Los Angeles Municipal Code § 57.118 New Construction Plan Review and Inspection

This section sets forth the services of the Los Angeles Fire Department (“Fire Department”) to perform fire/life safety plan review and fire/life safety inspection for certain projects as specified below in the definitions, and to collect the fees for those services, including fees for expediting the services. The goal of these fees is to recover the Fire Department’s costs in performing the fire/life safety plan review and fire/life safety inspection services. The Department of Building and Safety (“Building and Safety”) is given the authority to collect the fees for the Fire Department.

Review plans for new construction, addition, tenant improvement, and change of use to the following construction projects as determined by the Department of Building and Safety and Fire Department:

1. R-1, with three or more stories, or 20 or more guest rooms.

2. R-2 occupancies, with three or more stories, or 16 or more dwelling units.

3. High-rise buildings with human occupancy at 75 feet or higher, as measured from occupied floor or occupied roof elevation above the lowest level of Fire Department vehicle access.

4. Covered malls.

5. Buildings housing “A,” “E,” “I” and “H” with highly toxic materials occupancies according to the Building Code, R-2.1.

   6. Airport buildings.

   7. Fire alarms.

   8. High-piled combustible storage.

Additional fire/life safety inspection and re-inspection for projects defined in Section 57.118.1.1 by the Fire Department, beyond the initial field inspection covered under fire/life safety plan review. The additional inspection or re-inspection may be required by the Fire Department or requested by the client, as referenced in Section 57.118.1.

An expedited request is a request by an applicant to the Fire Department to complete the fire/life safety plan review and/or inspection for projects defined in Section 57.118.1.1 at the earliest possible time. It may include a request for Fire Department personnel to work overtime to complete a field inspection.

An off-hour request is a request by an applicant to the Fire Department to complete a fire/life safety plan review and/or an inspection during off-hours for projects defined in Section 57.118.1.1.

Before accepting an application for any services or any permit required by Sections 57.118.2.1 through 57.118.2.3, the Fire Department shall collect the fees established by the most current cost recovery schedule published, as provided by Section 57.106.6.3 and applicable thereto.

The Fire/Life Safety Plan Review Fee is for projects described in Section 57.118.1.1. The fee includes plan review and up to two hours of initial field inspection. The fee shall be computed at the inspector’s hourly rate, for a minimum of three hours, or 0.111% of the project valuation, whichever is higher. The project valuation is to be determined by Building and Safety. No additional fee shall be charged for verification of the corrections required by the Fire Department. However, when plans are revised by the applicant for reasons other than plan review correction and require additional time to review the plan revisions, the Fire Department shall collect an additional fee.

The Additional Field Inspection and Re-Inspection Fee is for fire/life safety review projects described in Section 57.118.1.1. The fee shall be based on the inspector’s hourly rate, with a one-hour minimum. The additional inspection and re-inspection fees are incurred beyond the initial field inspection covered under the fire/life safety plan review fee. Additional fees are applicable for any additional inspections beyond the initial field inspection or when the length of the initial inspection exceeds two hours.

The Expedited or Off-Hour Fire/Life Safety Plan Review and Inspection Fee applies to projects described in Section 57.118.1.1, where the plan review and/or inspection is to be expedited to occur at the earliest possible time, which may include off-hour time. Off-hour time is any time outside of normal business hours of the City. The fee shall be based on the inspector expedite/off-hour rate, with a minimum of four hours, and per hour thereafter.

The Board of Fire Commissioners, with the concurrence of the City Administrative Officer, shall review the fees on an annual basis and determine the verifiable costs to the City for the issuance of construction plan check and inspection permits in connection with the activities of this chapter. The costs shall be the actual total costs incurred, including all applicable indirect costs, as determined by the Board. The Board shall use said costs to develop or to amend the most current cost recovery fee schedule, so as to recover City costs associated with the permit issuance activities of this section. The Board may adopt or amend the most current recovery fee schedule at any time during the fiscal year.

Upon adoption of the fee schedule or any amendment thereto, the Board shall transmit the Board order to the Mayor and City Council for consideration and approval.

The Board of Fire Commissioners, with the concurrence of the City Administrative Officer, shall review the fees on an annual basis and determine the verifiable costs of the City as set forth in this section.

There shall be added to each fee imposed for any permit, license or application provided for in Sections 57.118.4 through 57.118.4.3, a surcharge in an amount equal to the greater of 3% of the fee or $1.

The revenue from two-thirds of the surcharge shall be used to provide for the cost of establishing and operation of the development services centers.

The revenue from one-third of the surcharge shall be used solely to pay for the $21.76 million cost of developing and implementing BuildLA, a comprehensive enterprise- wide development services system, and shall not be used to pay for ongoing BuildLA costs such as maintenance or system hosting services.

The surcharge shall be returned to the greater of 2% or $1, revenue allocation to BuildLA shall stop, and all surcharge revenue shall be allocated to the Development Services Centers when the City Administrative Officer determines that the BuildLA allocation has recovered the $21.76 million cost of BuildLA.