codes. we will see new green building requirements for san francisco. now the california energy code fills the space of green building requirements. fire department where you have an occupant load of 50 or more and the occupant load is not the patrons it's based on the square footage of the restaurant typically 50 square feet per person. if you have 50 or more the fire department wants to see a complete seating plan to make sure exiting is not blocked. of course, we need to see exits. san francisco probably the number one problem that i see that is difficult to resolve is how you get out of the land locked buildings where you have one front street frontage and no back or side entrances which typically mean you need to put a fire corridor. in there was a change in the california building code in january saying where there is a fully sprinklered building the exits have to be separated a third of the diagnal distance. a technicality but it makes a difference a third degree of the diagonal difference meansure able to have 2 doors on the fall of the building which p

so the building code says this. where you are doing new construction the gap has to be small enough so that a high heel, a bicycle wheel, a wheelchair wheel, something else, isn't going to get caught and trapped in these little gaps in the drain. see this little drainage piece across the bottom here? anybody know what the maximum is? . >> a half inch. >> these are almost an inch. so this is, again, a simple and readily achievable way to increase access. just be aware, they can replace it, they can put something on top of it, they can put another screen on top. >> the orientation on that is a problem too. you would really want those openings to be going in the other direction so you can wheel past them without being caught. >> because what happens in a situation like this is that the front wheel, the castors on a wheelchair, can actually drop down in there and depending upon what size castors you've got it could throw the whole chair forward and down about 3 or 4 inches. also strollers, anything with smaller front whe

in lieu of the regular california building code, in place of what they call the regular code. that allows you to do things to preserve the integrity of the building, and people say that saving the building is the greenest thing you can do because of the energy and materials. all sorts of opportunities, but it is not written as a green coat. but really, that is the fact a bit. >> yes, absolutely. of course there are limitations where transportation or other uses to be substantially changed. but in general, maintaining existing buildings is critical. >> and it has to do with building their ability. that is an issue. we are on to talk about this nationwide premier green building program of a product, many products that we use. it does not have too many points, but vulnerability is a topic that i think everyone to focus on. if you build a building that lasts for 100 years, it is a greener building and that designed without materials going 20 years and you have to take a new sign and window and replace the building. >> it is recognized in directly. there is credit in major systems f

we just go with what the california building code says. >> the new california building code into into affect january 1, 2009. and it relies on fire sprinklers. can you think of any? >> existing building, if people try to implement it. they may have to sprinkler their buildings. you can built the building bigger or more area. or bring your separation a little closer together. there's a lot of advantages to the designer. and i think we may see some of these buildings putting them in they they don't have to get the advantages. particularly the ones downtown. you try to put the sprinklers in and they get to take advantage of the code. >> the new code doesn't consider the post earthquake. we have an unfortunate loss of water pressure after an earthquake. the local jurisdiction are a little bit concerned about over reliance on

the building code says when you build something with a permit and you're able to keep it unless the code retro activity changes. how old do you think it is? >> (inaudible). >> 50 years old. there is nothing retro actively that says that have you to remove a sign. is that correct? >> 24r was a case on there was a case on market street and we did it for signs and a couple had to be removed but generally no. once it's non conforming could remain until the end of the life of the sign. >> so generally that is the case with all building issues is that are you permitted to retain those that were properly installed with a permit unless there is specific legislation that says otherwise typically. is this a flag sign? is that what they call signs that stick out like that? >> projection signs. >> projecting -- projection signs and it's painted and neon and the required martini glass and you can see it's stabilized by wires to keep it from falling and the wind from pushing it side ways. the signs are regulated in the building and planning code and requires it for all signs and we will talk about wha

and the california historical building code superseeds the regular building code. for example, you don't have to make the front door of the restaurant fully compliant with the ada or the california title 24. this is an example. you my meet the california historical building code in a qualified historic building by having a door that is 31 inches wide instead of 32 inches wide. and may have a power door operator, keep everybody happy and preserve the facade of the building and save money. i encourage to you think about the historic building code and the values we are trying to save. >> 4, select a location already zoned as a legally permitted restaurant. not just zoned but was a restaurant once upon a time. it's so much easier. the utilities, gas, power. power is a problem. we mentioned that a couple of times. getting powers and gas pg and e has a big backlog. now in san francisco we are seeing restaurants and other businesses opening with temporary generators pending the final connections by bg and e. building and fire have a separate process before the builteding a

the side. if your buildings listed in one of these your a qualified historical resource and you may use the space historical building code which provided alternatives to the other building code requirements and this is a great resource for us to approve the most important resources in the city. >> if that window needs to be repairs whoa to you. >> i get a lot of requests to use the state historic building code. it's called the san francisco golden age postcards and we had a copy of this and i suddenly realized a lot of people came in and they're not listed but i have this wonderful old photograph from wherever it might be. 1930s and i can use this to help document that it's appropriate to use the state historic cold or code and it's showing every aspect. old cable cars and when they were taken out officer vice and put out on the beach to make little houses and all over the city. great book. i'll pass that around. did you want to mention anything about it. >> i was going to touch upon the block book one last time. the library if you look on page 9 of the research guide they've got the block books from 1960, 94, 06, 07', 0

