61G20-2.002 Updates and Amendments to the Florida Building Code.[1]
(1) The Florida Building Commission shall
update the Florida Building Code triennially in accordance with subsection
553.73(7), F.S. When updating the code; the Commission shall review the
most current updates to the model codes including, but not limited to, the
International Building Code, the International Fuel Gas Code, the International
Existing Building Code, the International Mechanical Code, the International
Plumbing Code, the International Residential Code, the International Energy
Conservation Code, and the National Electrical Code. The Commission shall also
consider its own interpretations and declaratory statements, any
relevant appellate decisions, and local technical amendments. For the purpose of conducting the review of
the model codes, the following steps will be undertaken:
(a)
The
Commission shall select the model codes that will be used to conduct its
review.
(b)
Commission
staff shall review the model codes and identify any provisions which overlap
with the provisions of the
Florida Building Code, correlate directly with the provisions of the
Florida Building Code, have an economic impact on
consumers, or are necessary to
maintain eligibility for federal funding and discounts from the National Flood
Insurance Program, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or the United
States Department of Housing and Urban Development in
accordance with §553.73(7)(a) and §553.73(7)(c), Florida Statutes.
(c)
After
the latest updates of the model codes are published, and the staff review is completed, a complete listing of the changes to the
model codes will be posted and made available for public review and comments for forty-five (45) days on the Commission’s
website Building Code
Information System (BCIS).
(d)
Before
review by the Commission’s Technical Advisory Committees (TACs), changes affecting
residential construction shall be reviewed by the Residential Construction Cost
Impact Work Group (RCCIWG) and the report of the RCCIWG shall be made available
to the TACs.
(e)
The
Commission’s Technical Advisory Committees (TACs) shall review the model code
provisions, including
the public comments in
their area of expertise for potential inclusion in the updated Florida Building
Code. Should provisions
overlap into the expertise of multiple TACs, all affected TACs shall review the
model code provisions. The TACs may make the following
recommendations to the Commission:
1.
That
the Commission reject certain model code provisions by consent agenda. Model
code provisions may be recommended for rejection due to such issues as being
unnecessary; being in
conflict with; reducing
the level of safety, public health, and general welfare of an existing
Florida-specific provision; diminishing the requirements of provisions related
to wind resistance or water intrusion; unnecessarily imposing additional costs;
or potentially requiring modification or further investigation before being
adopted for use in this state.
2.
That
the Commission approve certain model code provisions by consent agenda. When
considering whether to recommend inclusion on a consent agenda for approval,
the TACs shall consider such criteria as to
whether the model code provisions are editorial or organizational in nature, correct an error, provide clarification,
provide for alternative design methods, are uncontroversial to affected
stakeholders, or whose inclusion are is mandated by law.
3.
That
the Commission approve or reject certain model code provisions after considering
them individually.
The TACs’ recommendations
shall be accompanied by a brief explanatory remark and will be posted on the
Commission’s website.
(f)
The Commission
shall meet to approve the following types of model code provisions using
consent agendas:
1.
[TBD by the
Commission]
2.
[TBD by the
Commission]
Commissioners or members of the public
may request that particular model code provisions be removed from the consent
agendas for individual consideration by the Commission and be considered by the
Commission’s Technical Advisory Committees pursuant to paragraph (e).
(g)
After
the Commission has approved any model code provisions pursuant to paragraph
(d), the Commission’s Technical Advisory Committees (TACs) shall review the
remaining model code provisions in their area of expertise for potential
inclusion in the updated Florida Building Code. The TACs may make the following
recommendations to the Commission:
1.
That
the Commission reject certain model code provisions by consent agenda. Model
code provisions may be recommended for rejection due to such issues as being
unnecessary, being in conflict with an existing
Florida-specific provision, diminishing the requirements of provisions related
to wind resistance or water intrusion, unnecessarily imposing additional costs,
or potentially requiring modification or further investigation before being
adopted for use in this state.
2.
That
the Commission approve certain model code provisions by consent agenda. When
considering whether to recommend inclusion on a consent agenda for approval,
the TACs shall consider such criteria as whether the model code provisions are editorial or organizational in nature, correct an error, provide clarification, provide for alternative design methods, are uncontroversial
to affected stakeholders, or whose inclusion are mandated by law.
3.
That
the Commission approve or reject certain model code provisions after
considering them individually. When recommending individual consideration of
model code updates, the TACs shall consider such criteria as whether the update
has the potential to impose significant costs, cause confusion or regulatory
difficulty, may be unnecessary, is highly controversial to affected
stakeholders, or requires further evaluation.
The TACs’ recommendations
shall be accompanied by a brief explanatory remark, and will be posted on the
Commission’s website.
(f) After the
TACs have reviewed the model code provisions and made their recommendations
pursuant to paragraph (e), the Commission shall meet to determine which model
code provisions to include in the updated edition of the Florida Building
Code. Notwithstanding the TACs’ recommendations, any Commissioner or members of the public may specify that
particular provisions on consent agendas be considered individually. After Commission
approval, all the approved
changes to the Florida Building Code will be made available on the Commission’s website BCIS. The public will
then have the opportunity to submit amendments to the Florida Building Code and
the approved changes to the Florida Building Code pursuant to subsection (2) of
this rule.
