480 Fire Code Violations in a Year Logged at City Hall East

City Hall East, the temporary seat of Los Angeles city government, was cited for 480 fire code violations in 1999, and officials found it had no system to keep track of repairs, according to an audit released Thursday.

As a result, City Controller Rick Tuttle recommended creating a process to alert the mayor and City Council of continuing problems.

“These violations, including broken fire doors, improperly fitted and sized fire hoses and inappropriately stored items, could contribute to loss of life or property if not corrected promptly,” Tuttle wrote in a letter to Mayor Richard Riordan. “The key problem is there is no follow-up procedure to ensure code violations in city buildings are corrected.”

City officials said they have taken steps to address all the problems identified by inspectors and were not sure any issues remained. Many of the violations have been addressed, they said, and the rest will be taken care of quickly. A crew of workers, for example, was assigned to make sure all fire extinguishers are properly maintained.

“My staff knows very clearly that, regardless of what else they are working on . . . these [problems] go to the top of the list,” said David Paschal, assistant general manager in charge of property management for the city General Services Department.

Tuttle asked Riordan on Thursday to order a reinspection, and asked that reports on continuing violations be made to the mayor and the City Council. Riordan has already asked all the departments to report on ways to improve the system.

The audit found that City Hall East, City Hall South and the adjacent city mall tallied more than 870 code violations last year, including 393 for fire and other safety rules.

The 18-story City Hall East has been home to the offices of the mayor, the council, the Fire Department and other key agencies for the last three years while the landmark City Hall building has been undergoing a $299-million renovation.

Among the problems found: Ninety percent of the fire extinguishers were not properly maintained.

Since auditors inspected the extinguishers in October and notified building maintenance of the problem, the General Services Department has brought all of the equipment into compliance, said Fire Battalion Chief Daryl Arbuthnott.

The Fire Department inspects all city buildings once a year, so uncorrected violations can be caught the following year, Arbuthnott said.

“The enormous number of code violations, 480 in City Hall East alone, gives the impression the Department of General Services has routinely allowed violations to occur and has not assigned staff to follow up and correct these violations,” the audit concluded.