FLORIDA BUILDING COMMISSION

LEGISLATIVE TELECONFERENCE MEETING

April 28, 2014

10:00 AM

COMMISSIONERS PRESENT:

Steven Bassett Robert Hamberger

Bob Boyer Darrell Phillips

Oscar Calleja Bradley Schiffer

David Compton Frederick Schilling, Jr.

Nanette (Nan) Dean Jim Schock

Kevin Flanagan Jeff Stone

David Gilson

Jeffery Gross

COMMISSIONERS NOT PRESENT:

Chairman Browdy Brian Langille

Hamid Bahadori Beth Meyer

James Batts Drew Smith

Don Brown Brian Swope

Jay Carlson Tim Tolbert

Charles Frank

OTHERS PRESENT:

.

Ila Jones Jim Richmond

Mo Madani April Hammonds

Chris Burgwald Jim Hammers

WELCOME:

Jim Richmond opened the meeting at 10:05 am, EST, Monday, April 28, 2014. Roll was called and a quorum was not determined.

Jim stated the meeting was noticed and the reminder was sent on Friday. He then called roll. At first reading there were nine members on the call which was not a quorum. The meeting was delayed for a few minutes to gain a quorum.

Jim started the meeting at approximately 10:15 am without a quorum. Jim stated there were be no review and approval of the agenda and this will be informational only call.

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Legislative Update:

Jim stated there have been several developments since the last call. He stated the biggest development is procedural in terms of the legislation. He said there have been a couple of issues that popped out late and created a separation of the issues. Jim advised that currently in the Senate most of the issues of which we have discussed and a few we have not, have been amended onto Senate Bill 1044, that was the Bill adding an additional representing Commissioner from the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services representing the energy office. The Senate Bill that had been moving on these topics was SB 1106 and was stalled out in the Appropriations Committee and was never heard and is not ready for floor action and did not make it through the last committee stop, so it will not even be considered on the floor of either chamber. He stated on the House side, amendments were proposed to the companion for SB 1044 Agricultural Bill, 7147 however, they were withdrawn on the last amendment, leaving that Bill relating only relating to Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Jim said the House has passed that bill out and sent it to the Senate for consideration. He advised that the House is taking up HB 593 today, which contains many of the provisions that have been previously discussed; this is on third reading today and could be sent to the Senate this afternoon. He said unfortunately without 1106 up, it would probably be difficult to take this bill up in the Senate unless an additional vehicle is found somehow. Jim said likewise the two bills on the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services do not currently match up, so may well be in difficulty in getting anything out of the Legislature this year based on the fact that things have gone in different directions, which is the primary procedural issue.

Commission Schock asked if this includes ADA interpretations and the primary bill.

Jim stated yes this is primary. He advised that he will go through all of the provisions and how they developed and the new provisions. He said the primary is tangled within itself.

Jim asked if additional Commissioners joined the call. There were additional members that joined thus forming a quorum of 13 members.

Jim asked for a motion to approve the agenda. A motion was entered to approve the agenda by Commission Boyer, second was entered by Commissioner Hamberger, the motion passed unanimously.

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Legislative Update (cont.):

Jim completed a recap of the procedural issues for the Commissioner that had just joined the call.

Jim advised he will begin the coverage in full and the webinar will show the lines he will be discussing.

Jim noted that each of the items to be discussed were essential scrubbed from fiscal impact and easier to consider and pass out if necessary.

Jim said since this was amended to a different bill, there are numerous items that do not pertain to the Commission. He advised he will reference the line when he is discussing items of interest to the Commission. He stated we are currently looking at the third Committee substitute that is CS/CS/CS for SB 1044 which has grown to 41 pages.

