in subdivisions (a) and (b).

state unless both of the following conditions are met:

Regulations relative to matching replacement items in quality, color, and size.

The State Fire Marshal shall adopt regulations for alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facilities, as defined in Section 11834.11, based on whether the residents or patients of the facilities are nonambulatory, as defined in Section 13131, and not based on the age of residents or patients of the facilities.