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Article
Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel
By Joe
Kollin
Published June 13, 2007
Can
your local fire department enter your condo unit without your permission
to make sure you have hard-wired smoke detectors?
Although state law requires most owners to have them, many of you are
asking how an inspector would know if you are complying.
"Can the fire inspector break down our doors to see?" asked one
reader.
Most of you have no disagreement with the right to require your buildings
to have smoke detectors, fire alarms, sprinklers and fire extinguishers in
common areas such as hallways. Several of you are questioning the power of
government to tell you what to do inside your apartment.
As one reader put it, "I thought our homes were our castles."
Jim Goodloe, chief of the state Fire Marshal's Bureau of Fire Prevention,
in Tallahassee, said inspectors are authorized only to enter common areas.
"If you're not invited in [to a unit], it takes an administrative
warrant to get in. Most departments will try to work with associations to
get them to put in place some means of verifying that the smoke detectors
are working," he said.
That's what happens in Delray Beach.
"We don't take a strong, tough line. We try to work with associations
to educate owners," said John Tomaszewski, the city's fire marshal,
who noted it costs $40 or $50 to connect a smoke detector to an
apartment's electricity.
He also said hard-wired smoke detectors aren't connected to the building's
central alarm system and they sound only within an individual unit.
"If they were connected to the building's alarm, then every time
someone burnt toast, everyone would hear it," he said.
Deerfield Beach Fire Marshal Gary Fernaayssaid, "Smoke detectors
aren't a big problem, for us it is fire alarms."
Like any electrical appliance, fire alarms in many buildings from the
1970s and 1980s are dying, Tomaszewski said. He encourages associations to
replace them. But during installation, testing is difficult because
inspectors can't get into an apartment unless invited.
"We try to work with associations and management companies to find
someone who will let us in," he said.
Fire inspectors prefer occupied apartments because, while an alarm might
sound loud in a vacant apartment, when carpets, curtains, sofas or beds
are added, they absorb sound and the fire alarm might barely be audible,
Tomaszewski said.
Fernaayssaid some boards are getting confused between the requirement for
fire alarms in common areas, which inspectors can check, and smoke
detectors in individual units. His department, for example, is strict
about making sure buildings have the required fire alarms in hallways and
common areas, but works with associations to get owners to install
hard-wired detectors.
Q&A
Q. Can a representative of your association be a
"snitch" for fire inspectors? State law gives associations
"the irrevocable right of access to each unit during reasonable
hours, when necessary for the maintenance, repair or replacement of any
common element ..." If a representative is in your apartment and
tells the fire department you don't comply, can an inspector then get a
warrant?
A. "I know of no association board that could survive being a snitch
for the fire marshal," said Gary Poliakoff, whose law firm, Becker
& Poliakoff, represents 4,500 condo and homeowner associations in
Florida.
Q.
Where can I go with my complaint? Where can I or get more information?
A. Here are some contacts:
State condo ombudsman: [email protected]
; 954-202-3234;
850-922-7671 (not toll free); www.myflorida.com/condos
. The ombudsman's
office answers questions for unit owners, tries to mediate disputes
between owners and boards, monitors elections and educates owners.
Division of Florida Land Sales, Condominiums & Mobile Homes:
954-202-3982; 800-226-9101; www.state.fl.us/dbpr/lsc/condominiums/index.shtml
.
The division enforces state condo law.
State condo law: www.flsenate.gov/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=Ch0718/ch0718.htm
State homeowner association law: www.flsenate.gov/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=Ch0720/ch0720.htm
Cyber Citizens for Justice, a nonprofit representing Florida condo and
homeowner association unit owners: www.ccfj.net
.
Community Associations Leadership Lobby, an organization that represents
boards and those who manage and advise associations: www.callbp.com
.
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