Section 12:

Jim advised in section twelve of SB 1044 line 437, the issue had come up last week or the week prior that relates to the waivers and variances that the Department of Health used to grant for building code related provisions for public pools. He said they actually had a Governor’s Commission that had been appointed that reviewed applications for waivers of the special occupancy provisions that were pended by the Department of Health and integrated into the Code and had a whole process with a fee. He advised two years ago when the authority to regulate the construction of pools was separated from the Department of Health’s authority to regulate the operation of pools, that authority to grant waivers and variances fell by the wayside. Jim stated the original language in this legislation had the Commission and the Swimming Pool TAC reviewing petitions waivers from this requirement. He further said unfortunately there is no way to avoid a fiscal impact, there would be a need to add to BCIS, add staff and other things along that line. Jim stated there would be upwards of 120 waivers per year which would require six to eight hour meetings of Swimming Pool TAC Meetings and additional time at the Commission Meeting, along with 120 final orders which would overload the attorney with the additional volume. Jim advised that what has been done is to amended to re-convey the authority to consider and grant variances to the Department of Health. He said that they already have a system set up and their Advisory Council still exist to review waivers related to operating permits and apparently they have indicated there is no fiscal impact to take these up. Jim said that the criteria is provided in the statute for a waiver and that is when it is shown that the hardship experienced by a requestor was not caused intentionally by the action of the applicant or no other reasonable alternative exists for the waiver and the health and the safety of the pool patrons are at risk. He advised that this system has operated in the past and fairly well. He advised that we entered a declaratory statement about the interaction of these waivers and local building

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Legislative Update (cont.):

departments for review of permit document documents and inspections of pools. Jim said one item that he was advised that has surfaced in recent years is the interaction of new

requirements of the ADA for a pool lift as well the width of the pool, these are contained in the building code. He said this is something that is currently in the bill, to return back to status quo in lieu of changes that had not been seen before.

Section 13:

Jim advised in section thirteen line 453 also included in this language is the language that requires integration of the building permitting and operating permitting processes. He said he would note that the most recent version is in section thirteen and continues in two other sections later on does seem to take into account the concern, that we had expressed as an agency that it was being set up to make it impossible to get both an operating and building permit. Jim said that this has been discussed in the past where you could not complete an application for an operating permit as it required a final inspection by the local inspection agency and to get a building permit, you needed to have an application for the operating permit. He said they have addressed that language that is somewhat confusing, in this section and two other sections to be reviewed.

Section 14:

Jim stated in this section actually spells out the requirement that a copy of the final inspection is required as an attachment to the application for the operating permit. He said starting on line 498 they address the circumstance that it is really not feasible. He said what they are looking at is dealing with incomplete application for operating permits and information supplemented as it comes available.

Section 15:

Jim stated this section relates to manufactured buildings and their inspections and addresses an issue that we raised in the past with regards to litigation; it is consistent with what we have discussed in the past. Jim asked if there were any questions, there were none.

Section 16:

Jim stated in section sixteen line 534 of this bill, this is the building permit surcharge, in the past this included allocations of funding for Future Builders of America. He stated this is no longer in the bill; this is restricted to striking out an obsolete reference to the 2013-2014 fiscal years.

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Legislative Update (cont.):

Section 17:

Jim started at line 573 which provides clarification of the language that addresses existing roof mounted mechanical equipment and clarifies when that needs to be brought into compliance with current requirements of the Florida Building Code, relating to roof mounted mechanics. He further stated if it moved during re-roofing and is not in compliance with current requirements of the Florida Building Code, relating to roof mounted mechanics, it will have to be brought up to code. Jim asked if there were any questions.

Commissioner Hamberger asked if that provision meant if the roof equipment stayed in place, even if you replaced the curb, then you would not have to bring to current standards?

Jim advised that is correct, that would be the same result as what is currently in the Statute and the Building Code.

Jim advised that starting with line 580 still in section seventeen is a provision relating to range hood exhaust systems. He said that as it stands now in the Florida Building Code if a range hood exhaust is 400 cubic feet per minute or less, then make up air is not required. He said that this provision of the bill would allow exhaust rates at 400 cubic feet per minute but no more than 800 cubic feet per minute if there are no gravity vent appliances within the conditioned living space of the structure. Jim said it would allow greater capacity for exhaust vents without make up air. He stated that we have expressed some reservation as to that for creating unbalanced air outside the parameters envisioned by the model codes and as well this may be better exemption if it also addressed unconditioned space of the structure. He further stated this is an issue that has come up in the last few weeks and initially it actually allowed vents up to 1200 cubic feet per minute and so it has been substantially mitigated. Jim asked if there were any comments or questions he will defer to Mr. Madani.

