Title
Staff Report for Adoption of State-Mandated California Building Standards Codes and Related Amendments
Staffreport
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt as amended the following codes: The "California Building Standards Code, 2013 edition" as amended; and those certain documents entitled "International Residential Code 2012 Edition and appendices G and H; and "International Building Code, 2012 Edition," with appendices Chapters G and I, published by the International Code Council; and Chapters A2, A4 and A5, of that certain document entitled "International Existing Building Code 2012 edition," as published by the International Code Council; and that certain document entitled "International Fire Code, 2012 Edition," published by the International Code Council with appendices chapters B, C and D.
The adoption of the new codes, as amended, will comply with State Law and make it easier for businesses from other areas of the country to locate in San Leandro. Architects and insurance underwriters will find that the City's construction code format corresponds to other regional codes, making it easier to plan and design facilities.
The new codes will have an effective date of January 1, 2014.
BACKGROUND
The State Building Standards Commission conducts public hearings on modifications for state agencies and state amendments that local building departments are mandated to enforce, such as requirements for disabled access, conservation of natural resources and fire or life safety. The Building Standards Commission then "publishes" the codes as further amended. Cities have 180 days from the official "publication date" to amend the state codes or adopt the codes without amendments. Failure of a city to adopt or amend the state codes results in the imposition of the unamended State Code at the local level. The State Building Standards Commission set an effective date for imposition at the local level as January 1, 2014. However, the State codes were not readily available until late August 2013, which leaves very little time for cities to respond.
DISCUSSION
All cities and counties must enforce model codes as revised and published by the State. These codes are generally revised every three years by the organizations that create the model codes. These codes are then reviewed and amended by the State to reflect the unique conditions in California.
Previously, three (3) model building codes were published independently in the United States by three model code organizations: International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO), Building Officials and Code Administrators (BOCA) and Southern Building Code Congress International (SBCCI). As a first step toward national uniformity, these model code organizations merged - forming a new model code organization known as the International Code Council (ICC). A result of this effort was the publication of the International Building and Fire Codes. A significant number of the changes to the codes were simply to correlate with a new format. Additionally, requirements from the various model codes were incorporated into the new International Building Code.
The proposed ordinances consist of the following:
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- Adoption of state-mandated construction codes.
- Adoption of the appendices Chapters G and I of the International Building Code.
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- Adoption of the appendices Chapters G and H of the International Residential Code.
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- Adoption of the "International Fire Code, 2012 Edition" with appendices chapters B, C, and D.
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- A carryover of the City's current administrative and procedural amendments reformatted to correlate with the new codes.
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- Amending the Plumbing Code to prohibit the use of plastic pipe in drain waste and venting systems. This continues existing City policy.
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- The adoption of appendices Chapters A2, A4 and A5 of the "International Existing Building Code, 2012 edition."
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- Minor Structural Amendments related to updating seismic design criteria based on San Leandro's proximity to earthquake faults and corrections to the model code structural design standards.
Current Agency Policies
The City Council previously adopted amendments to the subject Codes on November 15, 2010.
Previous Actions
On October 21, 2013, the City Council passed to print the proposed ordinances and set a public hearing for November 18, 2013.
Environmental Review
The adoption of amendments to the subject Codes are exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 15061 of the CEQA Guidelines.
PREPARED BY: William Schock, Chief Building Official, Community Development