NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to ss.
101.02 and
145.02, Stats., the Department of Commerce will hold a public hearing on proposed rules under Chapters
Comm 2,
5,
14,
20 and
61 to
66, relating to the design, construction, maintenance and inspection of public buildings and places of employment, including commercial buildings and structures and multifamily dwellings.
Hearing Information
The public hearing will be held as follows:
Date: October 5, 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Thompson Commerce Bldg.
Conference Room 3B
201 W. Washington Avenue
Madison, Wisconsin
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 (608) 266-8741 or (608) 264-8777 (TTY) 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 a request from a person with a disability.
Submittal of Written Comments
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
October 18, 2010, to permit submittal of written comments from persons who are unable to attend the hearing or who wish to supplement testimony offered at the hearing. Written comments should be submitted to Jim Smith, at the Department of Commerce, P.O. Box 2689, Madison, WI 53701-2689, or Email at
jim.smith@wisconsin.gov.
Copies of Proposed Rules
The proposed rules and an analysis of the proposed rules are available on the Internet at the Safety and Buildings Division Web site at
www.commerce.wi.gov/SB/. Paper copies may be obtained without cost from Jim Smith, at the Department of Commerce, P.O. Box 2689, Madison, WI 53701-2689, or Email at
jim.smith@wisconsin.gov, or at telephone (608) 266-0251 or (608) 264-8777 (TTY). Copies will also be available at the public hearing.
Analysis Prepared by Department of Commerce
Statutes interpreted
Statutory authority
Sections
101.02 (1),
(7),
(7m) and
(15),
101.025,
101.027,
101.11,
101.12,
101.13,
101.132,
101.14 (1),
(4) and
(4m),
101.145,
101.149,
101.19,
101.63,
101.73,
101.973 and
145.02, Stats.
Related statute or rule
Chapter
Comm 5, Licenses, Certifications and Registrations
Chapter
Comm 18, Elevators, Escalators and Life Devices
Chapter
Comm 20, Uniform Dwelling Code
Chapter
Comm 41, Boilers and Pressure Vessels
Chapter
Comm 45, Mechanical Refrigeration
Chapter
Comm 82, Uniform Plumbing Code
Explanation of agency authority
Under the statutes cited, the Department of Commerce protects public health, safety, and welfare by promulgating comprehensive requirements for design, construction, maintenance and inspection of public buildings and places of employment, including commercial buildings and structures and multifamily dwellings. The department also updates these requirements as necessary to be consistent with nationally recognized standards that are incorporated by reference into the Wisconsin Commercial Building Code (WCBC), specifically, the building code requirements developed by the International Code Council® (ICC).
Summary of proposed rules
Currently, the department adopts by reference the 2006 editions of the ICC suite of building codes – the International Building Code® (IBC), the International Energy Conservation Code® (IECC), International Existing Buildings Code® (IEBC), the International Fuel Gas Code® (IFGC) and the International Mechanical Code® (IMC) – and makes Wisconsin modifications to these codes within the WCBC. The department proposes to adopt the 2009 editions of these ICC codes.
Significant changes from the 2006 to the 2009 editions of the ICC codes include:
•
Defining and clarifying live/work unit provisions; IBC section 419.
•
Adding provisions for Ambulatory Health Care Facilities; IBC section 422.
•
Adding storm shelter provisions and references to ICC 500; IBC section 423.
•
Requiring new locking provisions for egress doors serving certain types of occupancies; IBC sections 1008.1.9.6, 1008.1.9.8 and 1008.1.9.9.
•
Clarifying accessibility provisions for live/work units are to be evaluated separately; IBC section 1103.2.13.
•
Requiring at least lavatory with enhanced reach ranges in toilet rooms having 6 or more lavatories for accessibility purposes; IBC section 1109.2.3.
•
Providing specific provisions on tightness of buildings (air barriers); IECC section 402.4.2.
•
Requiring shutoff controls for snow/ice-melting systems serving residential occupancies; IECC section 403.8.
•
Specifying the heating of outside spaces to be radiant type and provided with efficiency controls; IECC section 503.2.11.
•
Revising the mechanical ventilation table to provide more detailed occupancy classifications that reflect ASHRAE standard 62 – Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality; IMC table 403.3.
•
Requiring that make-up air to be provided for domestic kitchen exhaust hoods with capacities of greater than 400 cfm be tied in to operation of hood; IMC section 505.2.
•
Eliminating details on combustion air from within the IMC by deferring to NFPA standard 31 for oil-fired appliances and the manufacturers' recommendations for solid-fuel-fired appliances.
•
Expanding the provisions for the piping of hydronic heating systems to reflect newer materials and standards; IMC chapter 12.
•
Requiring thermal insulation below radiant floor heating systems; IMC sections 1209.5 to 1209.5.4.
•
Establishing bonding/grounding provisions specific to corrugated stainless steel gas tubing (CSST); IFGC section 310.1.1.
•
Prohibiting gas piping from entering/exiting a building below grade; IFGC section 404.4.
•
Requiring LP-Gas piping to be electrically isolated (dielectric fitting) where the underground piping comes above ground to enter the building; IFGC section 404.8.
•
Requiring gas clothes dryer exhaust ducts to be protected from penetration by nails/screws; IFGC section 614.6.3.
•
Specifying minimum vertical clearances between gas cooktops and materials or cabinets above; IFGC section 623.7.
