(a)  For the purposes of this section:

(1)  “Burglar bars” are security bars located on the inside or outside of a door or window of a residential dwelling.

(2)  “Residential dwelling” means a house, apartment, motel, hotel, or other type of residential dwelling subject to the State Housing Law (Part 1.5 (commencing with Section 17910) of Division 13) and a manufactured home, mobilehome, and multiunit manufactured housing as defined in the Mobilehome-Manufactured Housing Act of 1980 (Part 2 (commencing with Section 18000) of Division 13).

(b)  On or before July 1, 1998, the State Fire Marshal shall develop and adopt regulations for the labeling and packaging of burglar bars addressing the requirements in the California Building Standards Code intended to promote safety in the event of a fire. For this purpose, the regulations shall include specification of the language to be printed on the packaging, the location of the language on the packaging, and the height and stroke of the print type to be utilized. The regulations shall direct the consumer or installer to contact the local fire department or local building official to determine whether the city or county requires that the burglar bars have a release mechanism on the outside for use by the fire department in the event of a fire emergency.

(c)  Burglar bars shall not be sold in California at wholesale or retail unless the burglar bars are either labeled or their packaging contains the warning information specified in the regulations adopted pursuant to subdivision (b).

(d)  Any contractor or installer of burglar bars shall provide the owner of the residential dwelling a copy of the warning information required pursuant to subdivision (b) prior to installing burglar bars.

(e)  No person shall install unopenable burglar bars on a residential dwelling (1) where the California Building Standards Code requires openable burglar bars for emergency escape or rescue, or (2) on mobilehomes, manufactured homes, or multiunit manufactured housing unless at least one window or door to the exterior in each bedroom is openable for emergency escape or rescue.

(Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 730, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1999.)