Opinion ID: 2176366
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: uncited violations

Text: The remaining three nonconforming conditions existing at the time of the fire were never cited by the fire chief. [8] Two of these conditions, the lack of a sprinkler system in the basement and the lack of fire stops in the pipe chases, violate provisions in both the main body of the UFC and the Appendix. The third condition, the lack of a proper fire-resistant ceiling in the boiler room, violated only the main body of the UFC; there is no corollary provision in the Appendix. In light of our earlier analysis, it is clear that these three violations of provisions in the main body of the UFC constitute negligence per se, unless the grandfather clause excuses the violations. [9] The grandfather clause provides that conditions not in compliance with the UFC may continue only if, in the opinion of the chief, they do not constitute a distinct hazard to life or property. UFC § 1.103(b). The critical question is whether the grandfather clause is triggered only by some affirmative action of the fire chief manifesting his opinion that the nonconforming provisions are not a distinct hazard to life or property or whether, once the building has been inspected, the exception presumptively applies to older buildings unless the fire chief cites the nonconforming conditions as hazards. Put another way, after a fire chief inspects a building and cites certain code violations but is silent towards others, is it reasonable to infer that the fire chief has implicitly concluded that the uncited nonconforming conditions do not constitute a distinct hazard to life or property? We conclude that the answer is yes. By its own terms, reasonableness is a key concept to the UFC. For example, the express purpose of the code is to enforce uniform standards which provide a reasonable degree of safety to people and property from the hazards of fires. Minn.R. 7510.0200 (1983); UFC § 1.102. In fact, many of the UFC provisions are couched in language of reasonableness. [10] Similarly, when a property owner has been given a list of cited UFC violations and told to bring those noncomplying conditions into compliance with the code, we believe it is reasonable to infer that the fire chief has implicitly found that the uncited conditions are not distinct fire hazards. Unlike the court of appeals, we do not believe the grandfather clause should be interpreted to require the fire chief to make an affirmative finding that each and every nonconforming condition in a building does not constitute a distinct hazard to life or property. Such an interpretation, we believe, is unreasonable for several reasons. First, it is impractical to put such an onerous burden on a fire official who is most likely already understaffed and overworked, particularly in rural portions of the state. Second, the plain language of the grandfather clause simply does not require the fire chief to manifest his opinion in an affirmative finding. We are also mindful of the potentially devastating economic consequences of a more restrictive application of the grandfather clause and believe such results are precisely what it was meant to avoid. Therefore, we reverse the court of appeals and hold that the grandfather clause is applicable under these facts to preclude Roberts from being held liable for negligence based on the uncited violations of the main body of the UFC.