•
Adding provisions associated with the use of used materials and equipment; IEBC section 104.9.1.
•
Clarifying that when undergoing a partial change of occupancy, accessibility will be driven by the alteration provisos found in ss. 605 or 706. ; IEBC section 912.8.1.
Many of the current Wisconsin modifications under the WCBC are proposed to be repealed because of changes in the 2009 editions of the ICC codes. Minor amendments, including renumbering, are being made to several Wisconsin modifications to reflect changes in the 2009 IBC codes.
The proposed rules include creating some general global modifications that replace various current individual deletions of unnecessary ICC requirements, such as requirements that address (1) designing one- and two- family dwellings; (2) employing special inspectors or obtaining special inspections; (3) obtaining a mandated approval from a local building or fire code official; and (4) building in flood-hazard areas. Other proposed Wisconsin modifications include:
•
Modifying the provisions for firewalls or division walls separating townhouses for the purpose of allowing sprinkler protection in accordance with NFPA standard 13D; s.
Comm 62.0903 (5).
•
Extending an automatic sprinkler exemption for small R-2 multifamily dwellings to other small residential buildings, such as cabins at summer camps; s.
Comm 62.0903 (5) (d).
•
Revising the sprinkling requirements for townhouses with less than 20 units to reflect the changes in the latest edition of the
International Residential Code®; s.
Comm 62.0903 (5) (d).
•
Eliminating the required international symbol accessibility signage for assigned parking serving a residential apartment building; s.
Comm 62.1103.
•
Extending the modified uniform live loads for attics in townhouses to attics in all residential occupancies; s.
Comm 62.1607.
•
Codifying additional criteria for ground improvement methods relating to foundations and floor slabs, such as for Geopier
® systems; s.
Comm 62.1804.
•
Reducing presumptive load-bearing values by
½
for saturated soils; s.
Comm 62.1806.
•
Alerting building owners or occupants to the heating assumption for frost-protected shallow foundations; s.
Comm 62.1809.
•
Requiring an elevator car that accommodates an ambulance stretcher for fire department emergency access in defined buildings; s.
Comm 62.3002.
•
Exempting the need for econonmizers for package RTU's 33,000 BTU/hr and larger; s.
Comm 63.0503.
•
Clarifying the exemption of an economizer for a closed circuit cooling tower heat pump system, s.
Comm 63.0503.
•
Providing alternative mechanical ventilation table and provisions, Comm Table 64.0403.
•
Clarifying maintenance requirements for smoke alarms; s.
Comm 66.0503.
Comparison with federal regulations
General Building Code
•
Code of Federal Regulations — An Internet-based search for “federal commercial building code" and “building code regulations" in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) did not identify any federal regulations pertaining to these topics.
•
Federal Register — An Internet-based search for “federal commercial building code" and “building code regulations" in the 2005 to 2010 issues of the Federal Register did not identify any proposed federal regulations pertaining to these topics.
Energy Conservation Requirements
•
Code of Federal Regulations — The portion of the CFR relating to energy conservation for commercial buildings and facilities is found under
10 CFR 420–State Energy Program. The purpose of this regulation is to promote the conservation of energy, to reduce the rate of growth of energy demand and to reduce dependence on imported oil through the development and implementation of comprehensive state energy programs. This regulation initially required that each state's energy conservation rules for new buildings be no less stringent than the provisions of the 1989 edition of ASHRAE Standard 90.1, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings.
•
Federal Register — According to the January 23, 2009, Federal Register, the Department of Energy (DOE) is determining if ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1–2007 would save energy in commercial buildings. DOE is doing a comparative analysis of the 2007 edition of that standard to the 2004 edition. The 2009 edition of the IECC energy conservation requirements for commercial buildings, which the proposed rules would adopt by reference, reflect the 2007 edition of the ASHRAE 90.1 Standard.
Accessibility Requirements
•
Code of Federal Regulations — The portions of the CFR relating to accessibility in commercial buildings and facilities include the following:
1.
28 CFR 35 — Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in State and Local Government Services.
2.
28 CFR 36 — Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by Public Accommodations and in Commercial Facilities.
3.
24 CFR 40 — Accessibility standards for design, construction, and alteration of publicly owned residential structures.
4.
24 CFR 41 — Policies and procedures for the enforcement of standards and requirements for accessibility by the physically handicapped.
Both
28 CFR 35 and
28 CFR 36 require public buildings and commercial facilities — including government- owned and -operated buildings and facilities — be designed, constructed and altered in compliance with the accessibility construction regulations specified under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG). The purpose of
24 CFR 40 and
24 CFR 41 is to provide technical guidance on the design and construction of dwelling units as required by the federal Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988.
The intent of the IBC and the amendments included under chapter Comm 62 is to ensure the Wisconsin construction requirements related to accessibility are equivalent to these applicable federal laws and regulations.
•
Federal Register — Proposed federal regulations and amendments to established federal regulations for accessibility are found in the following issues of the Federal Register:
1. October 24, 2008 — Design and Construction Requirements; Compliance with ANSI A117.1 (2003) Standards.
2. August 5, 2005 — ADAAG; Corrections.
3. December 7, 2009 — Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Public Accommodations and Commercial Facilities.
4. March 23, 2007 — ADAAG Supplementary Material.
5. November 23, 2005 — ADAAG Public Rights-of-Way.
6. April 17, 2006 — Multifamily Building Conformance with the Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines: Improving the Methodology.