(2) The Commission may amend the Code at any
time pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 553.73(7)(c), F.S., or
subsection 553.73(8), F.S., and once each year pursuant to subsection
553.73(9), F.S. Amendments to the Florida Building Code submitted pursuant to
paragraph 553.73(7)(c), F.S., subsection 553.73(8), F.S., or 553.73(9), F.S.,
shall be submitted on the Code Amendment Proposal Form, No. 61G20-1.001, effective
January 2018, adopted and incorporated herein, which may be found on the
Building Code InformationSystem at
http://www.floridabuilding.org/cm/cm_code_srch.aspx,
or at http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-08931 or by contacting the
Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Office of Codes & Standards, 2601 Blair Stone Road,
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0772. The Code Amendment Proposal Form shall be
submitted online at http://www.floridabuilding.org/cm/cm_code_srch.aspx and shall be reviewed by Commission staff for sufficiency.
Commission staff shall ascertain 1) whether the amendment to the code has been
submitted in legislative format, 2) if the rationale for amending the code has
been provided, and 3) if all required questions regarding fiscal and other
impacts have been answered by the proponent. The term “NA” or “Not applicable”
shall be considered an insufficient answer to statutorily required questions.
If a proposed code amendment is submitted more than two weeks prior to the
deadline established and staff finds the proposal to be insufficient, staff
shall notify the proponent via email of the nature of its insufficiency and
that if the proponent of the amendment elects to resubmit the proposal curing
the insufficiency, it must be resubmitted prior to the deadline. Once a Code
Amendment Proposal has been found sufficient, Commission staff shall verify
such status online, enabling the Building Code Information System to show the
proposal to the general public for comment. Code Amendment Proposals found
insufficient shall not be verified or considered as building code amendments in
the code amendment process.
(a)
Each
proposed amendment will be heard first by the appropriate TAC or TACs, which
will consider the proposal and all documentation submitted therewith, and
consider whether to recommend approval, which shall require a two-thirds vote of TAC members or alternates in attendance. The TAC may modify a proposed amendment
if it provides the documentation required by subsection (2) of this rule. Approval of modifications to the proposed
amendment shall require a two-thirds vote of TAC members or alternates in
attendance. After modification, the Committee TAC
must then vote whether to recommend adoption as amended, which shall require a two-thirds vote of TAC members or alternates in attendance.
(b)
The
Commission shall publish each proposed amendment on its website at www.floridabuilding.org at
least 45 days prior to its consideration by the appropriate TAC. This notice
may run concurrently with the notice required by subsection 120.54(2), F.S.,
and is not intended to extend the required rulemaking timeframes therein.
(c)
The
full Commission shall consider and vote upon each proposed amendment after
consideration by at least one TAC. The decision of the Commission to approve a
proposed amendment shall be by at least the required three-fourths vote of Commissioners in attendance. Those proposals failing to meet the vote
requirement shall not be adopted. The Commission may modify a proposed
amendment by at least the
required three-fourths vote
of Commissioners in
attendance, provided that
the form required by subsection (2) of this rule is amended to reflect the
modification and supporting documentation is submitted.
(d)
The
Commission shall publish each proposed amendment on the BCIS at www.floridabuilding.org at least 45 days prior to its consideration by the full
Commission. This notice may run concurrently with the notice required by
subsection 120.54(3), F.S., and is not intended to extend the required
rulemaking timeframes therein.
(3) Each amendment approved for adoption by
the Florida Building Commission pursuant to subsection 553.73(9), F.S., shall
take effect no earlier than three months after the rule amendment is filed for
adoption with the Department of State.
(4) [Potential sunset provision]
Rulemaking Authority
553.73(3), (7)-(9), 553.76(1), (2), (4), 553.77 FS. Law Implemented 553.73(3),
(6)-(8), 553.76(2), 553.77 FS. History–New 11-20-01, Amended 6-8-05, 2-28-06,
9-13-07, 7-30-08, Formerly 9B-3.050, 9N-2.002, Amended 7-1-13, 3-27-18, .
EXPLANATION. (Shown in the order changes occur in the
FHBA proposal.)
1. Charging DBPR staff with determining the economic impact of a change on consumers is not recommended. This requirement could lead to reliance on the Cost Impact statements made by proponents of the changes. These statements are not always accurate.
2. To cite the statutory sections relevant to the review of the I-Codes and NEC.
3. To require all the changes to the I-Codes and the NEC to be posted by staff on the BCIS.
4. To allow time for the staff to review and establish a time frame for the public comment period.
5. To require a review by the Residential Construction Cost Impact Work Group (RCCIWG) of changes that impact residential construction before the TAC review of those changes
6. To ensure the report of the RCCIWG is available to the TACs for their deliberations.
7. To relocate the provisions related to the TAC review and to include the public comments in the TAC review of the I-Code and NEC changes.
8. To strike provisions on consent agendas.
9. To strike relocated provisions on the TAC review.
10. To strike requests by the public for items to be considered individually by the Commission. A member of the public would have to get a Commissioner to agree to pull the item. This system has always worked in the past.
11. Change the term “Commission’s website” to BCIS, which is the Commission’s website. A search for “Florida Building Commission’s Website” takes the searcher to the BCIS.
12. To clarify that modifications of
proposed changes by a TAC require a two-thirds vote of members present and that
approval of the modified proposal requires a two-thirds vote of members
present.
13. Change the term “Committee” to TAC
for consistency.
14. To stipulate the vote applies to
Commissioners in attendance and that modifications to a proposed amendment
require a three-fourths vote of Commissioners in attendance.
15. To strike the reference to a
potential sunset provision.
[1] Red text whether stricken or underlined
indicates changes. Black text whether stricken or underlined denotes text that
has been relocated.