HomeMy WebLinkAboutGuideSan Diego County Operational Area
Building Safety Inspection Mutual Aid Agreement Procedures Guide
I. PURPOSE
The purpose of this Procedures Guide is to provide parties to the Building Safety
Inspection Agreement with a practical set of guidelines on how to effectively provide and
receive building inspection assistance. The terms of the agreement shall govern in the
event there is any actual or apparent conflict between this procedure guide and the
agreement. The following provisions are suggested guidelines only and not binding on
any agency. These provisions should be modified and expanded as necessary to meet the
unique needs, emergency organizational structure, and working relationships of each
operational and regional area.
II. TENETS OF OPERATIONAL AREA BUILDING SAFETY INSPECTION MUTUAL
AID
1. The most effective means of providing timely assistance to a jurisdiction impacted by a
disaster is to have agreements in place in advance of the disaster.
2. Assistance is voluntary.
3. Assistance provided shall be reimbursed by the requesting jurisdiction.
4. Jurisdictions should reasonably commit their own resources before requesting mutual aid.
5. A Proclamation of a Local Emergency is necessary to activate the agreement.
6. Cooperative planning and training are desirable to enhance the effectiveness of providing
mutual aid when needed.
III. PROCEDURES FOR BUILDING SA ETY INSPECTION MUTUAL AID
1. Designated Building Safety Inspection Coordinator
Paragraph 1 (a) of the Agreement specifies that the "Coordinator" shall mean the person
designated by each party to act on behalf of that party on all matters relative to mutual
aid, including but not be limited to requests, responses and reimbursement.
It is suggested that the Coordinator be a person who during a disaster would be
authorized to request Building Safety Inspection Mutual Aid and bind their agency for
the cost of these resources. The Coordinator should also be in a position to authorize the
County of San Diego Operational Area
Building Safety Inspection Mutual Aid Agreement
providing agency to release personnel and equipment to the agency impacted by the
disaster.
It is suggested that alternate coordinators be designated in case the primary coordinator is
unavailable during the disaster.
2. WebEOC Communication
To obtain Building Safety Inspections assistance, a planned method of communicating
requests is essential. This includes using WebEOC to process the request and maintain
lines of communication. Telephones should not be relied upon as the primary means of
communication within the impacted area of a major earthquake disaster, and common
Building Inspectors and Engineers radio frequencies may not exist in the area. It is
recommended that WebEOC be used to request assistance using Building Safety
Inspection Request Form.
3. Operational Area Concept
The Agreement specifies that an operational area, normally a County and all the
jurisdictions within the County, shall be the basic unit for coordinating building safety
inspection mutual aid. Because of their knowledge of building code terminology and
procedures, it is suggested that an inspector or engineer representative perform the role of
the Coordinator in the Operational Area. This will be San Diego County Planning and
Development Services for the Operational Area, although a different arrangement could
be established if deemed necessary by the involved agencies.
4. California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA) Role
Cal EMA would act to support building safety inspection mutual aid assistance under the
agreement by offering assistance to the Operational Coordinator, and act as Statewide
Coordinator for seeking mutual aid resources if required from beyond the impacted
region.
5. Resource Lists and Contacts
It is strongly recommended that lists of building inspection resources be developed for
each participating agency in the Operational Area. Such lists are essential for the
Operational Area Coordinator to quickly identify which agencies have the particular
types of resources needed by the requesting impacted agency.
The designated coordinator for each jurisdiction should develop a detailed list of
resources for their agency by quantity, type of personnel equipment, materials, and a
contact number to check on its availability when needed. It is suggested that the
coordinator then provide a brief summary of that information to the Operational Area
Coordinator for compiling an Operational Area Resource Directory.
County of San Diego Operational Area
Building Safety Inspection )Tutual Aid Agreement
6. Arrange Care for Assisting Forces
The Agreement requires that the requesting party be responsible for the safekeeping of
the resources provided by the assisting party.
7. Documentation for Reimbursement
In accordance with the Agreement, each requesting and assisting party is required to keep
accounting records of the personnel, equipment, and materials provided under the Mutual
Aid Agreement as required by the Federal Stafford Act administered by the Federal
Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) and State guidelines. This requirement
is to maximize the requesting agencies reimbursement of costs expended to receive
mutual_ aid.
Each party to the Agreement should become thoroughly familiar with those federal and
state accounting requirements and pre -establish emergency management procedures and
training of their personnel to carefully document all costs of labor, equipment and
personnel, including administrative costs, accounted by specific damage location. These
practices are not only for mutual aid reimbursement but for reimbursement of all agency
costs associated with the disaster.
8. Proclamation of Emergency
The Agreement requires that a Proclamation of Local Emergency must be approved by an
authorized official of the impacted jurisdiction. A State of Emergency should be also
requested through the Operational Area for approval by the Governor to authorize State
reimbursement, and if warranted, a request for a Presidential Proclamation of Emergency
to authorize federal reimbursement. Each Agency should include in their emergency plan
a provision to seek such a proclamation from the authorized official in their jurisdiction
as soon as they can reasonably determine that the disaster will be beyond the scope of
mutual aid assistance.
9. Agency in Charge
The Agreement provides that the requesting Coordinator shall remain in charge of the
incident and provide direction and control to the resources provided by the assisting
party. The request may also include having the assisting party provides supervisory
personnel to take direct charge of their forces under the overall direction of the requesting
coordinator. The intent is that the assisting party will comply with all reasonable
directions from the requesting coordinator. However, the assisting party should not be
obligated to perform any work that it reasonably believes would unduly jeopardize the
safety of its employees.
County of San Diego Operational Area
Building Safety Inspection Mutual Aid Agreement
10, Checklists for Requesting Mutual Aid
Each party of the Agreement is encouraged to develop checklists for their coordinator to
use in assuring that all required steps are followed properly and effectively seek and
provide Building Safety Inspection Mutual Aid for the benefit of the impacted area and
protection of the assisting party. These checklists should establish who is to carry out
each essential function, both internally to the agency and externally, and contact numbers
and means for reaching them.
11. Safety Assessment Program
The individuals sent out should have gone through the one -day California Safety
Assessment Program training in the past five years, have current credentials (Civil,
Geotechnical or Structural engineering license, architect license, or one of the building
inspector certificates recognized by the Safety Assessment Program.
Attachment A is the checklist for the County San Diego Operational Area Building Safety
Inspection Mutual Aid Agreement.
County of San Diego Operational Area
Building Safety Inspection Mutual Aid Agreement