Deck and Balcony Law Update

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This week on the podcast, we are doing a shorty episode as an update to a previous episode (#44) on the Deck and Balcony Law, SB721, for California.  There have been some significant changes in the dates and inspection specifications.

Now before you click away and say that this law doesn’t pertain to you, take a minute to listen and learn what California is doing to protect tenants and condominium owners when it comes to the safety of their decks and balconies.  FYI, Florida has already passed a similar law.

Many states have a law like this on the books and are just working out the details so this might just affect your rental property sooner rather than later.

 

LINKS

👉Episode 44: Deck and Balcony Safety Beyond SB-721

👉Dr. Balcony, SB721 inspectors for southern California.

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Episode Transcript

Stacie (00:00):
Just because this is a California law, that does not

(00:02):
mean that it won't someday be alaw in your state.
Many other states are working onthis same law to protect rental
property owners and tenants wholive in their units.
Florida already has a version ofit.
So, if you are not a Californiarental property owner, but are
still interested inunderstanding the importance of

(00:23):
this law, which basically statesthat multifamily rental
properties must have allelevated exterior elements where
tenants might stand inspectedfor structural integrity.
Then stay tuned.
Welcome to your landlordresource podcast many moons ago.

(00:45):
When I started as a landlord, Iwas as green as it gets.
I may have had my real estatelicense, but I lack confidence
in the hands on experienceneeded when it came to dealing
with tenants, leases,maintenance, and bookkeeping.
After many failed attempts, fastforward to today.
Kevin and I have doubled ourdoors and created an organized,
professionally operated rentalproperty business.

(01:06):
Want to go from overwhelmed toconfident?
If you're an ambitious landlordor maybe one in the making, join
us as we provide strategies andteach actionable steps to help
you reach your goals and thelifestyle you desire.
All while building a streamlinedand profitable rental property
business.
This is your landlord resourcepodcast.

(01:30):
Hey there, everyone.
Thanks for tuning in to the YourLandlord Resource Podcast.
We are here to support, well,landlords and their journey as
rental property owners.
Either as self managinglandlords, or even if you hand
that management off to aprofessional property management
team.
And where we, for the most part,focus on those who manage their

(01:52):
own properties.
All of the information that wediscuss is relevant to any,
rental is relevant to any rentalproperty owner because
regardless of who manages yourrentals, you as the owner are
responsible for making sure thatall laws and regulations are
followed correctly.
And to be honest, a lot of ourcontent goes beyond property

(02:13):
operations and covers thebusiness operations for rental
properties.
So if you're new here, you're inthe right place.
This week, we are doing more ofa shorty episode.
Kevin's here, but notcontributing this week so that I
can get through the contentquickly and efficiently.

(02:33):
All right.
So this week I'm going todiscuss some changes that have
been made to the deck andbalcony law.
And we did a full detailedepisode on this earlier this
year, but there have been somechanges to it as of September,
and we thought you guys shouldknow about them.
Now I want to make this clear.
This deck and balcony law, AKASB721 for residential

(02:59):
multifamily properties, and SB326 for condo complexes that are
located in California is what weare discussing today.
And I've said this before, butjust because this is a
California law, that does notmean that it won't someday be a
law in your state.

(03:21):
Many other states are working onthis same law to protect rental
property owners and tenants wholive in their units.
Florida already has a version ofit.
So, if you are not a Californiarental property owner, but are
still interested inunderstanding the importance of
this law, which basically statesthat multifamily rental
properties must have allelevated exterior elements where

(03:44):
tenants might stand inspectedfor structural integrity.
Then stay tuned.
That means decks, balconies,stairways, and walkways that are
higher than six feet off theground, all those must be
inspected and have faulty areasfixed and remedied.
But if you'd like to learn moreabout the specifics of this law,

(04:08):
we talk about how it, thisaffects all rental properties,
not just the ones located inCalifornia on our previous
episode number 44.
And you can find that atyourlandlordresource.
com forward slash episode 44.
And we'll link that in the shownotes for you as well.
All right, let me briefly goover the deck and balcony law

(04:30):
and then discuss where thechanges have been made and how
they're going to affectCalifornia rental property
owners.
The law came about because backin 2015, a group of college kids
were at a party and they werestanding on a wood deck, and
unfortunately that deckcollapsed and I believe six
students died as a result ofthat.

