update on dbi's notice of violation (nov) procedures, including follow up. is there any additional public comment on item 4? seeing none, public comment is closed. we are now on item five. >> good morning, commissioners. ed sweeney. director of inspection services. i will give you a brief overview of the complaints, what generally happens to them. if i can get it up on the screen. all the complaints, of course, start as a complaint. they can be landlord-tenant, such as the heat issue. it can be neighbor versus neighbor. neighborhood organizations. some people actually self- report building code issues on themselves. there is an emergency call out from police and fire that we get once or twice a week. when a complaint comes in, it is put on a standard form. as i said earlier, the standard form goes to one senior building inspector, housing inspector that is responsible for prioritizing and insuring the correct person does the inspections in a timely manner. there is also systematic enforcement. that would be the routine housing inspections, the boiler program

>> good evening, commissioners, joe duffy, dbi. the department would like to keep the penalty of nine times because the notice of violation was given in 2007 and we did not to permit until 2011. we did quite a bit of work on the notice of violation that started off with building inspection, and the second notice of violation was issued, so there would have been a lot of administrative work by staff. i noticed that the building inspector, can gonzales, wrote that the windows were 3 foot by 3 foot at the front of the building and some deterioration of exterior stucco finish, 3 foot by 6 feet. it was causing a hazard by the building permit application. that was in 2007. we finally got the building permit approval in may, 2011. so we would like to keep that ton a day. commissioner fung: -- we would like to keep that penalty. icommissioner fung: do you consider that for window replacement or the minor repair to the plaster that requires a permit? >> it appears that it is for both. the wording on the permit says the windows installed in

commissioner murphy: so the complaint would come into you, to dbi first? >> generally, yes, it would start at the third floor as a routine complaint. then it would be routed to the sixth floor, to the building inspector we have assigned to that particular task. >> because we have had a wet spring, through june, i am sure the growth of that, especially on lots that are vulnerable, especially this summer, to brush fires. we normally think about that as outside of san francisco, but is that a possibility, where there might be a higher category of keeping an eye out for these large lots, open lots with weed growth that will ultimately become fire material by the end of summer? >> what comes to mind is alemany housing projects. it seemed to be a lot of grass fires. you might see something like that in hunters point, around the middle point. if that acreage is not taking care of, certainly, can be a fire danger. the fire department is looking at that. most of that is publicly-owned land, so that would not be in our per view. dpw, fire department, health. commiss

we have someone here who can address that. >> chief plumbing inspector, dbi. i spoke with the owner of the building at 570, i have spoken with the contractors working with them. they explained it is in fairly good, running condition. it is an old system. i sent out one of my staff to go out there, who is knowledgeable on boilers and systems. he told me it is still running, but at this time next year, we will not accept any certifications from the contractor who certified it already from the past year. it looks like they are doing repairs to where it is in compliance but the repairs are surviving only to an extent and that are falling apart again. unfortunately, with his unit, the building, they are going down for a few days at the time. at this point, looking at the system, speaking with the owner, she said money is tight at the building that she just took over. they are trying to finance and figure out a way to replace the system, give everyone ample time to know -- to give them notice. it is not an easy replacement. it is a larger system. removing everything

the initial implementation of the system will be with planning and dbi. more than once a day, we need several times a week. they're very involved. >> what are we going to have it up and running? >> the rfp was a 24 month project. that would be two years from september 1st. there is a possibility they could get it sooner, but the project is for 24 months. >> this year? >> know, september 13th. -- no, september 13th. >> why does it take so long? >> there is significant work that has to be done. >> two years is not long for a rollout like this. not for revamping the system for all the details. >> it should not take 12 years. >> it should not take 12 years, i agree. >> any questions? >> item on training an update to staff and hires. >> our list of hires, we have eight new hires since the last commission meeting. they are replacement hires and we are replacing the people who are retiring that have several days -- several vacant positions that we were not able to fill due to the fact there were no current lists available. they became available so we have new hi

