To:          Mo Madoni

From:    James Dipietro, Broward County Board of Rules and Appeals

RE:          DEC Statement 2013 – 031

Date:     July 18, 2013

 

There are many Chickee Huts throughout this particular project and also throughout Broward County as well as the rest of the state that were constructed outside of the scope of the Florida Building Code using the exemption stated in 102.2 (h). The Chickee Hut the DEC Statement request refers to is approximately 800 square feet. The Chickee Hut is located next to (touching) a utility building that houses a laundry facility, a bathroom and storage for the individual Motor Home site. The Chickee is located approximately eight feet from a concrete pad where a Mobile Home is parked when the owners are in town.

Within the footprint of this Chickee Hut an outdoor kitchen has been installed complete with sink, grill and electrical outlets that are permanently mounted to the concrete slab. Based upon the definition within the Florida Building Code: (h)            Chickees constructed by the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida or the Seminole Tribe of Florida. As used in this paragraph, the term “chickee” means an open-sided wooden hut that has a thatched roof of palm or palmetto or other traditional materials, and that does not incorporate any electrical, plumbing, or other nonwood features.,we believe the Chickee Hut violates the exemption to the Florida Building Code that was used by the Seminole Tribe to construct the Chickee. We further believe the Chickee must now be designed and constructed to comply with the 2010 Florida Building Code.

 

In other instances, electrical outlets were installed on a unistrut frame which was not attached to the Chickee Hut but is within the footprint of the Chickee Hut. It is the Board of Rules and Appeals staff’s opinion that this also violates the exemption to the Florida Building Code under which this Chickee Hut was constructed.