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Supervisors back simplified fire‑safety disclosures for multiunit residences
Summary
The Land Use Committee advanced Supervisor Katie Tang’s amendments to a fire‑safety disclosure ordinance that would require annual written disclosures (including a floor map) to tenants rather than broad common‑area postings and remove an in‑person training mandate, while allowing an SFFD video as an alternative.
Supervisor Katie Tang moved the committee to adopt amendments that simplify earlier fire‑safety requirements for multiunit residences, and the panel sent the ordinance to the full Board with a positive recommendation.
Tang told the Land Use and Transportation Committee on Monday that a previously passed ordinance required extensive postings and in‑person training for buildings of three or more dwelling units. Her amendments narrow the required disclosures to the tenant’s residence floor — the location of fire extinguishers, emergency exits and fire escapes on that floor and the control panel and manual pull stations — and require that information be provided in writing to tenants annually with a map. The revised proposal removes a mandatory in‑person training requirement and instead allows tenants to view a San Francisco Fire Department video posted online.
Deputy City Attorney John Gibner told the committee that the ordinance’s term “writing” already covers electronic communications, including email, and counsel said the language could be clarified to specifically note email if the committee wished. Supervisor Aaron Peskin asked whether email would be covered; Gibner confirmed it would be.
Tenant advocates and property‑owner representatives both told the committee they supported the amendments as a practical compromise. Josephine Zhao of BetterHousingPolicyStore.org said Tang’s changes would cut initial administrative burdens substantially for small landlords while maintaining tenant safety. Charlie Goss of the San Francisco Apartment Association said detailed diagramming of every floor had proven excessively difficult for small property owners and that the revisions preserved safety while improving compliance.
Tang said the amendment sets an effective date of Jan. 1, 2018, and argued written annual disclosures would better ensure tenants actually receive the information without imposing oversized posting burdens on owners of very tall buildings. The committee agreed to send the item to the full Board with a positive recommendation; the motion was adopted without objection.
The ordinance as amended will next appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda for consideration.
