4.13, 4.18 & 4.21 Committee Reports for March 2024

 

Extensive legal research was conducted during the month in preparation for a planned suit for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief in the 17th Judicial Circuit of Florida. The suit will be filed by the chair, pro se, as an individual in County Court. It seeks to have the local amendments adopted by the Broward County Board of Rules and Appeals to be declared in violation of state laws and have them removed from the regulatory process. The suit will likely be filed the first week in May 2024.

 

Letters were prepared in opposition to proposed modifications to the licensure of interior designers in California. We were alerted to the issue just before the proposal was heard by the assigned committee as part of its sunset review of architect and interior designer licensing laws. The proposal, which would create a new commercial interior designer license, would impact the ability of unlicensed persons, including AIBD members, to practice in the state. Most people who spoke at the committee meeting were opposed to the change, which was initiated by a professional association supporting the commercial interior design industry.

 

Legislation was also monitored in several other states, including the continuation of our work in Oklahoma, which was previously reported. The California issue was brought to our attention by a former member, who subsequently rejoined the Institute. Depending on such anecdotal notifications likely results in missed opportunities for AIBD to be heard. Long term, the committee needs to develop a formal network of members to monitor activities in their states.

 

The chair attended the NADRA Codes Committee meeting held in McKinney, TX, March 5-6 at the offices of Simpson Strong-Tie. The meeting began with a review of Group A amendments proposed for consideration by the Internal Code Council (ICC) as part of its 2027 edition creation process. After a general discussion on each proposal that may impact the NADRA membership, assignments were made to specific subcommittees for later consideration and development of proposed NARDA position (Support, Oppose, Neutral). There were also discussions related to lateral loads experienced by decks with only a single plane of attachment to the primary structure, and to specific regulatory issues in various parts of the USA and Canada. Multiple Code Committee members plan to attend the ICC Group A meetings to be held in April.

 

During the portion of the meeting dedicated to future regulatory actions, such as the Group B topics to be covered in the second stage of the ICC editing process, the chair raised the issue of “special conditions” currently in the code and the general problem of local jurisdictions requiring signed and sealed plans for residential construction. The general consensus was that AIBD needed to make a Group B proposal to eliminate the problematic elements of the residential code so that NADRA, NHBA, and other organizations could support it. Among the changes to be proposed are removing all references to registered design professionals. The ICC recently responded to an environmental code content appeal by removing all content that did not relate specifically to minimum performance standards. We would build on this policy decision when seeking to remove offending text.

 

Submitted March 22, 2024, by Jack A Butler