After a building structure fire, what's the process?

[SCBO1]

After a house structure fire, what's the process? Any forms you can share?

Does the Building Official make the call if the building has to be demolished or does the insurance claims adjuster make the determination?

What if the building owner wants to rebuild on the existing foundation and an engineer determines the foundation is salvageable?

Just curious on how you go about it.

 

[classicT]

Do you have a Fire Marshal, or is the BO and FM one person?

BO should not make the call regarding demolition unless there is an immediate hazard, with the structure being an unsafe condition under IBC 116.1. The BO can order demolition under Sec. 116, but would typically order the building owner to do such first, and if notice does not result in compliance, take action.

Demolition ordered by the BO would typically only require the minimal work to render the site safe - typically meaning that walls are knocked down and building materials are generally removed. Foundations would not always be removed, unless there is a basement or similar that creates a fall or entrapment hazard.

In most cases, we'd order that the building be boarded up and red-tag it. After that, it is on the owner and their insurance to determine the next steps. They submit, we review.

 

[fatboy]

Like classicT, we would post it as unsafe, require theo owner/agent secure the site for safety, and wait for the submittlal to rebuild. If foundation is deemed worthy, rebuilding under current codes can happen.

 

[SCBO1]

Do you have a Fire Marshal, or is the BO and FM one person?

CT, we have a Fire Chief and a BO but no fire marshal was brought in by the chief.

I do not feel its an immediate hazard, FD had all the entry doors boarded up, BI has it posted and a do not enter ribbon in place. Waiting on the insurance adjuster to provide a report.

Wasn't sure if anyone had a inspection form that they use on a structure fire?

Does the FD usually provide an incident report to the building inspection department? I've worked for three municipalities and have had to ask every time.

 

[Inspector Gadget]

After a house structure fire, what's the process? Any forms you can share?

Does the Building Official make the call if the building has to be demolished or does the insurance claims adjuster make the determination?

What if the building owner wants to rebuild on the existing foundation and an engineer determines the foundation is salvageable?

Just curious on how you go about it.

Your insurance adjuster will almost certainly guide the matter to some kind of conclusion. You may not like the conclusion, but the structure will either be repaired, or demolished and rebuilt. It's most likely out of your hands at this moment, to a large degree. The adjuster will call in structural experts if required, and do the legwork on determining the stability of the building.

Generally speaking, the powers-that-be aren't going to get all uppity if there's an owner on hand and an insurance company is involved. What you describe, to me, is a case of "not going to worry about it just yet."

I'm not an expert in the law south of the 49th, but in our world up here, there are usually municipal-level regulations for dangerous/damaged buildings that are spawned from a different source then the acts/regulations that empower building officials (exception: Ontario.) I do perform dangerous and unsightly enforcement for several municipalities, fyi.

Civic officials will only become involved if the building is an acute safety hazard and/or the client isn't moving the file along. I had one such situation where a bar burned, to the point it wasn't feasible to salvage. Sections of the metal roof were flapping in the spring breeze, threatening a nearby road and not-much-further major highway. An order moved the client to do the right thing. It was never rebuilt, which means it was likely not insured.

 

[ICE]

I posted this ten years ago:

I respond to fires. My job is to determine where it is safe to be inside the building, if at all. I also decide how much of the building can be saved, if at all. It's not nearly as important as it sounds and most of the time it is just me and the burned mess.

One day I responded before the smoke was gone. The back half of a ranch house was rubble. There were six to eight restoration contractors waiting out front. I knocked on the door and it flew open. A woman shouted at me, "Didn't you hear me....we just got here....we need time to think....now leave us alone" Then the door slammed.

I turned towards the vultures and they were smiling. At that moment the door opened and a man said, "I'm sorry, she didn't know who you are...please come in." He had caught a glimpse of me as she was slamming the door and he recognized me.

I spent twenty minutes with them. As I was leaving I approached the huddle of vultures. They weren't smiling. I said, "Well folks, you get off early today, I got the job".

There was a collective groan, the flock broke up, and they headed for their trucks. I had to park a ways away and a girl vulture was walking beside me. She asked me how I managed to get in and score the job when the owners were screaming at the rest of them. I told her to continue to her ride ..... circle the block ..... wait for the owners to emerge and then go to work.

 

[Plumb-bob]

I believe the immediate role of the BO is public safety, such as securing the site with fencing or having a watch posted until fencing can be arranged. If left to the insurance adjuster things can move slowly from my experience.

The continuing role of the BO is to ensure the carcass of the building does not create on ongoing hazard for an unreasonable amount of time. In one such situation the shell of the building was still standing over a year after the fire, and the municipality hired a contractor to take it down, with costs being billed back to the owner.

We will call in a structural engineer to assess a building if there is any question to the integrity of the structure, a report by a registered professional holds much weight in the legal system.

If the BO and fire department have a good working relationship, this makes things go much more smoothly.