4.13 Codes & Standards Committee Report for January 2024
There have been three significant activities during the month:
The Codes Administration Technical Advisory Committee of the Florida Building Commission heard my third petition regarding the local amendments adopted by Broward County, FL (technically, the County’s Board of Appeals and Rules, BORA) that precludes our unlicensed members from practicing their profession on January 25.
Broward County and other jurisdictions use the “special conditions” switch as requiring all construction documents to be prepared by a registered design professional. They concluded in 2010 that a project’s being located in the county constituted a special condition. They adopted staff recommendations in answer to the following questions:
The Codes Administration Technical Advisory Committee of the Florida Building Commission heard my third petition regarding the local amendments adopted by Broward County, FL (technically, the County’s Board of Appeals and Rules, BORA) that precludes our unlicensed members from practicing their profession on January 25.
Broward County and other jurisdictions use the “special conditions” switch as requiring all construction documents to be prepared by a registered design professional. They concluded in 2010 that a project’s being located in the county constituted a special condition. They adopted staff recommendations in answer to the following questions:
- Is cost of construction a special condition that requires additional construction documents to be prepared by a registered design professional? No.
- Is the size of the building a special condition that requires additional construction documents to be prepared by a registered design professional? Unable to answer the question.
- Is the location of the building within a high-velocity hurricane zone a special condition that requires additional construction documents to be prepared by a registered design professional? Unable to answer the question.
- What are the standard construction documents listed in the Florida Building Code? Unable to answer the question.
The last question was my attempt to be able to define additional construction documents as being in addition to those that are required to address the special condition.
Broward County has readopted the problematic amendments for the 2023 Florida Building Code. I plan to file a request for interpretation that will essentially be a challenge to the validity of the amendment. This is a required prerequisite to any potential court action we may want to pursue.
The Florida Board of Architecture and Interior Design heard my petition for declaratory statement on January 26. They were very supportive but felt they were not legally able to provide relief. They all had their own horror stories of interaction with local building officials and encouraged us to move forward to address the problem of imperial building officials.
They were going to provide positive content to the order denying the petition. As a side note, my petition encouraged a member of the Board to file his own to seek redress on another problem with local building departments: requirements for third-party digital signature authentication, which is not required by law. He was also denied relief, as a declaratory statement cannot address the actions of another party.
Mike Battaglia reminded me of his earlier effort to seek an “ultimate solution” to the issue of language in the ICC model code that opens the door to state and local governments requiring construction documents to be prepared by registered design professionals.
This could be done in various ways, such as by removing all references to who can or should prepare construction documents on the logic that the code should only address physical elements of construction and leave the who can do what to the states.
It could also be done by adding language to define ‘design professional’ (presently in the code but only as a pointer to ‘registered design professional’), clarifying what “special conditions” and “additional construction documents” mean.
On the legislative side, we have gotten positive feedback from Rep. Adam Pugh in Oklahoma regarding our request to modify their definition of residential projects exempt from licensure to include townhouses.
We are also involved in an issue regarding the licensure of interior designers in Alaska where we are supporting the state’s AIA members in opposition to the addition of such a regulated profession.
Submitted January 29, 2024, by Jack A Butler, Chair
Broward County has readopted the problematic amendments for the 2023 Florida Building Code. I plan to file a request for interpretation that will essentially be a challenge to the validity of the amendment. This is a required prerequisite to any potential court action we may want to pursue.
The Florida Board of Architecture and Interior Design heard my petition for declaratory statement on January 26. They were very supportive but felt they were not legally able to provide relief. They all had their own horror stories of interaction with local building officials and encouraged us to move forward to address the problem of imperial building officials.
They were going to provide positive content to the order denying the petition. As a side note, my petition encouraged a member of the Board to file his own to seek redress on another problem with local building departments: requirements for third-party digital signature authentication, which is not required by law. He was also denied relief, as a declaratory statement cannot address the actions of another party.
Mike Battaglia reminded me of his earlier effort to seek an “ultimate solution” to the issue of language in the ICC model code that opens the door to state and local governments requiring construction documents to be prepared by registered design professionals.
This could be done in various ways, such as by removing all references to who can or should prepare construction documents on the logic that the code should only address physical elements of construction and leave the who can do what to the states.
It could also be done by adding language to define ‘design professional’ (presently in the code but only as a pointer to ‘registered design professional’), clarifying what “special conditions” and “additional construction documents” mean.
On the legislative side, we have gotten positive feedback from Rep. Adam Pugh in Oklahoma regarding our request to modify their definition of residential projects exempt from licensure to include townhouses.
We are also involved in an issue regarding the licensure of interior designers in Alaska where we are supporting the state’s AIA members in opposition to the addition of such a regulated profession.
Submitted January 29, 2024, by Jack A Butler, Chair