we use a swift evaluation in the building code. it is based on square footage. but then you pull in finishes. that is variable as well. commissioner hwang: just for my edification, if you put in a permit and estimate the worst to be $40,000, then determine the fee in connection with the permit -- is that correct? how does that work? if you have a $40,000 estimate on a permit, what would be the fee, if you know? the ballpark. >> there is a schedule in the building code. it goes from zero to $5,000. it is based on the -- if it has to disciplining as well, i think they also increase their fees if it is a higher valuation. but there probably would be -- i would say you're talking hundreds of dollars more, not thousands, for the extra fees and the difference. >> so for a contractor or whoever submits the permit and estimates the work at 40,000, but the work ends up being over twice as much, the differential on the permit fee would be a couple of hundred dollars? >> probably in this case -- if i took a rough estimate, you are probably talking between $500 thousand doll

if you make the building taller, this would not be taller than a number of buildings in the surrounding area. what would happen if he complied with the code and set the building back, the generator on the rooftop would be much higher, and would be much further removed from all the surrounding properties, including a public plaza. we not know if this would lessen the impact. they did not quantify any of the noise impact. this is required in the guidelines, that they have to discuss whether a proposed project is conforming with the general plan of the city, the specific plan of the city, but are operative for an area. this is an area where it is policy to do something that we fretfully -- have asserted and this is not in line with this. you have to discuss this. the general public at large, decision makers have to understand if the project is in compliance with the general plan. if there is a special overlay. whenever you have to talk about with that particular plan. we do not talk about that here. we talked about this in the staff report we released a few days before the planning commission. this is not what they require. if this is my cli

requesting one more time to comply and a reduction of nine times investigative fee required by the san francisco building code. remedies to require to abate the violations, owner must obtain building, plumbing and electrical permits, inspections and return the property to its last permitted use or legalize current use and alterations. recommendations are as follows -- the notice of violation was issued on june 3, 2010, for illegal conversion and has been unabated for 10 months. the property owner did not file the requisite building permits to legalize or remove the second floor residential use until march 25, 2011, nine months after the notice was issued. the property owner did not address the illegal residential occupancy on the second floor until eight months after the notice was issued. the property owner's failure to comply notice of violation has prolonged life hazards and therefore impacting the safety of the occupants and the neighboring properties. imposing and enforcing the order is necessary to ensure that the property owner follows through and complies with the notice of violation issued by the dep

unfortunately, the building code is the building code, and that is really what we are here to is really what we are here to apply.

unfortunately, the building code is the building code, and that is really what we are here to apply. i think that -- commissioner lee: we are still in the rebuttal. commissioner walker: actually, my concern is one of when we have a flooding situation at a place and they come in to do a permitted replacement or job, it is unfortunate, i guess, that we do not check to make sure that there is a back flow valve issue. >> we will do the inspection. we will check to make sure there is one if it is required and we are inside a building. they are just doing a hausfrau for a section of sewage, we do not know that there is a lower unit. we would not see that there is lower units. there is no work being done. we're just looking at that section. if we were inside that building and we went inside and they did a major replacement, at that time, we would say that we need to put back water protection here and at this location as well. we would not approve the job. we would approve what is in the street but not what is in the unit. >> but -- commissioner walker: the back flow valve issue that was wra

the building code specifically requires that, to have a water protective membrane or be physically separated from the building. >> could you explain again how you would probably flash the -- [inaudible] with the stucco wall? >> if you're rebuilding the stair, if you're starting from scratch and going to put the stairs in, you want to put the stairs in first and you have two options. one is to put the stairs in first and run a regularlet around the stairs that the stucco comes down to. a reglet is an l-shaped piece of metal that you're waterproofing for the stucco that goes behind distribute stucco goes on top of. it's a piece of flashing and that follows -- they'll make it -- it follows the curves and the whole edge of the stairs. and so you can put that on there, the stucco paper comes down there and you would stucco on top that have after and then

the planning code. >> they can keep this. the moxie. this is a sign that -- this building through a number of changes. the sign has been there through it all and now an office and they left the sign up. murals -- are they signs? are they regulated in the planning code? >> no. there are allowances and projecting murals but generally can be considered art and it's something that we definitely want to encourage for that area and people would come and tag my door and i wish i would have a nice mural on it and they would think twice and it's important fabric of the city. >> is there anything in the code that encourages art -- >> part of the planning code has things for art depending on the size of the project and we open everyone would do it on their own and enjoy it. >> this is fantastic. >> i mean one of the interesting things and the mission bay and that obviously the mission is a really rich place to find murals but that a lot of what gets called the mission school in the art world today came out of people who really were very interested and celebrated old signs and cataloged them and encorporated them

