Burned Mission Bay building was vulnerable under new codes

The six-story, largely wood-frame Mission Bay apartment building that was under construction when it went up in flames wouldn't have been permitted in California just a few years ago.

Until 2008, buildings six stories or higher were required to have "noncombustible" exterior walls - typically, concrete and steel studs - from top to bottom.

But after a long battle in Sacramento, and with the blessing of then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the California Building Industry Association, the state's building codes were rewritten to bring them in line with international codes.

The move overturned codes adopted by Schwarzenegger's predecessor, former Gov. Gray Davis - and backed by labor, environmentalists and others - that imposed stringent regulations drafted by the National Fire Protection Association.

The 2008 change allowed the expanded use of wood-frame construction, making some projects cheaper to construct, according to San Francisco building officials.

The Fire Department is still trying to determine exactly how the block-long, $227 million complex at Fourth and China Basin streets went up in flames Tuesday, though welding work is suspected.

"The building was probably at its most vulnerable point in its lifetime, because the sprinklers had not been installed and the sheetrock was not in place," said chief building Inspector Patrick O'Riordan.

"We have to be thankful that nobody died in this event," O'Riordan said. "It had maximum fuel load, with all that wood in there."

Fire Marshal Michie Wong said the new codes have also done away with the requirement for fire-resistant safety walls in the hallways as long as the buildings have sprinklers.

They also allow for support beams that are lighter, cheaper and quicker to install - but enough of a potential hazard that, in the case of the Mission Bay property, the Fire Department ordered the posting of warning signs for their crews "because the floors and roofs tend to fail during a fire."

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Burned Mission Bay building was vulnerable under new codes