Title HSC — California Health & Safety Code

(a) A city or county, as applicable, shall have plan review and building inspection responsibilities for the construction or alteration of buildings described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 129725. For chronic dialysis and surgical services buildings, construction…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the department shall, on or before January 1, 1991, set forth and implement criteria for the alteration or construction of buildings specified in subdivision (a) of Section 129725 that provide for onsite field review and approval by…

(a) The department shall adopt by regulations seismic safety standards for hospital equipment anchorages, as defined by the department, to include, but not be limited to, architectural, mechanical, and electrical components, supports, and attachments. Those regulations shall incl…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, plans for the construction or alteration of any hospital building, or any building specified in Section 129875, that are prepared by or under the supervision of the Department of General Services shall not require the review and approva…

Subject to the complete exemption contained in paragraphs (6) and (7) of subdivision (b) of Section 129725, and notwithstanding any other provision of law, plans for the construction or alteration of any hospital building, as defined in Section 1250, or any building specified in …

There is in the department a Hospital Building Safety Board that shall be appointed by the director. The board shall advise the director and, notwithstanding Section 13142.6 and except as provided in Section 18945, shall act as a board of appeals in all matters relating to the ad…

The board shall consist of 16 members appointed by the director of the department. Of the appointive members, two shall be structural engineers, two shall be architects, one shall be an engineering geologist, one shall be a geotechnical engineer, one shall be a mechanical enginee…

(a) Each member shall be appointed by the director for a term of four years and shall hold office until the appointment and qualification of his or her successor or until one year has elapsed since the expiration of the term for which he or she was appointed, whichever first occu…

Appointive members, except for the public members, shall be qualified by close connection with hospital design and construction and highly knowledgeable in their respective fields with particular reference to seismic safety. Appointive members, except for the public members, shal…

(a) There shall be six ex officio members of the board, who shall be the director of the department, the State Fire Marshal, the State Geologist, the Executive Director of the California Building Standards Commission, the State Director of Health Services, and the Deputy Director…

(a) Only appointed members shall vote at board meetings. (b) Appointed members, ex officio members, and others appointed to a committee, including an appeal committee, by the chair, may vote at committee meetings.

The chair of the board shall be an appointive member and shall be elected by a majority of the appointive members.

The board shall be served by an executive director who shall be a member of the department staff.

The Building Safety Board shall convene upon request of the chairperson thereof. The chairperson may convene a meeting of the board whenever it may be necessary, in the chairperson’s judgment, for the board to meet. The board shall adopt rules of procedure as necessary to enable …

Members of the board shall be reimbursed from the Hospital Building Account in the Architecture Public Building Fund for their reasonable actual expenses in attending meetings conducted to carry out the provisions of this chapter, and they shall receive from that account per diem…

The director of the department may conduct studies relating to the implementation of this chapter to ensure that the implementation of its provisions results in the least amount of increases in costs, staffing, and regulation.

Whenever any construction or alteration of any hospital building is being performed contrary to the provisions of this chapter, the department may order the construction or alteration stopped by written notice served upon any persons engaged in or causing the work to be done. Upo…

(a) Whenever it is necessary to make an inspection to enforce any of the provisions of this chapter or whenever the department or its authorized representatives has reasonable cause to believe that there exists in any building or upon any premises any condition or a violation of …

The department may order the vacating of any building or structure found to have been in violation of the adopted regulations of the department and may order the use of the building or structure discontinued within the time prescribed by the department upon the service of notice …

(a) Any person who violates any provision of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor. (b) This section shall not apply to correctional treatment centers. This subdivision shall not affect any civil or administrative liability against correctional treatment centers or persons empl…

(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares the following: (1) The Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act of 1983 was created because of the loss of life in the collapse of hospitals during the Sylmar earthquake of 1971. (2) We were reminded of the vulnerabili…

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (1) Following a major earthquake, Californians will rely on their community hospitals to provide care to those who are injured, to continue to care for those already within the hospital, and to respond to the emergent n…

By June 30, 1996: (a) The Department of Health Care Access and Information, hereinafter called the department, shall develop definitions of earthquake performance categories for earthquake ground motions for both new and existing hospitals that are: (1) Reasonably capable of prov…

(a) A hospital building that is classified as SPC-2 shall be identified as “These buildings do not significantly jeopardize life, but may not be repairable or functional following an earthquake” on the department’s internet website and in all documents and submissions to the depa…

The department is responsible for reviewing and approving seismic evaluation reports, compliance schedules and construction documents that are developed by hospital owners, and field review of construction for work done pursuant to this article.

