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2 <br /> MEMORANDUM <br /> TO: Orange County Board of Commissioners <br /> John M. Link, County Manager <br /> FRO od Visser, Assistant County Manager <br /> SUBJECT: Fire Inspection Program Fees <br /> DATE: February 29, 1996 <br /> Recently, the Board asked that we examine the current schedule of fire <br /> inspection program fees to determine if it is as fair as possible . As <br /> part of a preliminary review of this issue with -Emergency Management <br /> Director Nick Waters and his staff, I have concluded that it would be <br /> appropriate for the County to consider some changes to the fire <br /> inspection program fee schedule. We believe that modifications, <br /> particularly for those inspections of comparatively short duration, are <br /> in order. This report will provide a brief history of the fire <br /> inspection program in Orange County, and outline some proposed next <br /> steps by County staff to develop specific changes to the current fire <br /> inspection fee schedule. <br /> Brief History <br /> In late 1991, the State Building Code Council and Department of <br /> Insurance established a mandate that all Counties adopt a schedule of <br /> periodic fire inspections by January 1, 1993 . The Orange County Board <br /> of Commissioners in December 1992 formally adopted a schedule of fire <br /> inspections identical to the minimum frequency inspection schedule <br /> outlined in Section 107, Volume V of the North Carolina Fire Prevention <br /> Code . Inspections are required either twice a year, once a year, every <br /> two years, or every three years, depending on the category of facility. <br /> The County implemented the inspection program in 1993-94 , under a fee <br /> schedule (Attachment 1) approved by the Board of Commissioners with <br /> the adoption of the 1993-94 budget ordinance. This fee schedule, which <br /> is still in use, was based on estimates that mandated inspections would <br /> take, on average, 3 , 4 , 5, or 6 hours to complete for the various <br /> categories of facilities requiring inspection as established by the <br /> State . As the County did not have an extensive fire inspection <br /> program in place and thus no historical experience to rely upon, these <br /> estimates of inspection times were based on the Fire Marshal ' s <br /> professional judgement and information obtained from other <br /> jurisdictions that already had fire inspection programs in place . <br />