Building Code Review Board

CITY OF DEKALB BUILDING BOARD OF APPEALS MINUTES November 19, 2015 Call to Order. The meeting was called to order at 9:06 AM by Chairman Don Whitmore. Roll Call BBA Members present were Chairman Don Whitmore, Charles Shepard, Christine Scholl, and Lisa Sharp. Steve Irving arrived at 9:10. Staff present were Community Development Director Ellen Divita, Fire Chief Eric Hicks, Deputy Fire Chief Greg Hoyle, Dan Burrow of SAFEbuilt, and Community Development Administrative Assistant Natalie Nelson. Natalie Nelson acted as recording Secretary. Also present were Ken Anderson, Jerry Evans, Randy Nelson, Keith O’Higgins, and Sean Kelly. Approval of Agenda Chairman Whitmore asked for a motion to approve the agenda, C. Shepard motioned to approve the Agenda without changes, and the motion was seconded by Lisa Sharp. All approved. Public Participation Ken Anderson and Randy Nelson stated they would wait to speak until the topic was addressed. Approval of Minutes C. Shepard motioned to approve the October 15, 2015, minutes, and the motion was seconded by L. Sharp. All approved. Old Business 1. COMMITTEE REPORTS on draft Regional Building Code review activity Mechanical – Keith O’Higgins has provided additional recommendations to Steve Doonan’s written comments. There are four items to address. K. O’Higgins commented that he agrees with amendment G2414.10.1: Welded Connections. Welding gas piping over 2” and piping carrying 1 PAI or over is not required in the original code. He also agrees with amendment 508.1 Makeup air with the Northwest Illinois Regional Building Code. He further agrees with the Northwest Illinois Regional Building Code amendment 603.6.2.1, Connector length, and he would recommend limiting the connector length should be no more than 8’. He further agrees with the International Fuel Gas Code 402.6, Maximum design operating pressure and 403.10.4, regarding welding; he agrees with the Northwest Illinois Regional Building Code amendment. The BBA will consider the comments of both Steve Doonan and Keith O’Higgins. Electrical – Dan Hagar sent in a set of comments to accept the Northwest Illinois Regional Building Code but was unable to attend the meeting. He requested keeping the City of DeKalb’s current amendments as well as the regional code group’s work. Plumbing – Jerry Evans spoke that he will work with Reese Menard to submit a written report regarding thoughts on the amendments proposed by the Regional Code. After he and K. O’Higgins discussed the amendments in the Northwest Illinois Regional Building Code, J. Evans stated he found no objections to the recommended amendments proposed amendments. There remains an expectation that the State will deny approval of the amendments proposed by the Northwest group and all will be required to adopt the State plumbing code as written. IBC (Commercial Building Code) – Chairman Whitmore discussed the exception in Northwest Illinois Regional Building Code amendment 1806.2 regarding Presumptive load-bearing values and stated other areas of the 2015 International Building Code address this issue. He disagrees with exception 2 from the Northwest Illinois Regional Building Code. Fire – Chief Hicks stated that the current DeKalb amendments would need to be kept if the Northwest Illinois Regional Building Code were adopted, which is allowed in the Regional Code’s amendment 307.1.1 Prohibited open burning. He stated he saw no need in DeKalb to adopt the regional group’s amendment 505.3, regarding requiring a separate address for a dedicated sprinkler control/fire alarm room in a strip mall. IRC – C. Scholl and Chairman Whitmore reported that there were a few amendments that are not necessary in the Northwest Illinois Regional Building Code. Amendment R403.3.5 regarding detached garages or sheds are already in use in DeKalb’s current code amendments. Amendments numbered R322 regarding flood plain and elevation requirements are not required. A discussion of following the IRC 2015 Code sprinkler exemption or requirement for townhouses ensued, including the fire protection rating requirements that would be in place when sprinklers are not required in townhouses. C. Scholl indicated she talked to Andrew Pieri and learned that Belivdere has adopted the 2012 code with sprinklers. D. Whitmore reminded the Board that they have moved back and forth on this item and the subcommittee had determined not to include the townhouse sprinkler requirements. Chief Hicks asked if the group had looked at the costs associated with a “work around” if they exempt the sprinklers – what will it cost to provide the fire protection rating on lighter construction materials? C Shepard and J. Evans confirmed backflow requirements and yearly checks are required and these were discussed as disadvantages to sprinklers in townhouses. S. Irving asked for a distinction on freestanding units and D. Whitmore provided the code definitions of a townhouse as three or more built side by side would require sprinklers if this section of the code were adopted; duplexes would not require sprinklers.. Units stacked one on top of each other are “R2” construction and by the IBC already require sprinklers. Steve asked for confirmation that in some mixed use developments, if sprinklers were exempted for the townhouse units there could be some buildings with sprinklers next to some without; D. Whitmore confirmed yes. Randy Neilson stated he is building luxury townhouses now and hasn’t found anyone wanting to buy a unit with them. He doesn’t think he could make the numbers work and would have to rent the units out due to higher price. He received quotes of $8 - $10,000 a unit. The Building Board asked him if he would share these quotes with them. The City of DeKalb’s Fire Department has stated that they support a requirement for sprinklers in townhouses. E. Divita stated that Mayor Rey has asked that whatever decision the Commission makes, they should clearly explain their