(a) By December 31, 1996, the California Building Standards Commission shall review, revise as necessary and adopt earthquake performance categories, seismic evaluation procedures, and standards and timeframes for upgrading the most critical nonstructural systems as developed by …

(a) In the event of a seismic event, or other natural or manmade calamity that the department believes is of a magnitude so that it may have compromised the structural integrity of a hospital building, or any major system of a hospital building, the department shall send one or m…

(a) Within three years after the adoption of the standards described in Section 130020, owners of all general acute care hospitals shall: (1) Conduct seismic evaluations in accordance with procedures developed by the department pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 130005 and su…

On and after July 1, 2023, general acute hospital building owners shall do both of the following annually until each of the hospital buildings owned by that hospital building owner is compliant with Section 130065. (a) Include all pertinent information regarding the building’s ex…

(a) (1) After January 1, 2008, a general acute care hospital building that is determined to be a potential risk of collapse or pose significant loss of life shall only be used for nonacute care hospital purposes, unless an extension of this deadline has been granted and either of…

(a) An owner of a general acute care hospital building that is classified as a nonconforming Structural Performance Category-1 (SPC-1) building, who has not requested an extension of the deadline described in subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 130060, shall submit a report to the …

(a) The Legislature finds and declares the following: (1) By enacting this section, the Legislature reinforces its commitment to ensuring the seismic safety of hospitals in California. In order to meet that commitment, this section provides a mechanism for hospitals that lack the…

(a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings: (1) “Rebuild plan” means a plan to meet seismic standards primarily by constructing a new conforming SPC-5 building for use in lieu of an SPC-1 building. (2) “Removal plan” means a plan to meet…

(a) With regard to a general acute care hospital building located in Seismic Zone 3 as indicated in the 1995 edition of the California Building Standards Code, any hospital may request an exemption from Non-Structural Performance Category-3 requirements in Title 24 of the Califor…

Notwithstanding Section 130063, a county-owned general acute care hospital building is allowed an extension of the Non-structural Performance Category-2 requirements of Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations if all of the following conditions are met: (a) The county submi…

Notwithstanding Section 130063, an existing county-owned general acute care hospital building may receive a one-year extension of the January 1, 2002, deadline for the Non-structural Performance Category-2 requirements in Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations if all of t…

(a) In lieu of the extension described in subdivision (f) of Section 130060, the department may grant an extension to a general acute care hospital pursuant to either subdivision (c) or (f) if the hospital building will not meet the seismic safety standards of that section by Jan…

(a) In accordance with the compliance schedule approved by the department, but in any case no later than January 1, 2030, owners of all acute care inpatient hospitals shall either: (1) Demolish, replace, or change to nonacute care use all hospital buildings not in substantial com…

(a) For purposes of this article, the following definitions shall apply: (1) “Critical access hospital” means a hospital designated by the State Department of Public Health as a critical access hospital, and certified as such by the Secretary of the United States Department of He…

The department shall annually post a list of hospitals that have been granted a delay of the January 1, 2030, deadline described in Section 130065 pursuant to Section 130065.1 on its internet website. The list shall include the name and location of each hospital and the projected…

Before January 1, 2020, the owner of an acute care inpatient hospital whose building does not substantially comply with the seismic safety regulations or standards described in Section 130065 shall submit to the department an attestation that the board of directors of that hospit…

(a) Before January 1, 2024, the owner of an acute care inpatient hospital that includes a building that does not substantially comply with the seismic safety regulations or standards described in Section 130065 shall post in any lobby or waiting area generally accessible to patie…

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, including, but not limited to Sections 130060 and 130061, the office may waive the requirements for the Seton Medical Center in Daly City to comply with this chapter, in whole or in part, if both of the following occur: (1) The Seton Medical Cen…

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, including, but not limited to, Sections 130060 and 130061, the department may waive the requirements of this chapter, in whole or in part, for O’Connor Hospital and Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in the City of San Jose if both of the followi…

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, including, but not limited to, Sections 130060 and 130061, the department may waive the requirements of this chapter, in whole or in part, for Pacifica Hospital of the Valley in the County of Los Angeles if both of the following occur: (1) The h…

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, referenced in subdivision (c) of Section 10727 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, may seek an extension to the January 1, 2030, seismic compliance deadline outlined in Section 130065, of up to three years,…

The department shall notify the State Department of Public Health of the hospital owners that have received a written notice of violation for failure to comply with either Section 130060 or 130065. Unless the hospital places its license in voluntary suspense, the State Department…

(a) The Office of the State Fire Marshal is hereby created in the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The Office of the State Fire Marshal shall be administered by the State Fire Marshal, who shall be a Chief Deputy Director of Forestry and Fire Protection in accordance w…

The functions of the office shall be to foster, promote and develop ways and means of protecting life and property against fire and panic.

The State Fire Marshal shall be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate and shall hold office at the pleasure of the Governor. In order to be eligible for appointment, he or she shall have had not less than eight years experience in a regularly organiz…