Register

Fiscal Estimate

1. The anticipated fiscal effect on the fiscal liability and revenues of any local unit of government of the proposed rule is: $0.00.

2. The projected anticipated state fiscal effect during the current biennium of the proposed rule is: The fiscal impact to implement this rule may include special board meetings and include additional administrative costs for telephone, board member per diem and travel expenses. The estimate is $500 annually. The agency will be able to absorb these costs within the current budget authority.

3. The projected net annualized fiscal impact on state funds of the proposed rule is: $0.00.

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

These proposed rules will be reviewed by the Department through its Small Business Review Advisory Committee to determine whether there will be an economic impact on a substantial number of small businesses, as defined in s. 227.114 (1) (a), Stats.

Copies of Rule and Contact Information

Copies of this proposed rule are available without cost upon request to:

Pamela Haack

Department of Regulation and Licensing

Office of Administrative Rules

1400 East Washington Avenue, Room 171

P.O. Box 8935

Madison, WI 53708

Telephone [phone]

Notice of Hearing

Commerce

(Fee Schedule, Ch. Comm 2)

(Petition for Variance, Ch. Comm3)

(Uniform Dwelling, Chs. Comm 20-25)

(Building & Heating, etc.,
Chs. Comm 50-64)

(Multifamily Dwelling, Ch. Comm 66)

(Historic Buildings, Ch. Comm 70)

(Existing Buildings, Ch. Comm 75)

(Swimming Pools, Ch. Comm 90)

[CR 99-143]

Notice is hereby given that pursuant to ss. 101.02 (1) and (15), 101.63 (1), and 101.973 (1), Stats., the Department of Commerce announces that it will hold public hearings on proposed rules relating to One- and Two-Family Dwellings, Commercial Buildings, and Multifamily Dwellings.

Hearing Information

November 19, 1999   Third Floor

Friday   Conference Room 3B

Commencing at 10:00 a.m.   201 W. Washington Ave.

  Madison, WI

Interested persons are invited to appear at the hearing and present comments on the proposed rules. Persons making oral presentations are requested to submit their comments in writing. Persons submitting comments will not receive individual responses. The hearing record on this proposed rulemaking will remain open until December 3, 1999, to permit submittal of written comments from persons who are unable to attend a hearing or who wish to supplement testimony offered at a hearing.

This hearing is held in an accessible facility. If you have special needs or circumstances that may make communication or accessibility difficult at the hearing, please call [phone] or TTY at [phone] at least 10 days prior to the hearing date. Accommodations such as interpreters, English translators, or materials in audio tape format will, to the fullest extent possible, be made available upon request by a person with a disability.

Analysis of Proposed Rules

Statutory Authority: ss. 101.02 (1) and (15), 101.121 (3), 101.63 (1), and 101.973 (1)

Statutes Interpreted: ss. 101.02 (5) and (15), 101.05, 101.12, 101.121, 101.63 (9), 101.64 (4) and (6), 101.973 (1) and (7), and 101.974 (3) and (4)

Under the statutes cited, the Department protects public health, safety, and welfare by promulgating construction requirements for commercial buildings and structures, historic buildings, one- and two-family dwellings, and multifamily dwellings. These requirements are currently contained in chapters Comm 50 to 64, Comm 70, Comm 20 to 25, and Comm 66, respectively.

The proposed revisions are primarily intended to update the administration and enforcement elements of the commercial building code and the multifamily dwelling code to make them consistent with current policies and practices, and to increase the opportunities under those two codes for building designers to receive plan approvals and inspections from local governments rather than from the Department. Minor changes are also included to update the material approval process for those two codes and for the one- and two-family dwelling code.

The revisions would also repeal the life-safety requirements for public schools constructed before 1950, and clarify some problematic, minor technical provisions.

The following list is a detailed summary of the major revisions included in this proposal. The sequence of the list generally corresponds to the numerical sequence of the affected existing code sections, and the existing or proposed code sections are noted.

1. Fees are established for the Division's role in administering plan review by second class cities and appointed agents. [Comm 2.31 (1) (e) and (f)]

2. Fees are established for notifying the Department of election to use a registered individual for design and supervision for certain types of small buildings in lieu of Departmental plan approval. [Comm 2.31 (1) (g)]

3. Fees are established for approvals of alternate and experimental materials, and approvals of alternate standards. [Comm 2.51]

4. On option is established that allows including more than one building in a petition for variance. [Comm 2.52 (3) (b) and (d)]

5. The petition for variance procedures are revised to remove the reference to specific staff, except for the Division Administrator and Department Secretary, from the formal review process. [Comm 3.02 (3) and (6); Comm 3.03 (3) (a), (c), (d), and (e) (intro.), 1., and 3.; (4); (6) (a); and (7); Comm 3.04 (1) (intro.), (a) 1. and 3., (b), and (c); (3) (d); (4); (5) (a) to (c), and (d) (intro.) and 1.; (6); and (8); Comm 3.05 (2) (a) and (b) and (3) (a) to (f); and Comm 3.06 (2) (a)]

