Agoura Hills Municipal Code Ch. 4 Safety Assessment Placards

Footnotes:

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Editor's note— Ord. No. 07-350, § 1, adopted Dec. 12, 2007, repealed the former Ch. 4, §§ 8400—8403, and enacted a new Ch. 4 as set out herein. The former Ch. 4 pertained to mechanical code. For complete derivation see the Code Comparative Table at the end of this volume.

This chapter establishes standard safety assessment placards to be used to indicate the condition of a building or structure for continued occupancy after any natural or manmade disaster, hazard, fire or other situation that could affect the safe occupancy of a building or structure in the City. The building official and his or her designated deputies are hereby authorized to post the appropriate safety assessment placard at each entry point to a building or structure upon the completion of a safety assessment.

The provisions of this chapter are applicable to all buildings and structures of all occupancies in the City of Agoura Hills.

(Ord. No. 07-350, § 1, 12-12-2007)

For purposes of this chapter, a safety assessment is a visual, non-destructive examination of a building or structure for the purpose of determining the condition of the building or structure for continued occupancy following any natural or manmade disaster, hazard, fire or other occurrence that could affect the safe occupancy of a building or structure in the city. Such assessment shall be made by the building official or the authorized deputies and representatives of the building official. The assessment may be made at the discretion of the building official or upon request by an owner or occupant of the property in question.

(Ord. No. 07-350, § 1, 12-12-2007)

(a) The following are physical descriptions and text of the official safety assessment placards to be used to designate the condition for continued occupancy of buildings or structures as provided in this chapter. Copies of actual safety assessment placards are attached hereto as Exhibit "A" and shall be kept on file in the city clerk's office. The city council hereby delegates to the building official the authority to, from time to time, make such minor adjustments to the text on the placards as the building official deems necessary.

(1) Inspected. Lawful Occupancy Permitted (Green Placard) is to be posted on any building or structure wherein no apparent structural hazard has been found. This placard is not intended to imply that a building or structure is undamaged, merely that there is no apparent structural hazard.

(2) Restricted use (Yellow Placard) is to be posted on each building or structure that has been damaged wherein the damage has resulted in some form of restriction to the continued occupancy. The individual who posts this placard shall note in general terms the type of damage encountered and shall clearly and concisely note the restrictions on continued occupancy.

(3) Unsafe. Do Not Enter or Occupy (Red Placard) is to be posted on each building or structure that has been damaged such that continued occupancy poses a threat to life or safety. Buildings or structures posted with this placard shall not be entered under any circumstance except as authorized in writing by the building official, or his or her authorized representative. safety assessment teams shall be authorized to enter these buildings at any time. This placard is not to be used or considered as a demolition order. The individual who posts this placard shall note in general terms the type of damage encountered.

(b) This ordinance number, the name of the City, its address, and telephone number shall be permanently affixed to each placard, along with the printed name and signature of the building official or deputy who made the safety assessment and posted the placard.

(c) Once a safety assessment placard has been attached to a building or structure, it shall be unlawful for any person other than the building official or his/her authorized representative designee to remove, alter, tamper with, cover, obscure or conceal a placard until done so by an authorized representative of the building official, unless the building official has given his/her written authorization to do so to the property owner or other legal occupant of the property in question. A violation of this section may be prosecuted as an infraction or a misdemeanor, in the discretion of the city prosecutor.

(Ord. No. 07-350, § 1, 12-12-2007)