Renewal of fire certificates of occupancy.

Saint Paul Legislative Code § 40.05

in effect

Sec. 40.05. - Renewal of fire certificates of occupancy. All fire certificates of occupancy shall be renewed according to the schedule in (2) below. The renewal schedule applied to all buildings with a fire certificate of occupancy shall be based on the safety code compliance classification system outlined in (1) below. Department of safety and inspections shall develop and maintain a numerical system which will assign points to safety code violations. The numerical system shall assign the greatest number of points to the most severe safety code violations. The numerical system shall be adopted by resolution of the city council and updated from time to time upon recommendation of the department of safety and inspections to the city council. (1) Classification system. There shall be four (4) categories of buildings for purposes of this code. Classification numbers shall be assigned at the first inspection. The total number of "points" from that inspection shall be adjusted to take into account the number of units in the building and shall determine the class assigned to each building. All buildings which contain only one (1) or two (2) dwelling units shall be treated as if they contain three (3) dwelling units for purposes of determining their building category under this classification system. a. Class A. Residential buildings with an average of fewer than five (5) points per dwelling unit shall be classified as class A. b. Class B. Residential buildings with an average of five (5) or more but less than eleven (11) points per dwelling unit shall be classified as class B c. Class C. Residential buildings with an average of eleven (11) or more but less than forty (40) points per dwelling unit shall be classified as class C. d. Class D Residential buildings with an average of forty (40) or more points per dwelling unit shall be classified as class D. e. Commercial or nonresidential shall not be rated in this classification system. (2) Renewal cycle. Renewal of the fire certificate of occupancy shall be scheduled by the fire code official for all buildings according to the buildings' classification. a. Class A properties shall be renewed every six (6) years. b. Class B properties shall be renewed every four (4) years. c. Class C properties shall be renewed every two (2) years. d. Class D properties shall be renewed every year. e. Commercial or nonresidential buildings. The department of safety and inspections shall establish written guidelines for the renewal of nonresidential occupancies based on the hazard of the occupation. This cycle shall not exceed three (3) years. Department of safety and inspections shall provide an annual written report of nonresidential inspections that includes group, property address, and inspection schedule to the city council. (3) Complaint of safety code deficiency or violation. All complaints of safety code violations and deficiencies shall be investigated by the fire code official. Such investigation may initiate an out-of-cycle fire certificate of occupancy inspection at the discretion of the fire code official. The point assigned at this out-of-cycle fire certificate of occupancy inspection shall result in a new classification if the points assigned to safety code violations warrant reassignment. (4) Enforcement actions. The classification system shall be used exclusively for the purpose of establishing a renewal schedule. Classifications shall have no bearing on enforcement actions undertaken by the city, such as notices and orders related to code deficiencies and violation, revocations of the fire certificate of occupancy, condemnations and orders to vacate. (C.F. No. 06-1130, § 1, 1-24-07; C.F. No. 08-383, § 1, 5-14-08; Ord 13-52, § 1, 12-4-13; Ord 14-50, § 1, 1-7-15)

Source: City of Saint Paul, Minnesota, City Charter, Legislative Code and Administrative Code (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/mn/st._paul/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIILECO_TITVIBUHO_CH40FICEOC_S40.05REFICEOCFetched: 11/1/2026