BILL NUMBER: AB 3305 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 925
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 26, 1996
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 25, 1996
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 30, 1996
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 23, 1996
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 21, 1996
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 13, 1996
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 15, 1996
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 27, 1996
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 14, 1996
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 18, 1996
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 8, 1996
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Setencich and Speier
(Coauthor: Senator Hughes)
FEBRUARY 23, 1996
An act to amend, add, and repeal Section 1102.6 of the Civil Code,
to amend Section 18942 of, and to add Article 2.5 (commencing with
Section 115920) to Chapter 5 of Part 10 of Division 104 of, the
Health and Safety Code, relating to housing.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 3305, Setencich. Housing: safety: disclosures.
(1) Existing law requires a seller of residential property to make
disclosures upon the transfer of that property, and sets forth the
content and form of these disclosures.
This bill would, commencing July 1, 1997, add to the listing of
required disclosures certain prescribed security safeguards,
including, among other things, the presence or absence of security
bars for windows, with, or without, quick-release mechanisms on
bedroom windows, an anchored, bolted, or strapped water heater, a
child-resistant barrier, as prescribed, for a pool, and a locking
safety cover for a spa, would delete the disclosure requirement
regarding a hot tub, and would make other technical, nonsubstantive
changes.
(2) Existing law makes certain safety and sanitation requirements
applicable to public swimming pools, including, but not limited to,
the requirement that every person operating or maintaining a public
swimming pool do so in a sanitary, healthful, and safe manner.
Existing law designates the State Department of Health Services as
having supervision over these requirements, and requires every
health officer, within his or her jurisdiction, to enforce building
standards relating to swimming pools, as defined.
This bill would, in addition, enact the Swimming Pool Safety Act
to establish certain safety standards requiring swimming pool
enclosures, safety pool covers, or exit alarms, as defined, or
certain other means of protection, and would require each swimming
pool for which a construction permit is issued on or after January 1,
1998, and that is located at a private, single-family home to meet
at least one of these safety standards. In this regard, the bill
would provide that any ordinance governing child access to pools
adopted by a political subdivision on or before January 1, 1997, is
presumed to afford protection that is equal to or greater than the
safety standards prescribed by the act. This bill would make these
standards applicable commencing January 1, 1998, to a private,
single-family home for which a construction permit for a new swimming
pool has been issued on or after January 1, 1998. This bill would
also require any person entering into an agreement to build a
swimming pool to give the consumer notice of the requirements of this
bill. By increasing the enforcement duties of local health and
safety officers, this bill would impose a state-mandated local
program.
This bill would exclude hot tubs with certain safety covers,
public swimming pools, as defined, and any pool within the
jurisdiction of a political subdivision that adopts an ordinance with
requirements at least as stringent as the requirements of this bill.
This bill would exclude facilities regulated by the State
Department of Social Services from requirements of this bill.
This bill would provide that these provisions are not subject to
further modification or interpretation by any regulatory agency of
the state and that this authority is reserved exclusively to local
jurisdictions, as specified.
Existing law, the State Building Standards Law, requires the State
Building Standards Commission to approve any state building
standards and to publish a State Building Standards Code.
This bill would require the commission to publish the pool safety
provisions of this bill in the State Building Standards Code with a
note indicating that the provisions are subject to local government
modification.
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 no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1102.6 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
1102.6. (a) The disclosures required by this article pertaining
to the property proposed to be transferred are set forth in, and
shall be made on a copy of, the following disclosure form:
(b) This section shall remain in effect only until July 1, 1997,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before July 1, 1997, deletes or extends that date.
SEC. 2. Section 1102.6 is added to the Civil Code, to read:
1102.6. (a) The disclosures required by this article pertaining
to the property proposed to be transferred are set forth in, and
shall be made on a copy of, the following disclosure form:
(b) This section shall become operative on July 1, 1997.
SEC. 3. Section 18942 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
18942. (a) The commission shall publish, or cause to be
published, editions of the code in its entirety once in every three
years. In each intervening year the commission shall publish, or
cause to be published, supplements as necessary. For emergency
building standards defined in subdivision (a) of Section 18913, an
emergency building standards supplement shall be published whenever
the commission determines it is necessary. The commission shall also
publish, for emergency standards defined in subdivision (b) of
Section 18913 and for building standards or administrative
regulations that apply directly to the implementation or enforcement
of building standards approved pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section
142.3 of the Labor Code, a semiannual supplement, or a more frequent
supplement if required by federal law.
(b) The commission shall publish the text of Article 2.5
(commencing with Section 115920) of Chapter 5 of Part 10 of Division
104, within the California Code of Regulations, Title 24, Part 2
requirements for single-family residential occupancies, with the
following note: "NOTE: These regulations are subject to local
government modification. You should verify the applicable local
government requirements at the time of application for a building
permit."
