i'm available for questions. >> commissioner lee. >> thank you for the update. i appreciate you coming every month to give us an update. could you also in the next meeting give us some supporting documents perhaps? for example, attendance sheets to these meetings that you talk about. you mention a presentation at this meeting today i think, right? >> um-hm. >> would you let us see that? >> definitely. >> okay, thank you. >> any other questions, commissioners? p when is the roll out or testing? when is the sample going to be? is it coming up, like the demonstration? >> the demonstration for the public is for today, at 4:00 p.m. >> oh, today. >> there will be additional

presentations. next month we have a advisory group meeting, the second one. >> right. >> so, every quarter we have the public meetings and we're going to involve the stakeholders. we are going to be pulling permits, electrical and plumbing permits. we are going to reach out to them so they can participate actively testing the system. [speaker not understood]. >> right, yes. i attended the one at planning. very good, thank you. any other questions? thank you. >> item 9d, update on major projects. >> [speaker not understood]. we received the updated revised major project lease. the bottom line keeps on rising, roughly 3.8 million, and 5,000 unit on the [speaker not understood]. number of cranes, you know, [speaker not understood] going

up in the city. we are expecting [speaker not understood] in the next few months. do you have any questions on those projects? we try to release all the status of each one. >> there's no commissioner questions. is there any public comment on item 9a through d of the director's report? seeing none, item 10, commissioners questions and matters. 10 a, inquiries to staff. at this time, commissioners may make inquiries to staff regarding various documents, policies, practices, and procedures, which are of interest to the commission. >> go ahead, commissioner walker. >> yes. i know that we have our regular update about the new permitting

system. i also think that there were some lingering issues that were -- we were trying to resolve with the key matic. it would be good to check the work flow at the front end of our process. maybe next week we can talk about what is happening with the fifth floor and the flow of work through our department. ~ the next meeting. >> i know also with some of these larger projects, sometimes we have to have staff assigned to them almost as a major section of the work, if not almost full just to keep the permits and the things going. ~ full time i wonder how this is in relationship balance with the over the counter work which is happening on the fifth floor. i understand sometimes i have to do a little bit of both. they have to work on a major project, at the same time they have to do over the counter. maybe they might have a

two-day, three-day split. i want to make sure that, you know, these projects are also, you know, has there been any problems? is the work flow issues going? because they're going back and forth between the major project and over the counter work, things like that. so, maybe it could be included in that discussion about the over the counter and the fifth floor. >> also, i guess we should get an update about the process for our commission process of the director search. >> yes. >> item 10 b, future meetings and agendases. at this time the commission may discuss and take action to set the date of a special meeting

and/or determine those items that could be placed on the agenda of the next meeting and other future meetings of the building inspection commission. the next regularly scheduled meeting is april 17. >> i had an issue about special meeting and maybe we could just raise it here with the commissioners present. obviously we should raise it with the other commissioners. i had mentioned to president mccarthy before he left that -- about the possibility of us holding our special abatement appeals meeting. and this might help maybe to give staff more notice to prepare for any abatement appeals, or just to move some things out of the nov pile. and also sometimes we sandwich our abatement appeals meeting right before the bic. that puts pressure on us to only hear maybe a few abatements appeals at a time because we have to have the regular bic right after.

so, i'm suggesting that. it's not -- doesn't have to be ongoing, but if we could put aside maybe one special meeting where it's just the abatement appeals board meeting. it doesn't have to be scheduled before a bic, it would give us plenty of time to notice it. it would give staff time to prepare, and we could let all the appellants know and the interested parties when that meeting is so they could show up. so, that's something to think about for us, another meeting. >> thank you. is there any public comment on items 10 a or b? good morning again. robert davis. i'm asking now to have open director's hearings put onto the agenda at the next meeting or at a future meeting. open director's hearings, as you know, since the year 2000, over 1500 open director's hearings. and in addition to that, there

are over 750 that have had a hearing. the results are in favor of the board or of the city. they've never been pushed on actually to whatever else they're supposed to go to the litigation committee or to the full commission or anywhere. so, those are all since the year 2000. again, a lot of time has passed. there must be some reasons we need to look at the process of both open notices of violation and open director's hearings. thank you. >> is there any further public comment? >> commissioner walker. >> just in response to that, maybe it's an agenda item that we could put on when we're talking about the abatement appeals process that we also talk about how to keep track of that. they're related.

