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Board continues emergency ordinance on high‑rise ventilation to April 20 after sponsors seek more time
Summary
Supervisors continued an emergency ordinance that would require owners of large nonresidential buildings to certify mechanical ventilation compliance; sponsor Supervisor Safaie asked for a continuance to allow more stakeholder engagement and staff review.
The Board of Supervisors unanimously voted on April 13 to continue consideration of an emergency ordinance that would require owners of high‑rise buildings (50,000 square feet or more of nonresidential floor area) with mechanical ventilation systems to certify compliance with applicable laws and post certification onsite.
Supervisor Safaie, the ordinance sponsor, thanked co‑sponsors and preservation and labor stakeholders, said he had been meeting with frontline janitors and building workers, and asked for a continuance to allow more discussion and technical review. "San Francisco is home to 5,000 at least 5,000 private sector janitors. They have put themselves on the front lines from the beginning of this pandemic," Safaie said, and argued the work required more time for stakeholder input.
Supervisor Peskin, who seconded the continuance motion, said the related Healthy Buildings/Voting ordinance needed better enforcement and suggested the Department of Public Health has tools to enforce elements of building safety. The motion to continue the item to the next week's meeting (April 20) was seconded and passed unanimously.
What happens next: the ordinance will return to the board on April 20 for further consideration after sponsors and staff continue stakeholder outreach and technical review. The item was described by staff as an emergency ordinance requiring an 8‑vote threshold for immediate adoption on a single reading, but the sponsors chose to continue rather than pursue the emergency vote that day.