Commissioner Calleja asked what CFS level is needed before you need make up air.

Jim advised what it allows is 400 cubic feet per minute but no more than 800 cubic feet per minute if there are no gravity vent appliances within the conditioned living space.

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Legislative Update (cont.):

Section 18:

Jim stated this is the initial import of this bill SB 1044 and it addresses adding an additional Building Commissioner representing the Energy Office. He stated on item of interest is that it changed in the House, but still remains in the Senate. He said line 668 in queue changes the name of one of the entities that can nominate a member for the construction or building products manufacturing industry seat on the Commission and it changes it to the Florida Concrete and Product (singular) Association. Jim said all of the information he has been able to find on this Association through the Department of State’s website as well as their own, describe it as Florida Concrete and Products (plural) Association. He further stated that this is only an “s” but it could be significant. He advised we have raised it as a comment, however, the House fixed it at one point, but this remains on the Senate side. He said once again this is a permissive direction to recommend a list of candidates and it probably not any real urgent error, but it is a glitch none the less.

Jim continued with line 697 stating this is the element that allows a representative from the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Energy. He advised that the second half of this has been changed to be consistent with the rest of the seats on the Commission in that the Commissioner of Agriculture is encourage to recommend a list of candidates for consideration. He said in prior versions it was a lot complicated a system where the Commissioner would submit three names if not selected from the list, there would be additional names submitted. He provided information on strike out language from 2003.

Section 19:

Jim advised that section 19 is a conforming amendment, relating to the public swimming pool variances. He said that it adds a section to 553.77 which is the specific powers of the Building Commission; he said he feels that it is misplaced. He said on line 710 it requires that the building official shall recognized and enforce variance orders issued by the Department of Health pursuant to 514.0155 sub 5 including any conditions attached granting the variance. He said the declaratory statement completed a few years ago addressed a similar topic and basically said that local building departments should be doing this under the Building Code given that the Department of Heath had that explicit authority within the statutes. He said despite the placement issue the actual substances of it present anything new.

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Legislative Update (cont.):

Section 20:

Jim stated in section twenty line 714 adding the accessibility code to the items that can be interpreted by the Commission through its formal or informal processes as well as declaratory statements. He said this language will allow the Commission to address both Florida specific and non-Florida specific provisions of the accessibility code consistent with recommendation of the Building Commission in the past. He further stated that is consistent with what has been in these bills since the start.

Section 21:

Jim advised in section twenty one line 955 is another piece of the operating permit building permit integration and directs that the local building department should not issue or may not issue a building permit without proof of an application and whether complete or incomplete to address the issues related in early description for an operating permit. He stated that it also incorporates a small tweak to an electronic document provision that was added about three years ago and allows not only for site plans but building permits be maintained in electronic format on a work site. He said that adds permits to site plans to be authorized for electronic maintenance.

Section 553.80

Jim said 553.80 is being amended to basically address expedited building construction permitting, building plans review, and inspections for public schools as opposed to public school districts. He said that it broaden this in the realm of charter school he believes but is not sure. Jim advised the change was located in line 990 of the Bill.

Section 553.841

Jim stated that 553.841 is the amendment to the Building Code compliance and mitigation program that to which we refer to as Building Code education and outreach. He said it is consistent to which has been adopted in the past, it adds employees of design and construction industries to those that can receive training under this contract. He said that does vastly increase the well of potential recipients that can receive training under this. He further said that a statute would as a matter of necessity given that the limited amount of funds dilute the amount of training we can provide to licensee which is a concern, but is not taken hold. Jim said that it expands the subjects that are permissible for training under this section to include the Fire Prevention Code, permitting requirements, and construction liens.