(c) The commission may publish, stockpile, and sell at a
reasonable price the code and any materials incorporated therein by
reference if it deems the latter is insufficiently available to the
public, or unavailable at a reasonable price. Each state department
concerned and each city, county, or city and county shall have an
up-to-date copy of the code available for public inspection.
(d) (1) Each city, county, and city and county, including charter
cities, shall obtain and maintain with all revisions on a current
basis, at least one copy of the building standards and other state
regulations relating to buildings published in Titles 8, 19, 20, 24,
and 25 of the California Code of Regulations. These codes shall be
maintained in the office of the building official responsible for the
administration and enforcement of this part.
(2) This subdivision shall not apply to any city or county which
contracts for the administration and enforcement of the provisions of
this part with another local government agency which complies with
this section.
Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 115920 is added to Chapter 5
of Part 10 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
Article 2.5. The Swimming Pool Safety Act
115920. This act shall be known and may be cited as the Swimming
Pool Safety Act.
115921. As used in this article the following terms have the
following meanings:
(a) "Swimming pool" or "pool" means any structure intended for
swimming or recreational bathing that contains water over 18 inches
deep. "Swimming pool" includes in-ground and above-ground structures
and includes, but is not limited to, hot tubs, spas, portable spas,
and nonportable wading pools.
(b) "Public swimming pool" means a swimming pool operated for the
use of the general public with or without charge, or for the use of
the members and guests of a private club. Public swimming pool does
not include a swimming pool located on the grounds of a private
single-family home.
(c) "Enclosure" means a fence, wall, or other barrier that
isolates a swimming pool from access to the home.
(d) "Approved safety pool cover" means a manually or
power-operated safety pool cover that meets all of the performance
standards of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM),
in compliance with standard F1346-91.
(e) "Exit alarms" means devices that make audible, continuous
alarm sounds when any door or window, that permits access from the
residence to the pool area that is without any intervening enclosure,
is opened or is left ajar. Exit alarms may be battery operated or
may be connected to the electrical wiring of the building.
115922. Commencing January 1, 1998, except as provided in Section
115925, whenever a construction permit is issued for construction of
a new swimming pool at a private, single-family home it shall be
equipped with at least one of the following safety features:
(a) The pool shall be isolated from access to a home by an
enclosure that meets the requirements of Section 115923.
(b) The pool shall be equipped with an approved safety pool cover.
(c) The residence shall be equipped with exit alarms on those
doors providing direct access to the pool.
(d) All doors providing direct access from the home to the
swimming pool shall be equipped with a self-closing, self-latching
device with a release mechanism placed no lower than 54 inches above
the floor.
(e) Other means of protection, if the degree of protection
afforded is equal to or greater than that afforded by any of the
devices set forth in subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, as
determined by the building official of the jurisdiction issuing the
applicable building permit. Any ordinance governing child access to
pools adopted by a political subdivision on or before January 1,
1997, is presumed to afford protection that is equal to or greater
than that afforded by any of the devices set forth in subdivisions
(a) to (d), inclusive.
115923. An enclosure shall have all of the following
characteristics:
(a) Any access gates through the enclosure open away from the
swimming pool, and are self-closing with a self-latching device
placed no lower than 60 inches above the ground.
(b) A minimum height of 60 inches.
(c) A maximum vertical clearance from the ground to the bottom of
the enclosure of two inches.
(d) Gaps or voids, if any, do not allow passage of a sphere equal
to or greater than four inches in diameter.
(e) An outside surface free of protrusions, cavities, or other
physical characteristics that would serve as handholds or footholds
that could enable a child below the age of five years to climb over.
115924. Any person entering into an agreement to build a swimming
pool shall give the consumer notice of the requirements of this
article.
115925. The requirements of this article shall not apply to any
of the following:
(a) Public swimming pools.
(b) Hot tubs or spas with locking safety covers that comply with
the American Society for Testing Materials-Emergency Performance
Specification (ASTM-ES 13-89).
(c) Any pool within the jurisdiction of any political subdivision
that adopts an ordinance for swimming pool safety that includes
requirements that are at least as stringent as this article.
(d) An apartment complex, or any residential setting other than a
single-family home.
115926. This article does not apply to any facility regulated by
the State Department of Social Services even if the facility is also
used as the private residence of the operator. Pool safety in those
facilities shall be regulated pursuant to regulations adopted
therefor by the State Department of Social Services.
115927. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, this article
shall not be subject to further modification or interpretation by any
regulatory agency of the state, this authority being reserved
exclusively to local jurisdictions, as provided for in subdivision
(e) of Section 115922 and subdivision (c) of Section 115924.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because a
local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.
Notwithstanding Section 17580 of the Government Code, unless
otherwise specified, the provisions of this act shall become
operative on the same date that the act takes effect pursuant to the
California Constitution.