~ the related director's hearings. >> do you want to put that -- >> same agenda. >> appeals board -- >> maybe we agendize it as a process or our hearing of notice of violation process including director's hearings and abatement appeals meetings. >> okay. item 11, review and approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of december 19, 2012. >> move the approval of the minutes december 19, 2012. >> is there a second? >> second. >> all commissioners in favor? >> aye. >> any opposed? is there any public comment on this item? seeing none, the minutes are passed unanimously. item number 12, review and approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of january 16,

2013. >> move to approve. >> second. >> is there any public comment on the minutes? are all commissioners in favor? >> aye. >> any opposed? the minutes are passed. item number 13, adjournment. is there a motion to adjourn? >> move to adjourn. >> second? >> second. >> is there any public comment? okay. are all commissioners in favor of the adjournment? >> aye. >> you are now adjourned. it is 11:37 a.m. thank you. [adjourned]

>> hi, i'm lawrence corn field. welcome to building san francisco. we have a special series, stay safe. we're looking at earthquake issues. and today we're going to be talking with a residential building owner about what residential building owners and tenants can and should do before earthquakes and after earthquakes. ♪ ♪ >> we're here at this wonderful spur exhibit on mission street in san francisco and i have with me today my good friend george. thanks for joining me, george. and george has for a long time owned residential property here in san francisco. and we want to talk about apartment buildings and what the owner's responsibilities might be and what they expect their tenants to do.

and let's start by talking a little bit about what owners can do before an earthquake and then maybe after an earthquake. >> well, the first thing, lawrence, would be to get together with your tenants and see if they have earthquake insurance or any renters insurance in place because that's going to be key to protecting them in the event of a quake. >> and renters insurance, there are two kinds of insurance. renters insurance coffers damage to goods and content and so forth. earthquake insurance is a separate policy you get after you get renters insurance through the california earthquake authority, very inexpensive. and it helps owners and it helps tenants because it gives relocation costs and it pays their rent. this is a huge impact on building owners. >> it's huge, it really is. you know, a lot of owners don't realize that, you know, when there is an earthquake, their money flow is going to stop. how are they going to pay their mortgages, how are they going to pay their other bills, how are they going to live?

>> what else can property owners do in residential rental housing before an earthquake? >> well, the first thing you want to do is get your property assessed. find out what the geology is at your site. get an expert in to look at structural and nonstructural losses. the structural losses, a lot of times, aren't going to be that bad if you prepare. an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. get in there and get your property assessed and figure it out. >> so, what is a nonstructural issue that might cause losses? >> well, you know, pipes, for instance. pipes will whip around during an earthquake. and if they're anchored in more numerous locations, that whipping won't cause a breakage that will cause a flood. >> i've heard water damage is a major, major problem after earthquakes actually. >> it is. that's one of the big things. a lot of things falling over, ceilings collapsing. but all of this can be prevented by an expert coming in and assessing where those

problem areas and often the fixes are really, really cheap. >> who do you call when you want to have that kind of assessment or evaluation done? >> the structural engineering community is great. we have the structural engineers association of northern california right here in san francisco. they're a wealth of information and resources. >> what kinds of things might you encourage tenants to do besides simply get tenants renters insurance and earthquake insurance, what else do you think tenants should do? >> i think it's really important to know if they happen to be in the building where is the safest place for them to go when the shaking starts. if they're out of the building, whats' their continuity plan for connecting with family? they should give their emergency contact information to their resident manager so that the resident manager knows how to get in touch. and have emergency supplies on hand. the tenants should be responsible to have their extra

water and flashlights and bandages and know how to use a toilet when there's no sewage and water flows down. and the owners of the building should be proactive in that regard as well. >> so, george, thank you so much for joining us. that was really great. and thanks to spur for hosting us here in this wonderful exhibit. and thank you for joining us today we are going to talk about fire safety.

we are here at the urban center on mission street in san francisco. it's a wonderful display. a little house in the urban center exhibition center that shows what it's like in a home in san francisco after an earthquake. one of the major issues that we are going to face after earthquakes are fire hazard. we are happy to have the fire marshall join us today. >> thank you. my pleasure. >> we talk about the san francisco earthquake that was a fire that mostly devastated the city. how do we avoid that kind of problem. how can we reduce fire hazard? >> the construction was a lot different. we don't expect what we had then. we want to make

sure with the gas heaters that the gas is shut off. >> if you shut it off you are going to have no hot water or heat. be careful not to shut it off unless you smell gas. >> absolutely because once you do shut it off you should have the utility company come in and turn it back on. here is a mock up of a gas hear the on a house. where would we find the gas meter? >> it should be in your garage. everyone should be familiar with where the gas meter is. >> one of the tools is a wrench, a crescent wrench. >> yes. the crescent wrench is good and this is a perfect example of how to have it so you can loosen it up and use it

when you need it. >> okay. let's go inside to talk about fire safety. many of the issues here relate to fire, for example, we have a little smoke detector and i see you brought one here, a carbon monoxide smoke detector. >> this is a combination of smoke and carbon monoxide detector. they are required in single homes now and in apartment buildings. if gas appliance is not burning properly this will alert you before the fumes buildup and will affect you negatively. >> this is a battery powered? >> this is a battery powered and it has a 10 year battery

life. a lot of times you may have one or the other. if you put in just a carbon monoxide detector, it's important to have one of these too. every house should have a fire extinguisher, yes. >> one thing people expect to do when the power goes out after an earthquake about using candles. what would you recommend? >> if you have a battery operated candle would be better to use. this kind of a candle, you wouldn't want it in an area where it can cause a fire or aftershock that it doesn't rollover. you definitely want to have this in a non-combustible surface.

