City looks at commercial fire inspection options

Nate Hulings

of the Gateway

The City of Gig Harbor and the Gig Harbor Fire Department are discussing ways they can handle commercial fire inspection programs this year.

Since 2000, the city has contracted with the fire department to provide commercial inspections. Tough financial times have forced the city to ask the fire department to provide the service for free, which it did in 2009.

But the fire department told the city late last year that it could no longer provide the service for free this year, and the city didn’t budget funds for the program.

That means no commercial fire inspections are being conducted within city limits, Gig Harbor City Administrator Rob Karlinsey said, even though the city has the responsibility to enforce the fire code.

Mandatory fire inspections are not required but do impact insurance ratings,” Karlinsey said.

For the Gig Harbor Fire Department, fairness for its coverage area became an issue, Fire Prevention Chief Penny Hulse said.

“Our commissioners took a look at the contract and thought it’s unfair to the remainder of the community to do it for free,” she said. “My board’s concern is that we are not treating occupants equally. That’s why they backed off.”

Hulse said city residents were getting the service for free, but those in unincorporated Pierce County were playing for the inspections through the county Fire Marshal.

Karlinsey said the average cost per inspection from the Pierce County Fire Marshal is $56.

Since the city did not budget for inspections in 2010, Karlinsey said options being discussed include charging commercial business owners for the inspections, much like unincorporated Pierce County already does.

However, there are drawbacks to billing businesses. Administrative time and mailing costs would need to be taken into effect, Karlinsey said.

In 2003, the city paid the Gig Harbor Fire Department about $94,000 for commercial fire inspections. That number dropped to about $64,000 in 2008.

Other possible ways of generating revenue to fund the program include adding surcharges to business license fees, Karlinsey said.

But no decision has been reached on the matter. Both the Gig Harbor City Council and the Gig Harbor Fire District 5 Board of Commissioners have been weighing the discussions.

Benefits of a fire inspection program for commercial buildings would include pre-incident response plans and quicker license approvals to lower insurance rates and protections for businesses.

Both sides agree safety is the main reason for inspections.

The Gig Harbor Fire Department’s last rating came in 2000, when it received a 5. A rating of 1 is the highest possible. The grading system used by the Washington Survey and Rating Bureau is points-based, with lower numbers equaling better protection levels.

The department is due for a re-rating, but a non-existent fire inspection program would hurt its chances of receiving a better score this time around.

“Hopefully we can keep the progress we’ve made current,” Hulse said. “We don’t want to lose it by having a break in service.”

Fire inspections by the numbers

Total buildings: 1,023

Annual inspections: 660

Re-inspections: 401

Vacant buildings: 176

Inspection refusal: 16

Referrals to City Building/Fire Safety Dept.: 2

Source: The City of Gig Harbor, 2009