AB 838 Intro to Interior Inspections

In this ICC Code Enforcement Chapter of Orange County meeting, we will be discussing AB 838 State Housing Law: enforcement response to complaints, which goes into effect mid-year. In this session, there will be a legal summary by Woodruff, Spradlin & Smart Attorney Nicholas Hutchins followed by training conducted by Assistant Chief Building Official Cecilia Muela titled Introduction to Interior Inspections. This training will not cover how to develop a rental inspection program.

(Summary) Beginning July 1, 2022, this legislation will require a city or county that receives a complaint of a substandard building or a lead hazard violation to document and inspect areas intended for human occupancy or premises on which such a building is located that is determined to be substandard, as applicable.

The bill would require the city or county, as applicable, to advise the owner or operator of each violation and of each action that is required to be taken to remedy the violation and to schedule a reinspection to verify correction of the violations. The bill would require a city or county to provide free, certified copies of an inspection report and citations issued, if any, to the complaining tenant, resident, occupant, or agent, and to all potentially affected tenants, residents, occupants, or the agents of those individuals, as specified. The bill would prohibit the inspection or the report from being subject to any unreasonable conditions, as specified, and prohibit a city, county, or city and county from collecting a fee, cost, or charge from a property owner or property owner's agent for any inspection of, or any inspection report about, that owner’s or agent’s property that is conducted or issued pursuant to the bill’s provisions, unless the inspection reveals one or more material lead hazard violations or deems and declares the property substandard, as described above. The bill would prohibit a city or county from unreasonably refusing to communicate with a tenant, resident, occupant, or agent regarding a matter covered by this bill. The entire bill can be read at https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB838

Many jurisdictions currently do not conduct interior inspections nor have formal training in identifying substandard conditions. This training will help the attendee get acquainted with interior inspections and identify the most common substandard conditions.