Reply To: Inspection – 2 apartments over an insurance business

[John Wilson]

I completely agree that the F Orders are there for us to use as we see appropriate and that they are supported by OFM. Considering the huge number of 1 or 2 dwelling units plus a commercial unit that have been specifically excluded from Retrofit and even old row houses, there is a huge portion of properties that are excluded. I guess part of my hesitation to use an F Order is how many properties here have enough issues with 2, 6, & 9 and the efforts to get compliance on them that I don’t need to add to my workload and my Chief supports this position. Personally, I don’t loose any sleep over not going further than minimum nor do I deter anyone else from going as far as they/their department like.

I completely agree with your last paragraph. Even after an inspection (and the associated repairs), I never write a letter stating that it meets or complies with the Fire Code.  I write “The deficiencies identified on the (date) Order/Report/Letter have been corrected and there are no other noted deficiencies at the time of last inspection.”