above 300 feet, the planning code mandates that you step the buildings back. the building as proposes not stepped back at all. this is a monolithic wall that goes up. our point is pretty simple. if you look at this property, this is under 19,000 square feet. this is not very big, this is not very big for a project that will be 340,000 square feet. they are right at 18 to one. they are seeking to squeeze every square inch possible out of this property. this is caused bigger than any larger in the downtown area. if you look at the submission for council for the project owner and developer, they say and a couple of different spots, they a admit that this is a smaller than average property. this is a property where they confess they are pushing the bounds economically of what they think they can accomplish. this indicates basically what percentage of the building you have to dedicate to the square footage that cannot be rented. all of the mechanical elements, those kind of things. they have run the numbers and they cannot make it work. this property is not big eno

that can be accommodated under the building code. that is something that we can ask the project sponsor to look at. >> ok. thank you. >> it feels like we're discussing many things that are not before us tonight. let me expose my lack of understanding. and my understanding had to do with making certain that the permit holder was not doing anything, any exterior modifications. use suspended it. you apparently met with someone and you reviewed the permit. we don't have the permits. that is part of my confusion. i have not been able to look at the plans and determine what was in those permits. my understanding is that having determined that no exterior modifications were taking place, you then asked to have your suspension lifted. there are two letters. what is before us? what is before us? what was in those permits that caused you to suspend it and then lift the suspension? >> they were suspended as a precaution. we did this so we could review them and make sure there was no issues. there was outstanding other issues not directly to thes

housing do, how often do -- how often is the rotation for small apartment buildings throughout the city? is that once a year, once every two years? >> the building code inspection is once every five years. i know at the inspection it's determined to be a poor building or many violations it might be inspected more often. commissioner murphy: is it part of that inspection to have the housing inspector inspect where the gas meters are located? >> absolutely. they'll look at the gas meters and supposed to be a shutoff tool as well as a diagram explaining how to turn off the gas. commissioner murphy: what about heavy objects that i see in a lot of apartment buildings bicycles hanging up on top, bicycles outside doors and stuff that would block -- >> i mean, it is supposed to be inspected and kept clear, absolutely. inspect storage materials to make sure that there is no combustible materials up there. commissioner murphy: and heavy objects that might possibly fall? >> if something appears to be hazardous it will be noticed on a housing inspection. i don't know specifically had the october hanging from a ceiling i'd have to have a little more detail to see

now you are skirting the building code again by having more than 5000 square feet. in fact, the total square footage for the project the improvement is 4200 square feet. the first floor and the small mezzanine for storage. then there was the proposed seating on the interior. if anyone of us know on old victorian buildings circa 1910 or 1920, they always

describes the job and in the 1950s it was five years later that it said only for conditions in the building code. >> so if you -- this document is the key document for us to

it is up to the building code. vice president garcia: we no longer have that in front of us. if this were to be approved this evening, i would want to try to get the other commissioners to agree to special combat -- to special restrictions in order for this permit to go forward. >> i think the pharmacy people already have that. vice president garcia: they have a list? >> you can add that if it is up to you. whatever commissioners decide, the police department will abide by it. but it is up to you people to make the decision. vice president garcia: it is. commissioner hwang: along the lines of president goh's question on staffing, is one of the reasons you are here out of concern that you're diminishing staff would have to -- your diminishing staff would have to be more watchful in monitoring what is going on,? should be a pill be denied,-- the appeal be denied, would you monitor closely? >> we monitor all new businesses that opened. we do not want any blight. it does not matter if it is a barbecue. the same thing. we monitor all businesses. small business, we want to thrive in

occupying the building as a worship hall, we will be also widening the front staircase as well as the back staircase. there is a current elevator in place today which did not meet the building code requirements for a.d.a. or accessability. so we will also be moving the current elevator and incorporating the current elevator as part of the entrance. the front of the building also needs to be modified, because we have a staircase that runs up to the main floor. it's a building over a garage, as mr. smith had described. and with that, we will remove that staircase and within that we'll put a front door that leads into a staircase and to the elevator that reaches each one of the floors. a little bit more about the elevator itself. currently the building does have an elevator that has accessability only through the garage of the building. it does not have accessability through the front entrance of the building. that's another reason why we are moving that entrance to the elevator from the back of the building to the front. and that elevator also will be reaching into the garage as well in case a handicapped person comes in via the garage and can access each one the floors via the el

experience been in a unit that was built without permits that neat -- meets the requirements of the building code, not once. what we have is a double standard of have the ability here. people who meet the code is live on the standards we have agreed upon. people live in units that are not permitted have some lower standard of have the ability. >> it is. i think it is. the tenants pay their own rent, too. >> thank you. i wanted to add my two cents. i have legalized dozens of dwelling units, illegal units, for people in san francisco. in the last 10 years, there has been a sea change within the bureaucracy, the building and planning departments, where the attitude has been very proactive in trying to help property owners bring things up to code and to save these old, illegal units, rather than force them to be abandoned. the attitude of the city has really changed a lot and people are more likely to get help from their building inspector rather than enforcement. >> what i had hoped we could do is look at this little hand out for further discussion. starting on page one, it is from a website, home r