O
n June 19, 2018, CAI’s California Legislative Action Committee (CAI-CLAC)
scored a significant victory in helping to persuade the California Legislature to amend Senate Bill 721 to remove common interest developments from its application.
Introduced in February 2017 and quickly dubbed the “balcony bill,” this proposed law was a response to the tragic 2015 Berkeley incident where an apartment building balcony collapsed, killing six people and injuring seven others. According to the bill’s author, the Berkeley balcony collapse was caused by wood dry rot due to poor building maintenance.
SB 721 proposed to require that apartment owners and condominium developments perform periodic inspections of “exterior elevated elements” including balconies/ decks, stairwells, walkways and entry structures that extend beyond the exterior building walls more than six feet above ground level, consisting of wood or wood- based products for support. Te bill also included requirements for repairs.
CAI-CLAC supports reasonable measures that protect human safety. However, CAI- CLAC had reservations about SB 721’s application to condominium complexes. Te concerns included: the bill contained no accommodations for associations which had recently made repairs, the cost of destructive inspections on a widespread scale would be significant, the potential liability to inspectors for failing to recommend repairs would force inspectors to make overly conservative repair recommendations, and overall the bill did not account for existing legal requirements already in place for associations to inspect and maintain these elements.
From the outset, CAI-CLAC worked diligently to communicate to legislators, including Senator Hill who introduced the bill, the willingness to seek effective and reasonable modifications to the bill. Te bill was discussed during office visits at the 2017 and 2018 Legislative Days at the Capitol. Calls for action asking that
messages be sent to local legislators were sent to everyone signed up to receive CAI- CLAC notifications.
A June 19, 2018 hearing on the bill was scheduled with the Assembly’s Business and Professions committee. Prior to that hearing, members of CAI-Channel Islands Chapter met with Assembly Member Jacqui Irwin, a member of the B&P Committee, to express CAI-CLAC’s concerns with SB 721 and the direct impact it would have on communities within her district. In response to that meeting and other grassroots efforts, Assembly Member Irwin, working with the Chair and other members of the committee, was able to convince Senator Hill to remove completely SB 721’s application to common interest developments. CAI-CLAC is committed to working with Senator Hill in the future to determine if a different approach could enhance association safety measures, while also respecting the effectiveness of existing protections.
Tis result is a prime example of what CAI-CLAC does and how it is vital for everyone that lives in, manages and works with community associations. Subscribe to receive notifications at
https://caiclac.com and participate in the grassroots “calls for action.” Help establish relationships with local legislators. Monetary contributions fund our advocate, Louie Brown, CAI- CLAC’s staff and the annual Legislative Days at the Capitol. Please include in your annual budget $1 per door (or more) in your community to support CAI-CLAC. Together we can continue to advocate important issues on behalf of California’s community associations.
NATHAN R. MCGUIRE is a partner with Adams | Stirling, PLC, in charge of the firm’s Northern Cali- fornia office, and currently
serving as Vice Chair of CAI-CLAC. You can reach Nate at
nmcguire@adamsstirling.com or (800) 464-2817.
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