(04:51):
The structural integrity of thedeck was found inadequate for
the load that it had on it.
The wood frame had dry rottedand where the property
management company did have itin their records of needing
maintenance, they failed toperform that maintenance, or at
a minimum, mark that deck asunsafe and not allow anyone on

(05:11):
there until it had been repairedby the owners.
Who, in turn, lost a multimillion dollar lawsuit.
And that's both the owners andthe property management company.
This tragedy brought about anationwide conversation about
who is responsible for thesafety and structural integrity

(05:31):
of these residential buildings.
One family member of one of thedeceased students decided to
move forward with getting somesort of legislative action and
Senate bill 721, which passed in2018 is a result of that.
Now the bottom line is that allowners are responsible for

(05:52):
getting the quote unquoteexterior elevated elements of
their rental properties, againthis is only for your three
units or more, getting thosedecks and balconies, porches,
stairways, and walkways that arehigher than six feet tall
inspected.
And have any issues found andrepaired by January 1st, 2025.

(06:15):
So at this point, you guys, it'sless than a month away.
And this is what the originallaw stated.
However, on September 28th of2024, our governor approved bill
AB 2579 to extend that deadlineto January 1 of 2026.
I can hear a lot of big sighsgoing out there, like you're

(06:38):
lucky.
So if you want a triplex or morein the state of California with
any exterior elevated elementsthat are over six feet tall and
you have not completed yourinspection yet, you can take a
breath.
You're okay for the time being.
Now the reason that they had togive this extension is because

(06:59):
the initial law was very limitedas to who could actually perform
the inspections.
And it wasn't so much that itwas a limit, it just was very
hard to get these people over toyour place to get it done.
So it had to be a licensedarchitect, engineer, a building
contractor, or a buildinginspector who could complete

(07:21):
those inspections.
And that included all thetesting.
But the same person who did theinspections could not perform
any other repairs that may befound.
So people like us who have ageneral contractor on our team,
we could not use Jim our generalcontractor to do the inspection
if we also wanted him to fix theissues.

(07:43):
And that has now changed.
The same general contractor whocompletes the inspection can now
make any repairs needed, whichis very helpful in moving this
process along for those of youwho might've procrastinated.
The thing is inspections from aprofessional company can cost
anywhere from$600 to$2500 oreven more, depending on the size

(08:06):
of the rental property and howmany exterior elevated elements
that the property has.
So, initially, the law gaveCalifornia rental property
owners six years to get this alldone.
And of course, COVID happenedright smack in the middle of
those six years, but becausemany owners who likely know that

(08:26):
their property will need somerepairs made have waited to get
their inspections done eitherbecause they didn't have the
money to complete the project,or maybe they didn't want to pay
the large fee that some of theseinspection companies were
charging.
Maybe they don't know astructural engineer or a
building inspector to do theinitial inspection.

(08:46):
But regardless, the same generalcontractor who does the
inspection can now also completethe work.
Now, if you have had yourinspections done and remedied
any issues, you're still good.
You are not required to do anyadditional inspections for six
years past the date of yourinitial inspection.

(09:08):
So if you got it done in 2019,right after the law was passed,
you will have to do anotherinspection in 2025.
All right, with all of thatsaid, inspection reports must
include the condition of theexterior elevated elements,
expectations of the projectedservice life, recommendations of

(09:31):
additional inspections, likedestructive testing.
So that would be like cantileverframing, which is usually
covered in concealed framing.
That must be opened up to beproperly inspected.
And then also include photos ofany issues found.
And that shouldn't be an issuefor most contractors, right?

(09:51):
So you guys, did you catch thepart about if you have exterior
elevated elements that arecantilevered or concealed, that
the wall must be open toproperly inspect them?
So, cantilevered is where thejoists that support the floor of
the deck protrude out frominside the home and are likely
covered with stucco or brick orsiding.

