Businesses slam ‘excessive’ $500 fire re-inspection, $500 permit fees

Commercial establishments need to get a $100 special permit for candles and open flame devices, as well as $100 per Christmas tree, among other things, on top of the $500 fire re-inspection fee and $500 for fire code permit that some businesses describe as “excessive” and unjustifiable.

“They’re killing small businesses like us,” James Han, owner of QQ Car Rental, said in an interview yesterday.

QQ Car Rental and some 30 other business establishments have undergone or are undergoing random inspections to ensure their compliance with the CNMI Fire Code, and the inspections are done by the Department of Public Safety’s Commonwealth Fire Division.

The Fire Division plans to inspect all 3,000 licensed businesses in the CNMI.

On top of minor violations their car rental business has to address, including having English labels on fire extinguishers, Han said they have to pay at least $1,000 for inspection and permit.

He said for an inspection that lasted for a few minutes, businesses have to pay $500, which he said is “unfair.”

“It’s a surprise to us. I believe there’s not much information about the fees,” Han added.

Bob Bracken, co-owner of Spicy Thai Noodle Place, which recently relocated from San Antonio to Garapan, said yesterday that they’ve been doing business for almost 20 years “and this is the first time we’ve come across this kind of inspection, which we have to pay for $500.”

“We also have to pay $500 for the permit. We support the Fire Division and the government but given the state of the economy, we think that the fees and permits are just too much. We also do not have a problem correcting the violations they found, but the fees are just too high. Had they done sufficient public information, businesses like us could have prepared for it,” Bracken said in an interview yesterday afternoon at his restaurant located across the fire station in Garapan.

Bracken believed that the Department of Public Works’ Building Safety Code inspection, which also included fire safety checks, already covered the same items that the Fire Division is trying to address with its ongoing random inspections.

He considers this as “duplication of government duties.”

Bracken said their establishment was visited at least four times in a two-week period, sometimes by up to six personnel from the Commonwealth Fire Division per visit to inspect their restaurant.

The businessman showed a Dec. 20 letter that listed six “violations” found in the restaurant, including a lack of Class “K” extinguisher for kitchen operations, the need to mount and label fire extinguishers, exposed wiring in the utility and janitor’s room, electrical panel clearly labeled in English, candle in restroom requires a special permit, and the presence of spliced wiring in the building.

A visit to the restaurant yesterday afternoon showed that these violations were already “corrected.”

But still, the restaurant is being required to pay the $500 re-inspection fee and secure a Fire Code permit costing $500, for a total of $1,000, by Jan. 17.

“They said if we don’t pay this $1,000 by Jan. 17, we will have to pay an additional $500,” Bracken told Saipan Tribune.

Fire Division chief speaks out

Thomas Manglona, chief of the Department of Public Safety’s Commonwealth Fire Division, said yesterday that a permit of some $42 a month or $500 a year outweighs the benefits of having a business establishment that complies with fire safety laws and regulations that will help save lives and property.

Manglona said many of the residential and commercial establishment fires in the community could have been prevented if only these comply with the Fire Code.

He clarified that the Fire Division does not charge for the first inspection, but only charges for the re-inspection because of violations found in the first round of inspection.

Manglona said if there were no violations found in the initial inspection, then there won’t be a need to re-inspect the establishment.

He said the $500 permit that businesses were talking about is for the “certificate of compliance.”

Manglona said the Fire Code has been in place for decades but they are trying to fully enforce the law, especially with the spate of structural fires on Saipan recently.

He said the Fire Division understands the concerns of businesses they have so far inspected, but he said “we cannot put a dollar figure on safety.”

Manglona said complying with requirements such as having smoke alarms, fire extinguishers, and sprinklers are a small price to pay compared to preventing fire.

He added these fees and permits are also a small price compared to the cost of addressing fire situations. For example, it takes at least 16 firefighters to suppress a structural fire, $200,000 to $300,000 to buy a fire truck depending on the size and type, and $20,000 to $30,000 to provide basic training to an entry-level firefighter.

Esther Sacramento, officer-in-charge at Sang Jee Rent-A-Car, said with the taxes paid by businesses to the government, one would think that businesses are not supposed to pay extra for the Fire Division to inspect each commercial establishment.

“Isn’t it their responsibility to inspect? Why would businesses need to pay for the inspection? If they found violations, then businesses have to comply. And only if businesses do not comply within reasonable time, then that should only be the time when they are asked to pay. As it is now, we have to pay $1,000 right away,” she said.

Sacramento said during an inspection in December, their rental car business was informed of violations such as a lack of fire extinguisher and smoke detectors. She said they are now working to buy these items.

“If we don’t get these by Jan. 17, they said we have to pay $1,000. That’s besides the re-inspection fee and the permit, that’s my understanding. We are barely surviving as a business, now this additional expense,” she said.

Douglas Brennan, president of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, said yesterday that the phones were busy at the Chamber offices “from businesses wanting to know about the newly required fire permits.”

He said their first question to the government will be: “What is the basis for this new requirement, and why is it just now this is being required?” The second one, he said, is seek justification for the required $500 fire permits and $500 fire inspection.

“It’s just hard to imagine with all the new costs to businesses within the past two years, this additional hit from the government is really necessary. I understand there’s an annual $100 fire permit for Christmas trees,” Brennan added.

He said they will advise Chamber members “as soon as we get any information, although I must say an advance notice by the Department of Public Safety would have been appreciated.”

The Saipan Chamber of Commerce is the largest business organization in the CNMI with some 150 members.

A notice that came out from DPS in November stated that “the Fire Prevention and Arson Investigation Unit of the Department of Public Safety’s Fire Division has updated its fire code fees and fines and will begin the permitting process and enforcement of Public Law 11-56, also known as the Commonwealth Fire Safety Code of 1988, effective November 2011.”

There was no mention of the specific fees, among other things.

In that same announcement published in the newspaper, the public is urged to contact the following for more information:

On Saipan:

-Dispatch: 664-9003, 664-9004

-Capt. Julian Tagabuel, 664-9032 (office), 898-7714 (cellular)

-Lt. Kevin Aldan, 664-9135 (office), 898-3414 (cellular)

On Tinian:

-Lt. Augustine Dosalua: 433-0476 (office), 898-3461 (cellular)

On Rota:

-Lt. Ron Ogo: 532-3736 (office), 898-3448 (cellular) (DPS)

The Commonwealth Fire Division’s chief, Manglona, added that they have so far covered only 1 percent of the estimated 3,000 licensed businesses in the CNMI, based on data from the Department of Finance.

“The inspections are random. Concerns are welcome but people have to understand that the government needs to enforce the law. And like any other permitting agency, we charge for the services,” he added.