6. The process for appealing a decision on a petition for variance is changed to clarify the appropriate functions performed at the division and department levels. [Comm 3.06 (2) to (10)]

7. The process for issuing building material approvals is changed to address approval of products that comply with the intent but not the text of the code, and to authorize experimental approvals of unproven products for the purpose of determining compliance with the code. The process change also includes repealing a requirement to obtain Departmental approval for light-transmitting plastics and direct-vent sealed-combustion-chamber appliances, and repealing an optional procedure for independent testing laboratories to obtain Departmental recognition. This process change is proposed for all three of the major building codes - the commercial building code, the multifamily dwelling code, and the one- and two-family dwelling code. [Comm 20 Subchapter VI, 50.19, and 66.25]

8. A process is codified in all three of the Department's major building codes for allowing use of a standard specification that is equivalent to or more stringent than a standard which is incorporated by reference in the code. [Comm 20.24 (3) and 51.25 (3)]

9. Language is created that requires compliance with the code in effect at the time of construction in the event a commercial building is converted from being exempt from the code to being not exempt. [Comm 50.03 (5)]

10. A process is codified for local officials to use in allowing temporary use of commercial buildings. [Comm 50.03 (6)]

11. The current language exempting farm buildings from the commercial building code is clarified. [Comm 50.04 (2)]

12. Buildings leased exclusively to the federal government are exempted from the commercial building code. Buildings leased in part to the federal government are exempted only if the lease provides for long-term federal control of the design and operating decisions. Owners of buildings exempted under this criteria are required to record notification of the exemption and notification of the applicability of the commercial building code in the event other use ensues. [Comm 50.04 (6)]

13. The list of buildings exempt from the commercial building code is expanded to include (A) a one- or two-family dwelling used as a foster home, treatment foster home, or group home, or as a child caring institution having a capacity for 8 or fewer children; (B) a one- or two-family dwelling in which a public or private day care center for 8 or fewer children is located; (C) a one-classroom school building operated by and for members of a bona fide religious denomination that has teachings and beliefs prohibiting use of products, devices, or designs which are needed to comply with the code; and (D) any building or portion of a building that is exempted from the code by federal or state law. [Comm 50.04 (11), (12), (14), and (15)]

14. The current language is expanded and clarified for electing to comply with the historic building code, rather than the commercial building code or the existing buildings code, for qualified historic buildings. [Comm 50.055, 70.03 (1) (a) 3., and 75.001 (1) (e)]

15. References to sample Departmental forms in the Appendix are deleted, the sample forms are deleted from the Appendix, and Notes are added stating that some forms are available from the Division's web site. [Comm 50.10 (3), 50.25, 50 to 64 Appendix, 66.09 to 66.26, and 66 Appendix.]

16. Departmental plan examination is exempted for small greenhouses and mini-storage buildings, which are specified as containing less than 25,000 cubic feet total volume. [Comm 50.12 (1) (i) 1.]

17. Departmental plan examination is exempted for antenna structures. [Comm 50.12 (1) (i) 2.]

18. An option is created that allows substituting Department plan approval with design and construction supervision by a registered design professional, for (A) buildings which contain from 25,000 to 50,000 cubic feet of volume and which are storage garages, greenhouses, mini-storage buildings, or within the scope of ch. Comm 54, such as factories and office buildings; and (B) buildings which contain less than 25,000 cubic feet and which are within the scopes of chs. Comm 55 to 61 and 66, such as theaters, assembly halls, schools, hotels, motels, multifamily dwellings, health care facilities, places of detention, airplane hangers, child day care facilities, and community-based residential facilities. Where this option is elected, a written notice and filing fee must be sent to the Department. [Comm 50.12 (1t) and 66.14 (1t)]

19. Language is created for commercial buildings and multifamily dwellings that requires submittal of structural component plans to the Department, and requires the design to be by a registered professional for buildings containing volumes exceeding 50,000 cubic feet. [Comm 50.12 (3) (g) and 66.14 (2) (f)]

20. Language is created for commercial buildings that clarifies submittal requirements for individually-owned or leased spaces within multiple-tenant or-owner buildings, or for additions to existing buildings, particularly for buildings where previous submittals were to another review office. [Comm 50.12 (4) (e)]

21. Language is created for commercial buildings and multifamily dwellings that allows 2nd class cities, under specified conditions, to review plans for the large buildings which formerly were reviewed only by the Department and first class cities. The specified conditions include (A) having a registered architect or engineer supervise the review, (B) collecting the same building and owner application information as required by the Department, and (C) providing program administration fees and monthly activity reports to the Department. The language includes submittal instructions for projects with multiple submittals that are not directed to the same review office. [Comm 50.21 (2) (j), and (5) (b) and (e) 1. b. and 4. to 9.; and 66.24 (2) (k), and (5) (b) and (e) 3. b. and 4. to 7.]

