This bill amends existing law (RCW 19.27.110) to change who is responsible for administering and enforcing the International Fire Code (IFC) in unincorporated areas. It requires each county government to administer and enforce the IFC in unincorporated areas but allows a political subdivision or municipal corporation that provides fire protection under RCW 14.08.120 to be responsible for IFC administration on its own facility. It also permits a fire protection district or a regional fire protection service authority that meets a revenue threshold (more than $10,000,000 in annual revenues averaged over the preceding three years, or a regional authority formed by jurisdictions that cumulatively met that threshold) to assume IFC administration and enforcement in unincorporated county areas within its jurisdiction, including fire cause and origin investigations, plan review, and building inspections, after six months’ advance notice to the county. The bill authorizes counties and, where they assume responsibility, fire protection districts or regional authorities to impose fees sufficient to cover the costs of inspections, administration, and enforcement under RCW 19.27.110 and 19.27.111. It allows entities to assume all or part of the administering responsibility and to coordinate with counties under the interlocal cooperation act (chapter 39.34 RCW). If a fire protection district or regional authority assumes responsibility, it must offer an equivalent position to workers displaced from the county fire marshal’s office. The bill includes legislative intent language stating it does not limit other jurisdictions’ fire prevention activities or grant counties greater fire suppression powers than they now have. This is primarily a procedural and administrative change reallocating enforcement authority, establishing eligibility criteria and notice requirements for transfers of IFC administration, authorizing fee collection, and creating an employment protection requirement. The extracted text does not define the International Fire Code, does not include the full text or interaction with RCW 19.27.111 or RCW 14.08.120, does not define “equivalent position,” and does not show any effective dates or other provisions that may appear elsewhere in the bill.

If enacted, larger fire districts and newly formed regional authorities that meet the $10 million-a-year revenue threshold could take over fire code enforcement, building inspections, planning review, and cause-and-origin investigations in unincorporated county areas after six months' notice, giving them new operational control and the ability to charge fees to cover those inspection and enforcement costs. Counties that keep the role can still charge fees, but some counties are likely to lose responsibilities and the associated work and fee revenue when eligible districts or authorities assume the function; the shift will also create a requirement that districts offer equivalent positions to any county fire marshal staff displaced by the change. The groups most affected are county governments (which may lose duties and related revenue or incur coordination tasks), qualifying fire protection districts and regional authorities (which will take on new duties, costs, and fee authority), and county fire marshal office employees (who may be displaced but must be offered equivalent jobs). Important details needed to understand full impacts are missing from the provided text, including precise definitions of "equivalent position," the text and adoption details of the International Fire Code, how RCW 19.27.111 interacts, and any effective dates, so some implementation and cost questions remain unresolved.