What is the Annual Occupancy Compliance Program?

The Southern Marin Fire District (SMFD) has continued to provide annual inspections to the community's businesses and commercial spaces for years. The current Prevention Division has a dedicated staff of trained Fire Inspectors assigned to occupancy compliance. These inspectors focus on complying with all local and state mandates for annual inspections. These include but are not limited to schools, apartments, and hotel/motels.

In addition to these annual inspections, specific call-outs come from many sources. This helps direct our inspectors to verified the fire and life safety conditions at select occupancies throughout the district. These inspections often result in the full review of the property and compliance with the current fire code and standards. This style of inspection would meet or exceed the annual requirements and would provide the business owner with a letter of compliance for that calendar year.

What Occupancy is my business?

Each style of business is classified as a specific "Occupancy Class" identified as a specific letter. These letter classifications can be reviewed with a list of full checklists by clicking on the link for Occupancy Checklists. 

How much does an inspection cost my business?

The annual inspections fees are based off of an adopted fee schedule. Review the linked SMFD fee schedule to understand how this may apply to your business. Not all occupancies are created equal. The calculated fee schedule is based on the cost for an initial inspection and a follow-up re-inspection at no additional cost. This allows for the inspector to provide a detailed report, review codes requirements, and provide a qualified review of the fire and life safety elements associated with the business. 

Why is there a cost for this service?

This is a higher level service than a typical engine company inspection. This is a detailed inspection that is tied into the District's mission for community risk reduction on a larger scale. The fees are meant to be based around cost recovery for the time the district staff has provided services and review of the occupancy. 

Are there additional fees?

Only in the event that compliance is not achieved in a reasonable amount of time would an inspector be required to return to the property for additional inspections. This failed re-inspection process would result in additional staff time and additional fees. 

How do I schedule an annual inspection?

Any business can request an annual inspection to meet a more reasonable timeline with maintenance and testing. We encourage this to allow for a property representative to be on site with the fire inspector at the time of the inspection. Please visit the Occupancy Inspection Scheduling page.

For more questions please contact the Fire Prevention Division office at 415-380-1120 or email at prevention@smfd.org.