Orange County Grand Jury • 2002-2003 • Agency Response
Response to: Wood Roofs Are Dangerous 02/10/03, 90K

Placentia Councilmembers: Scott P. Brady Judy A. Dickinson Norman Z. Eckenrode City Administrator Chris Lowe Robert*

Published: April 30, 2003 7 pages
Ver PDF original

Findings and Recommendations 4 findings

F1
There is a lack of uniformity in local building codes involving roofs for identical environmental conditions within Orange County. Environmental conditions are not identical within Orange County. Establishing and enforcing uniformity in building codes involving roofs throughout the County seems unnecessary. There are many cities that are not exposed to as dangerous an environment as other cities during Cities like Placentia, Cypress, wild fire conditions (Santa Ana winds). Huntington Beach, and others do not have hills or forested areas within or in proximity to their boundaries. Cities with hills or forested areas would be exposed to greater danger from windy conditions (Laguna Beach, San Juan Capistrano, Brea, or Yorba Linda). دن Recycled Paper Honorable Frederick P. Horn Presiding Judge of the Superior Court Orange County Grand Jury Attention: Carlos N. Olvera, Foreman Subject: Response to Findings and Recommendations of Orange County Grand Jury Report, Wood Roofs are Dangerous April 14, 2003
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
consider amending the building code to require the most fire retardant class of roof covering (Class A) for new construction of all residential structures (Group R) in all fire zones. (Findings 2 through 4) No response required from Placentia.
F2
The testing and qualification standards of wood shakes and shingles are below the environmental conditions of Orange County. Roofing materials are tested and certified by I.C.B.O. (International Conference of Building Officials). Placentia does not have a comment on the accuracy of these testing procedures. This would be like asking about the reliability of U.L. testing of electrical appliances. I.C.B.O. has an Evaluation Services Department in Whittier. This Department provides reports and certifies many building products, not just roofing materials.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
consider amending the building code to require the most fire retardant class of roof covering (Class A) for re-roofing of all residential structures (Group R) in all fire zones when more than 50 percent of roof is replaced within one year. (Findings 2 through 4) 2. As indicated in our response to Finding 3, Placentia's current roofing policy, Class A roofing material for new construction and Class B or better for re-roofing, is appropriate for the City's environment. Each city should be able to analyze its own needs/requirements because of different environmental conditions. Honorable Frederick P. Horn Presiding Judge of the Superior Court Orange County Grand Jury Attention: Carlos N. Olvera, Foreman Subject: Response to Findings and Recommendations of Orange County Grand Jury Report, Wood Roofs are Dangerous April 14, 2003 The Orange County Fire Authority has made comments that are attached for your review. If there are questions or comments, please contact our Chief Building Official, Robert Chang at 714/993-8127. Very truly yours, Scott P. Brady Mayor SPB/RC/MKA/s cc: Council Members City Administrator Acting Director of Development Services Chief Building Official OCFA Division Chief, Richard J. Witesman Attachments: City of Placentia Policy 710 OCFA Comments C:\My Documents(Marla)\Grand Jury letter.doc DEVELOPMENT/PLANNING GUIDELINES POLICY NO. ROOFING MATERIAL NEW RESIDENCES: Current policy is that all new residential construction shall use only Class "A" rated roof assemblies. The following products all have this rating and are acceptable: 1. Clay or concrete tile. 2. Three dimensional composition shingles: These shingles vary sufficiently in depth and are random tabbed to take on the appearance of wood shingles when installed. "Three dimensional" is nomenclature applied to the shingles by the Asphalt Roofers Manufacturing Association, and they typically differ from the old-fashioned standard shingles in their weight (300# per square for 3-D shingles vs. 65-300# per square standard). 3. Metal roofing: This material is light weight and either coated with baked enamel pain or treated with other material in order to take on the appearance of shake or shingle. 4. Synthetic tile: This material is made from a composition of synthetic ingredients. It resembles cedar shake. As new products become available, they may be installed if they: 1. Have a Class "A" rating; 2. Are found to be esthetically attractive; 3. Are approved by the Planning Commission. EXISTING RESIDENCES: Al materials used for re-roofing an existing residential unit shall have a minimum Class "B" rated roof assembly. This can be clay or concrete tile, three- dimensional composition shingles, metal roofing or wood shake. 11/93 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE AUTHORITY COMMENTS REGARDING PLACENTIA ROOFING POLICY Subject: Response to Findings and Recommendations of Orange County Grand Jury Report, Wood Roofs are Dangerous
F3
The cities' and county's roofing codes do not adequately take into account the climate, particularly the Santa Ana winds, and topographical conditions unique to Orange County. 3. The City of Placentia has a good roofing policy: New construction requires Class A roofing material and re-roofing requires Class B or better (Policy No. 710, attached). It is not necessary in Placentia to enact a new regulation that would require re-roofing material to be a Class A. Some homeowners and condominium associations (perhaps in CC&R documents) prefer the aesthetics of wood roofs and are willing to pay a greater cost for this roofing material, fire retarding and insurance. Placentia does not have forests or hills where wind/heat storms trigger wild firestorms like the one in Laguna Beach in 1993. It is the City's opinion that a uniform code is necessary in Orange County because there are climate and environmental differences between cities/areas. Fire conflagrations stress finite fire fighting resources
No recommendations for this finding
F4
especially during the period of Santa Ana winds. 4. Placentia is a relatively flat area, nearly fully developed with ample fire hydrants in all developed areas. A wild fire situation is not anticipated in Placentia, even with Santa Ana wind conditions because of the lack of wild fire fuel - hilly or forested areas. Placentia contracts with Orange County . . Honorable Frederick P. Horn Presiding Judge of the Superior Court Orange County Grand Jury Attention: Carlos N. Olvera, Foreman Subject: Response to Findings and Recommendations of Orange County Grand Jury Report, Wood Roofs are Dangerous April 14, 2003 Fire Authority (OCFA) for fire services. There are two fire stations within the City limits, one in southwest Placentia (Station 35) and one in the northeast area (Station 34). OCFA firefighters may be dispatched from our stations, under mutual aid agreements, to other cities during disasters. In past experiences, during catastrophic events in surrounding cities and during the Laguna Beach Fire Storm of 1993, OCFA provided both continued local response as well as mutual aid. Response to Recommendations Each responding jurisdictional agency should
No recommendations for this finding

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.