(10:14):
In this case, it might be worthyour while to pay a professional
deck inspector.
Because where most generalcontractors can find a way to
access those joints inside thewall, they likely are going to
have to remove stucco or bricksor cut into the siding to make
sure that those joists are notdry rotted inside the wall,
where it cannot be seen.

(10:36):
The reason these companiescharge so much is because they
have the tools to do theseinspections with very little
damage to the property.
So Kevin and I were just at aconference and we heard a
gentleman speak who worked for acompany called Dr.
Balcony.
He was explaining that they havea small little camera where they

(10:56):
drill a tiny little hole undereach of the joists, where they
come out of the wall, and theycan view, record, and take
photos of the condition of thejoists inside the wall, making
repairs of those small holespost inspection very easy.
Now, those cameras are prettyexpensive and it's not likely

(11:19):
that many GCs or structuralengineers have those in their
toolbox to do your inspectionsin a non invasive way.
There are other tools likemoisture meters that can be
used, but again, mostcontractors don't own those
unless all they do areinspections of wood elements.
So if you don't think thatthere's anything wrong with your

(11:41):
decks and you have the money tohire these guys so that you can
keep your after inspectionrepairs to a minimum, then go
for it.
No association with them.
We just wanted to share what wesay that they can do.
If you're a general contractorwho owns a multi family rental
property and you want to do yourown inspection, the law does not

(12:02):
include language that prohibitsa qualified GC from performing
inspection of their ownproperty.
However, this leads me to a veryimportant point that I want to
make.
Where this law is a state law,there are several cities and
counties within California thathave their very own version of
SB 721.

(12:24):
And those ordinances supersedewhat the law says on state
level.
So off the top of my head, ifyou own multifamily rentals in
San Francisco, Berkeley, or LosAngeles, your deck and balcony
law is different from the statelaw SB721.
So we highly recommend that ifyou have not done your

(12:46):
inspection and before you takethat big sigh of relief, that
you check with your city andcounty to see if they have their
own deck and balcony ordinancethat you must abide by.
Because they may not havefollowed suit with the state and
extended out the drop deadinspection date of January 1 of
2026.
And they may not allow the samegeneral contractor that inspects

(13:08):
your exterior elements to do thework.
The last thing I want to say isthat the penalty for
noncompliance is steep, like$500bucks a day.
And that's not just theinspection.
Once it rolls past January 1 of2026, and you have yet to do the
inspection and any neededrepairs, if your city asks for

(13:30):
proof of compliance and it hasnot been completed, you're
looking at paying way more thanwhat it's going to cost for that
inspection or the work to becompleted.
And I'm not here to say thatcities and counties are going to
be out there on January 2nd,2026 requesting those inspection
reports.
But if I had to guess ones thathave a formal rental housing

(13:51):
department like Sacramento, theywill request it at some point so
that they can collect thosepenalty fees.
So, that's the update on theCalifornia Deck and Balcony Law,
SB 721.
And if you own rentals withthese exterior elevated
elements, anywhere other thanCalifornia, check out your state

(14:11):
and local authorities to see ifthere is a law in the books for
something similar to this one.
Florida has already passed one.
And where it is not as extensiveas the one in California, there
is a law to abide by there aswell.
These deck collapses have notonly happened in California.
There have been deck collapsesin Chicago and New York, New

(14:33):
Jersey, Virginia, and Arkansaswith nearly 40 deaths associated
with them.
And even if I sound like abroken record here.
Landlords, regardless of if youown one or 50 rental properties
that have any elevated outdoorliving space or walkway, please
do yourself a favor and get itinspected as part of your

(14:55):
regular preventative maintenanceprocedures.
Like at least every five toseven years.
There is no excuse for lettingthis go or tabling it until a
later date.
You know, this isn't like a roofthat if it leaks, it's an
inconvenience.
This is a human safety issue,one that could result in a
horrible legal battle if someoneis injured or worse.

(15:18):
All right, you guys, that wasour shorty episode today.
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(16:47):
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