>> now, here we have our stove. after a significant earthquake we expect that we may have gas disrupted and so without gas in your home, how are you going to cook? >> well, i wouldn't recommend cooking inside of the house. you have to go outside and use a portable stove or something else. >> so it wouldn't be safe to use your fireplace to cook? >> not at first. you should check it by a professional first. >> outside should be a safe place to cook as long as you stay away from buildings and doors and windows. >> yes. that will be fine. >> here we have some

alternative cooking areas. >> you can barbecue and if you have a regular propane bark could barbecue. >> thank you for joining us. and thanks for this terrific space that you have in this exhibition space and thanks for helping san francisco stay safe.

>> hi, in san francisco we're doing a special series called stay safe, about staying in your home after an earthquake. and today we're going to be talking about the neighborhood support center to help people find new resources when they stay in their home. ♪ ♪

>> we're here at the urban center in san francisco with sarah karlewski, deputy director of spur. we're talking about the shelter, a safe place to stay, exhibition at their center. and part of being able to shelter in place in your home is to be able to find a place nearby where you can get the services that you might not have in your home. and that's what this little neighborhood support center is for. >> that's right. >> what are some of the services that might be provided in a neighborhood center like this? >> yeah. so, we think of the neighborhood support centers as really being homes away from home. so, after a major earthquake there is going to be a lot of confusion. people are going to need to try to meet up with other people. they're going to need a lot of information. so, a lot of what the neighborhood support center is going to provide is that information. basically we're going to be like a hub where people can come to get services, help,

information, et cetera. what you see here on this table are a whole variety of did you ever rent things from tools, some walki-talkies. this helps people know what is going on in their neighborhood. over here you have a whole variety of water and canned goods. we're really hoping that people will stock up for themselves at least for the first 72 hours if not more. i know that i have a ton of canned food and other sorts of things such as water within my own home. and everybody should, but there's going to come a time where people are going to end up running out and needing more. so, that's what we've got right here. >> so, this neighborhood support center, this doesn't look to be a major city sponsored fully stocked space. it can be a small commercial space, even somebody's garage as long as they have the

information, a guide of information, who to call for what, communications equipment, some power, have a generator. >> that's right. >> thinking of lights and charge your cell phones and so on. and probably be operated by volunteers. >> volunteers, maybe members of nert could help out, people who live in the neighborhood that have some building skill could be helpful. so, if there is a structural engineer living nearby or even an architect, they could really help people kind of understand what has happened to their homes and what sort of repairs might be needed. >> here we are with some of the things that you might find in a neighborhood support center. one thing we learned from hurricane katrina, people really rely on their portable electronics and their phone. we say here's a charging station tied up to the generation. the essential coffeepot. >> yes. >> maybe a computer, you can check your e-mail with. >> yes. we have our charging station here. and then over here you can see

we've got a whole variety of things, including the all-important different tags. so, lawrence, do you want to talk a little about the tags? >> sure. people want to know what do these tags mean. is my building safe or unsafe. these are the city owe initial tags. staying in your home doesn't require that you get a tag. it just means that you use common sense and maybe get help from people who might be around who can help you evaluate whether it's a safe place to stay. >> you might want to know because regular city services are disrupted, you might want to know when trash pick up is, if you need to get clean water, et cetera. also in the neighborhood support center, that kind of information would be available and we've got a little of that up here. >> trash pick up resumes regular schedule on wednesday. >> that's right. >> please mark your human waste. >> that's right. >> so, this is kind of an information center, communication center, also a center that hopefully will show people how to relate to their

neighboring communities, what else is happening city-wide. and, of course, this is sort of the ubiquitous form of communication. my cat is missing, call me. >> exactly, because a lot of times, even if you do have a cell phone, and people do if you're really trying to save some of your precious energy minutes, et cetera, or it's not working as well as it normally does, it is helpful to have a message board that you can get information to other people. and, so, that's what we're showing here. you can see people are going to be looking for their pets. they're going to be looking for rides. people are going to need to be sharing resources a much as they possibly can. another thing that you can see here is they're going to need to be fair tools and some of the things that people are going to need in order to be able to stay safer within their homes. so, we're just showing sort of a gesture to that with all these different tools here. but then also tarps, people are

going to need to cover their windows if their windows are cracked, if their roofs are broken. so, ideally, the city would be able to know where all these neighborhood centers are and help deliver some of these supplies. >> they could come from a neighbor, maybe not. thank you so much for allowing us to come in and share this wonderful exhibit. and thank you for

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