SB326 Service Around Ventura, CA

SB 326 Overview

The state of CA recently signed into legislation a law that could demand organizations to do Deck Inspections once every 9 years. The Balcony Assessments will include Waterproofing factors and architectural component assessment. Balcony Inspections needs to be performed by a licensed architect or structural engineer. Deck assessments have to do with structures which are hardwood based over six ft. in height and are equipped for foot traffic.

Why was SB 326 established in Ventura, CA?

SB 326 has been created as a way to detect dangers to occupants regarding declining architectural elements in balconies. SB 326 states that multifamily organizations with 3 or more dwellings have to be examined once every nine years. SB 326 only refers to condo organizations. SB 326 was set up to guard against deck collapses. SB 326 went into effect January 2020. SB 326 was in fact put into place because of the amount of deck collapses in the state of Ca, that led to fatalities.

SB 721 Overview

SB 721 was placed into legislation September of 2017. SB 721 involves Deck Assessments being done on apartment properties. You will find a wider selection of who can carry out these examinations for SB 721. Contractors, architectural engineers, and architects can conduct Balcony Examinations for SB 721. Balconies should be checked out once every 6 yrs under SB 721. Only 15% for each outside raised element needs to be examined under SB 721.

Exterior Elevated Elements

Exterior elevated elements often known as EEEs are what should be inspected under a new state law - SB 326. Exterior elevated elements consist of hardwood based components above 6 ft. in height that have a load. External elevated elements include balconies, decks, walkways, staircases, landings, and cat walks. All railings and staircase connections can also be inspected and considered an exterior elevated element. Exterior elevated elements are sometimes inspected using bore scopes, dampness meters, and infra-red digital cameras. External elevated elements need to be evaluated for structural reliability and waterproofing integrity.

January 1st, 2025

All visual inspections per SB 326 should be done by the particular date of January 1, 2025.

Jan 1, 2025 will not be the due date for all the repairs to be finished. If inspections are not completed by January 1, 2025, California could enforce a fee until compliance is achieved.

Waterproofing Elements

SB 326 requires waterproofing components be examined on balconies. Waterproofing components include a variety of things. Waterproofing elements are flashings, sealants, Door pans, deck, coatings, outdoor patio waterproofing, post penetration sealing ect. Waterproofing components are very important to examine. Structural failure starts with unsuccessful waterproofing components. Waterproofing elements fail, and humidity moves to the deck structure, leading to dried out rot. Waterproofing components are always recommended to be installed by a licensed specialized company that focuses on waterproofing elements.

Structural

Architectural integrity is vital to maintaining occupants safe on balconies. Architectural components include support joists, ledgers, sheeting, beams and other blocking. Structural integrity is sacrificed when unintentional water vapors transferred throughout the balconies waterproofing system and saturate the architectural components. With out satisfactory air-flow these structural components keep wet for an extended time period. With the architectural components retaining water, this weakens the wood and it is unsafe. Without having structural integrity the deck is dangerous for occupancy.

Balcony Law

In CA, SB 326 is referred to as the Balcony legislation. The deck legislation was created to always keep occupants of multi family organizations, safe.

The deck legislation focuses on condo, associations, and apartment buildings. The deck law was changed into a civil code section 5551 state law. The deck law pertains itself to external elevated elements. The balcony law or SB 326 was written by senator Hill in the year 2018 following a balcony collapse, in 2015, that resulted in fatalities of students.