22. Language is created for commercial buildings and multifamily dwellings that allows a municipality to choose to assume only the Department's inspection responsibilities, rather than assume both inspection and plan review responsibilities. [Comm 50.21 (2) (k) and 66.24 (2) (l)]

23. Language is created for commercial buildings and multifamily dwellings that allows a certified municipality to review plans for any building addition containing no more than 2,500 square feet of total floor area and no more than one floor level, provided the largest roof span does not exceed 18 feet and the exterior wall height does not exceed 12 feet. [Comm 50.21 (5) (c) 3. b. and 66.24 (5) (c) 3. b.]

24. Language is created for commercial buildings that allows a municipality to retain its plan approval records in an electronic-based format rather than retain the original documents, and allows disposal of the records or documents after four years. [Comm 50.21 (5) (f) 1. b.]

25. Language is created for commercial buildings and multifamily dwellings that allows a municipality, under specified conditions, to become an appointed agent of the Department, for reviewing plans and performing inspections for any building which would otherwise be the responsibility of the Department. The specified conditions include (A) documenting the qualifications of the municipality, (B) documenting the Department's responsibilities that are desired by the municipality, (C) collecting the same building and owner application information as required by the Department, and (C) providing program administration fees and monthly activity reports to the Department. The language includes submittal instructions for projects with multiple submittals that are not directed to the same review office. [Comm 50.22 and 66.24 (8)]

26. Language is created describing the appeal process for any person who owns or occupies property that is affected by an order of the Department. [Comm 50.27]

27. A national standard for testing flame-resistant textiles and films is incorporated into the commercial building code. [Comm Table 51.25-17 Line 17]

28. Language is created that allows omitting toilet rooms in retail or mercantile buildings which accommodate no more than 25 occupants, provided (A) other restrooms are conveniently available, (B) the omission is approved in writing by the local unit of government, and (C) the written local approval is filed with the Department. [Comm 54.12 (1) (a) and (2) (b) 4.]

29. Language for the number of sanitary fixtures at public swimming facilities is clarified to more clearly convey the minimum number of fixtures that are required by the commercial building code, the multifamily dwelling code, or the public swimming pool code. [Comm 54.05 (4); 54.12 (1) (c) Note; Table 54.12-A and Footnotes 1 and 2; 54.12-B Notes (2) and (3); 55.32 (2) Note; Table 55.32, Footnote 4, and Notes (2) and (5); 66.45 (2) (b) 2; and 90.16 (1)]

30. Language is created for self-service gasoline stations that use a key- or card-operated fuel dispensing device, which allows toilet rooms to be unavailable during periods when the station is unattended by an employe. [Comm 54.12 (2) (f) 2. b.]

31. Language is repealed that allows only the Department or 1 st class cities to perform statutorily required maintenance inspections of public schools. [Comm 56.21]

32. Life-safety requirements for public schools constructed before 1950 are repealed. [Comm 56 Subchapter IV]

33. The scope sections of Comm 57 and 66 are clarified to more clearly convey that Comm 57, rather than Comm 66, applies to an addition or alteration for multifamily dwellings that were approved prior to the implementation of Comm 66 in 1995. [Comm 57.001 (1) (k) and 66.02 (1) (a) to (d)]

34. Language is created that allows supporting an antenna system with a structure that is used for electric power or communication systems, provided a registered architect or engineer determines the support system will sustain all the live, dead, and special loads imposed on it. [Comm 62.40]

35. Language is created that codifies the design and construction requirements which are currently applied to membrane structures. [Comm 62 Subchapter IV]

36. A previous cross-reference is reinserted requiring only one means of egress from a loft. [Comm 66.345 (3) (a)]

37. Language is created clarifying how the Comm 52.07 atrium requirements apply to multifamily dwellings. [Comm 66.41 (4) (d)]

A copy of the proposed rules may be obtained without cost from Roberta Ward, Department of Commerce, Program Development Bureau, P.O. Box 2689, Madison, Wisconsin 53701, telephone [phone], or [phone] (TTY). Copies will also be available at the public hearings.

Environmental Assessment

Notice is hereby given that the Department has prepared a preliminary Environmental Assessment (EA) on the proposed rules. The preliminary recommendation is a finding of no significant impact. Copies of the preliminary EA are available from the Department on request and will be available at the public hearings. Requests for the EA and comments on the EA should be directed to:

Robert Langstroth