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Legislative Update (cont.):

Section 553.883

Jim advised that we previously covered this item, but it relates to smoke alarms, battery operated under the Building Code and other circumstances. He stated essentially it authorizes the use of smoke alarms powered by ten year non-removable, non-replaceable battery in lieu retrofitting with smoke alarms powered by the dwelling’s electrical system. Jim said rather than hard wire you could use these non-removable for the ten year alarms.

Jim advised that second provision in this is created some concern in that it is not enforceable under the Building Code as it prohibits the use of battery powered alarms. He said effective January 1, 2015, a battery-powered smoke alarm that is newly installed or replaces an existing battery-powered smoke alarm must be powered by a non-removable, non-replaceable battery that powers the alarm for at least 10 years. Jim stated this severely restricts the number of products that could be utilized, then again when replacing battery powered alarms or newly installing battery powered alarms, you would have to question if this is permitting issue concerns. He said that most do not permit this activity.

Commissioner Schiffer asked on 1055 should we note that it should read Florida Building Code existing.

Jim responded that is the way it read before; he said that the provisions relating to the use of battery powered smoke alarms are contained in the Florida Building Code Residential.

Mr. Madani said that the language would cover both residential and building in general because in the residential code repair and alterations also covers this and by going to level one alteration, that would encompass the existing building.

Jim advised this is an item that we give rise to a glitch code change, a change in law and the need to keep the code consistent with statute is something the Commission can take up at any time.

Jim stated fire alarms, smoke detectors, smoke alarms, and ancillary components that are electronically connected to a system as part of a UL Listed centrally-monitored fire alarm station are exempt from the battery requirements of this section.

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Legislative Update (cont.):

Section 25:

Jim said starting at line 1067 reverses course to an extent on the building energy rating system, basically reversing in action the Legislature last year that specified those systems that were usable in the state to provide generic criteria. Jim advised that they have not assigned the responsibility to determine eligibility in the State of Florida to any agency; it has no direct impact on the Department and never a Commission function.

Section 26:

Jim stated this section relates to the Fire Prevention Code and provides an exemption for tents up to 30 feet by 30 feet. He said this does not affect the application for the Building Code since isn’t a National Code incorporated by reference in the Fire Prevention Code.

Section 27:

Jim said addresses operation of the Florida Code Interpretation Committee and has no impact on the Building Commission.

Section 28:

Jim advised starting at line 1143 does add some language relating to insurance but really has not impact on the Commission.

Jim stated the Bill is set to take effect July 1, 2014.

Jim advosed this covers SB 1044 which integrates a few new issues which he does not believe are currently addressed in HB 593, but may be to some extent. He said given the urgency it will be a trick to get anything through to the Governor’s desk this year.

Jim asked if there were any questions or comments from the Commissioners regarding any of the information provided.

Jim asked if any additional Commissioner join the call. There were no new members on the call.

Jim then asked for public comment, there was no public comment offered.

Jim then asked for any additional Commissioner comment.

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Commissioner Comments:

Commissioner Flanagan asked if Jim thinks this will not pass this year.

Jim said he is not going to say it will not pass, he stated there are some very very adept people working on this legislation and far better at the process than himself.

Commissioner Flanagan asked if this has to be completed by July 1.

Jim advised no, this has to be completed by Friday, assuming that the Legislature get a budget out on time, that is when the session will end if the budget has been completed. He said with the surplus this year, he does not feel budget will hold them in town too late; it could last to midnight Friday. He said Friday is the drop dead date to bring bills together.

Commissioner Calleja stated he missed the last Commission Meeting, is the Building Code effective date still December 31, 2014 or has it been postponed.

Jim advised it has not been finally postponed, but it was discussed that the Fire Code will not be available to meet that date. He advised there will be further discussion at the June meeting.

Commissioner Calleja asked if it was a question of the six month waiting.

Jim said the real question is a final version of the Florida Fire Prevention Code that we can adopt by reference into the Building Code and that starts the six month clock.

Adjournment:

There being no further comments, Jim adjourned the call at 10:54 am.