vice president garcia: the notice, dbi, or would that be planning? >> i do not know the answer to that. vice president garcia: thank you. commissioner fung: mr. duffy, the foundation permit, the foundation work got a separate permit versus an addendum? excuse me. >> 1130 page street, i am not sure why they applied for that. they must have wanted to get going on some of the existing building and the new foundation. our department issued that permit. since that permit got issued, and since that day and up with1138 page -- with 1138 page street, we have changed our policy on that. it did show a new foundation. i am not saying that was right or wrong, but we are not going to give up a permit any more. -- anymore. the structure will upgrade permit was revoked because it actually, on the plan, it showed the new addition, which, obviously, you cannot build on that type of permits, because it has to go through the main permit, which would have required 311 notification. there was work on that permit that was not properly approved by different city department

i called after 24 hours with no heat to dbi. how many days, when the welfare of residents are at stake? in the housing code, under the paragraph purpose, it says the purpose of the code is to provide for the maintenance of the minimum requirements for the protection of life, limb, health, property, safety, and welfare of the general public, owner, and occupants of the residential building. seven days without heat and no attempt to repair it. i understand the problem in trying to reimburse the city for the money expended, but i do not think a repairmen coming out and spending two hours is going to be an enormous charge. mr. murphy, last time indicated, it was a small number of landlords that were a problem. i agree with that. i have lived in rental units most of my life. this particular landlord, i have written letters to her and she does not respond. in terms of a director's hearing, nobody came to the directors hearing. commissioner hechanova: were the inspectors able to get into your unit to take a look? >> yes, i was there to

joe duffy, dbi. i met with both sides and i am hoping to clear up issues. there are no decks or an elevator approved on this. that is under appeal. there is a drawing that shows the master plan, as described. it is on there for the pre application purposes. definitely, it would not be permitted to

what they will do is for any proposed new address thing to dbi and they will verify whether the address is a verifiable address and approve it. but the customer will still have to come in and it will be at the help desk. there are several ways we are verifying addresses now. we have google maps and we can pull up a picture of the house and see what is going on. we're also going back and verifying the number of units before we get the requests for additional addresses to make sure they are legal and there is a whole process of going in place that is brand new to to the fact the city's address will override the address system and dbi will be providing the street number addresses. before they just sent the lots to the assessor and the system address to be assigned, nobody assign the address. we probably have about 10,000 addresses to be assigned, due to the fact that there are apartment units. that will help us when we go to the new permit system. we will have a clean address base and that will save us a lot of time. several people are working on it to clean our own database sense we are g

it brings dbi into it. everybody should go the mediation and figure out how to get along. it might be helpful in this situation. president goh: do we have a motion? commissioner garcia: i don't know if i am failing on the issue for some sort of device to prevent people from reaching over. president goh: i think it is a good idea, but i could not tell from the pictures where it would go and how it would function. commissioner fung: cumene the vertical screen so that one can't go over? commissioner garcia: that would be fine. would you, as an architect, suggests something? commissioner fung: it is relatively easy for us to suggest these things, but i am not sure is the root cause. if they had any de

joe duffy, dbi. i met with both sides and i am hoping to clear up issues. there are no decks or an elevator approved on this. that is under appeal. there is a drawing that shows the master plan, as described. it is on there for the pre application purposes. definitely, it would not be permitted to be allowed to build the deck or install the elevator under this permit. i issued a correction notice to clarify that. there are no? approved on the -- there are no decks approve. it is on there for application purposes. it would not be permitted to build a deck or install under this permit and i issued a correction notice and i gave that to both sides. i thought that might be the sensible thing to do even though the project has not started. if they did attempt to build a deck, there would stop. the events for the bathrooms, that would be under code. they're not any issues with the department. >> are there other permits that are insured or in the process of review? >> there is another building permit on site. for the? on the elevators and that is going through the

