The owner or operator of any of the following buildings shall provide to persons entering those buildings specific emergency procedures to be followed in the event of fire, including procedures for handicapped and nonambulatory persons:
(a) In the case of privately owned highrise structures, as defined in Section 13210, and office buildings two stories or more in height, the emergency procedure information shall be made available in a conspicuous area of the structure that is easily accessible to all persons entering the structure, designated pursuant to regulations of the State Fire Marshal.
(b) In the case of hotels and motels, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 25503.16 of the Business and Professions Code, the emergency procedure information shall be posted in a conspicuous place in every room available for rental in the hotel or motel, or, at the option of the hotel or motel operator, it shall be provided through the use of brochures, pamphlets, video recordings, or other means, pursuant to regulations adopted by the State Fire Marshal.
(c) In the case of apartment houses two stories or more in height that contain three or more dwelling units, and where the front door opens into an interior hallway or an interior lobby area, the emergency information shall be provided as follows:
(1) Information for exiting the structure shall be posted on signs using international symbols at every stairway landing, at every elevator landing, at an intermediate point of any hallway exceeding 100 feet in length, at all hallway intersections, and immediately inside all public entrances to the building.
(2) Information shall be provided to all tenants of record, through the use of brochures, pamphlets, or video recordings, if any of these items is available, or this requirement may be satisfied pursuant to regulations adopted by the State Fire Marshal.
(3) If the owner or operator, or any individual acting on behalf of the owner or operator, of an apartment house, as described in this subdivision, negotiates a lease, sublease, rental contract, or other term of tenancy contract or agreement in any language other than English, the information required to be provided pursuant to paragraph (2) shall be provided in English, in international symbols, and in the four most common non-English languages spoken in California, as determined by the State Fire Marshal.
(d) On or before July 1, 1996, the State Fire Marshal shall adopt, for use in apartment houses described in subdivision (c), a consumer-oriented model brochure or pamphlet that includes general emergency procedure information in English, in international symbols, and in the four most common non-English languages spoken in California, as determined by the State Fire Marshal.
(e) An owner, agent, operator, translator, or transcriber who provides emergency procedure information pursuant to this section in good faith and without gross negligence shall be held harmless for any errors in the translation or transcription of that emergency information. This limited immunity shall apply only to errors in the translation or transcription and not to the providing of the information required to be provided pursuant to this section.
(f) Unless expressly stated, nothing in this section shall be deemed to require an owner or operator of any of the buildings listed in this section to provide emergency procedure information in any language other than English, or through the use of international symbols.
(Amended by Stats. 2009, Ch. 88, Sec. 63. (AB 176) Effective January 1, 2010.)