rational. It is reasonable to assume members of the public will attend the Council meeting and the more information presented by the Building Board of Appeals, the more information the Council will have to discuss the topic with interested members of the community. The builders attending the meeting indicated they do not support any requirements for sprinklers in townhouses. Asked by Ken Anderson if Rockford had included sprinkler amendment, Divita distributed copies of the City of Rockford’s press release regarding the Northwest Illinois Regional Building Code recently been passed in Rockford (which indicate yes). She referred Mr. Anderson to call Andrew Pieri in Rockford directly as they have spoken on multiple locations. Sean Kelly stated that that as the code allows for construction with sprinklers, or the alternative fire stopping measures to build without, he supports following the 2015 Building Code for sprinkler requirement and the alternative building requirements. He supported allowing the market to take care of itself. Existing Building Code – Chairman Whitmore stated that the Northwest Illinois Regional Building Code amendments are acceptable. A discussion regarding the need for a decision to be made if the City of DeKalb to adopt the Regional Code. E. Divita recommended that a code-by-code discussion take place  before a vote on the complete set of codes take place. She suggested the Building Board may choose to retain the same form for a number of the codes, though it was evident the City of DeKalb would diverge from the Northwest Illinois Regional Building Code. Even if a certain number of codes remained parallel, it provides consistency across the region for builders, designers, and tradesmen on that group of codes and fewer codes to inspect for differences. C. Shephard motioned not to join the Northwest Illinois Regional building Code at this time. The motion was seconded by L. Sharp. Roll Call vote was unanimous. 2. DECEMBER ICC AND DCEP (ENERGY CODE) TRAINING SESSIONS IN DECEMBER The three ICC training workshops proposed in December (Dixon, Rockford, and DeKalb have been canceled. The arrangements for the training staff from the International Code Council has not been finalized. 3. WORK TASKS The BBA will begin a series of workshop meetings to review the code and identify their own set of amendments. Before the next meeting • E. Divita will request more information from Andrew Pieri regarding the sub- committee’s work at their October 22, 2015 meeting. (Editor’s Note, see comments at the end of these minutes) • K. O’Higgins will meet with S. Doonan to discuss their suggested amendments. • A subcommittee for the Building Code will meet to discuss alternatives to sprinkler requirements. New Business The next Building Board of Appeals meeting is set for Thursday, December 10, 2015, 9:00AM at DeKalb City Hall. It will be a work session, not a formal meeting, to discuss individual codes and the amendments that may be necessary. HEARING AND SEEING NO ADDITIONAL COMMENT FROM ATTENDEES, CHAIRMAN WHITMORE CLOSED THE MEETING AT 10:40AM. Additional information from Andrew Pieri, CBO, City of Rockford. Regional Code: R322.2.1 through R322.2.2 (Flood Zone Issues):  City of DeKalb Committee requests clarification for need for this amendment. A. Pieri: Amendment was made from the IRC because it is not specific to our area of the country. It essentially says building and structures in a coastal area other than Coastal A, that floods, must be 12” above what the flood level is. It makes sure 100 year flood level is 12” above for foundation. We are not a coastal A zone. Each City is in different flood areas so the regional group is leaving this to individual towns to cover in various stormwater ordinances. R403.3.5 Detached garages or sheds (slab on grade):  City of DeKalb Committee does not understand need for this amendment; believe this is covered in other parts of the code and our Uniform Dwelling Ordinance. A. Pieri: Says code official may approve if 5 conditions. What they are doing is letting folks do a large slab on grade without doing it on a frostwall / trenched foundation. You can do on thick concrete slab. The regional group didn’t want to force folks to spend more on concrete. R1005.1 Listing and clearances for factory‐built chimneys:  City of DeKalb committee questions the need for this amendment. A. Pieri: Manufacturers specs often say no firestopping is needed. They have had problems with Chimneys and wanted to make sure that even if factory built chimney in a chase, there is firestopping with adequate clearance. M1401.3.1 Calculations required:  City of DeKalb committee questions this requirement; believe Energy Code covers the requirements. A. Pieri: The regional group clarified it. Was to double state it.The energy conversation code says if replacing mechanical furnace or AC you need to do calcs to properly size. Want to make it crystal clear to contractors. They have been issuing HVAC permits without calcs. Fly by night contractors won’t understand calculations. Is meant to force mechanical contractors to calculate and not just guess at the right size unit for the home. M603.6.1.1 Duct Length and M603.6.2.1 Connector Length:  The City of DeKalb Committee requests clarification of reasoning for these two requirements. A. Pieri: The mechanical code as unadopted says can go up to 14’ and the problem with flexible duct – it was created for retrofit. If thrown in attic, it gets “zig zagged.” It’s designed to be straight and if not, won’t get right air flow. Get friction loss in the air movement. 2015 IBC: 1806.2 Presumptive Load Bearing Values:  The City of DeKalb Committee requests clarification for these changes to the IBC. A. Pieri: Reason they did it is to essentially say that a one story building can use presumptive load (presumes ground will hold 1500 lbs/sf), don’t need to give a soil report. He always asks for soil report to see if soil will hold the building.