so when your client went down to dbi and spoke with them, that would be between 4-5 and 5-24. or is that after 5-24? >> i don't know. >> to the best of my knowledge, it was after. i don't even recall the second notice. vice president garcia: so your testimony would be as far as you know, you only got one notice of violation. >> that is right. vice president garcia: okay, thank you. commissioner fung: you want a motion? vice president garcia: please. commissioner hwang: my inclination is more along the lines of commissioner fung, because of all the work the department went through and the two notices of violation. i am inclined to uphold the department. commissioner fung: i move to overrule the department and reduce the penalty to five times. based on that the work partially is fairly minor, but the fact that multiple notice of violations were issued and the administrative effort to do those require some compensation. commissioner peterson: i wonder if i could not add that the appellant testified that he thought the matter was debated in 2007. -- that the matter was abated in 2

i would also like to mention some of what dbi has accomplished in the past few months, especially the newly established boys scheduling system, where customers can call the number and schedule those inspections. both dbi and staff, and volunteers, handed out brochures and answered questions during the chinese februarynew n february, and during cinco de mayo. this new system will help facilitate a lot of questions and provide a higher level of service to the scity. also, the carbon monoxide detector give away. that was attended by the fire marshal and by our director, vivian day. coming up in august, the lien property hearing, where property owners have not paid overdue fees and penalties for those issued notices of violation, voted in place on this list. so property owners are to attend these for their best interest. the code enforcement team is headed up by john. also, there are some retirement from within the department that i want to mention. have not only their names, but to give them strong appreciation for the years of service to the department, they're working knowledge with st

going in place that is brand new to to the fact the city's address will override the address system and dbi will be providing the street number addresses. before they just sent the lots to the assessor and the system address to be assigned, nobody assign the address. we probably have about 10,000 addresses to be assigned, due to the fact that there are apartment units. that will help us when we go to the new permit system. we will have a clean address base and that will save us a lot of time. several people are working on it to clean our own database sense we are going to be the final push button on whether an address is legal in the city. >> is there a monthly update on what is being proposed and what is in place? >> there are proposing to go live on august 15th. hopefully we can show you how the demonstration and have them come in and show you how it is going to work. it is a new thing that will be available to the citizens and they will be able to point out an address and find a property. >> terrific. technology advancing on this category. >> is their public comment on the director's rep

>> i do not know what exactly the notice from ddi -- dbi would be at issuance for this type of permit. vice president garcia: i hate to ask the permit holder. it is like asking tobacco companies its cigarettes are dangerous. do you know if there is any neighborhood opposition? i know your answer will be of course not. >> i do not know. we prepared the neighborhood map. we are prepared to do a 311. >> i think an option available to the board would be to uphold the denial but make findings is only on the basis that section 311 notice has not been done, and make clear the permit holder is authorized. the one-year bar does not apply. he can apply tomorrow for the permit. if we were to issue this permit now, it would not become compliant. commissioner hwang: it is not ok given that the idea is to clear it up and clean it up. let us do it right. >> if i apply for another permit, do i have to pay all the permit fees again? [laughter] >> would planning have discretion to waive the fees in the unique circumstances of this case? i do not think the board has jurisdiction over planning zone fees.

the board request presentations from the planning department as well as dbi, rent board, the treasurer, on the magnitude of the problem of these conversions and potential solutions to stem such conversions. that concludes the report, unless you have additional questions. commissioner antonini: excellent report, as always. supervisor mar's legislation -- so the version that he has forwarded, which does not include our recommendation on the formula retell pat, that is the one that was voted on by the board of supervisors, and it was passed. what was the vote on that? >>

the enforcement of our rent control laws and it will also be looking at the planning department and dbi to have input, as well as the board. i also love a resolution making august 6 the celebration of -- all across, many san francisco residents that we know that are from el salvador will be taking part in the celebration, so that will be before us next week, and i have, sadly, an im -- in i have, sadly, an im -- in memoriam for miguel, a tenants'