Building Code Adoption Final

Recommendations for Building Code Adoption

Developed by the

Building Officials Association of SC

The Building Officials Association of South Carolina has developed this document to help cities, towns and counties properly adopt the ordinances necessary to enforce the state mandated and permissive building codes.

In South Carolina, commercial building, residential, gas, plumbing, mechanical, fire and electrical codes are adopted and mandated by state law. Local jurisdictions must enforce each of these codes. If they choose, local jurisdictions mayalso enforce the following permissive codes: property maintenance, performance, existing buildings and swimming pool codes.

Building codes must be enforced by local jurisdictions as adopted by the South Carolina Building Codes Council,however state law enables each jurisdiction to establish how it will manage its building codes department. State law also allows local jurisdictions to modify parts of the codes to account for the climatological and geographical conditions that exist in their areas.

While state law and the Building Codes Council are responsible for adopting the codes for all jurisdictions, each jurisdiction mustdevelop its own guidelines for enforcement of thebuilding codes. Before a jurisdiction can legally enforce any of the building codes, it must determine how it will manage the duties and responsibilities of the building department and establish fees, permitting requirements, and other administrative procedures necessary for the enforcement of the codes.

Generic administrative guidelines for a building department are included within each code. These guidelines are presented as Chapter One of each code. The administrativechapter within each code is not adopted in state law or by the Building Codes Council.

Jurisdictions may choose to enforce the codes by simply adoptingby reference Chapter Oneof each of the codes, create their own procedures, or develop a hybrid of the two by modifying each code’s Chapter One to meet the needs of the jurisdiction.

It is imperativethat jurisdictions adopt the administrative guidelines for their building departments by ordinance. Without an enabling ordinance, a jurisdiction’s building department has no authority to enforce any of the mandated or permissive building codes referenced in state law and adopted by the Building Codes Council.

The Building Officials Association of SC recommends thesample enabling ordinance below as atoolto provide local jurisdictions the necessary administrative guidelines they would need to enforce the building codes. The sample ordinance adopts Chapter One of the building codes by reference and provides cues in brackets and capital letters where jurisdiction-specific items for each code should be placed.

It is important to note that no local modifications can be made to any section of the building, residential, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, fuel gas or fire mandatory code without special permission from the South Carolina Building Codes Council. The only exception to this statement is a few jurisdictional specific inserts such as the name of the jurisdiction, frost depth, maximum height of grass and other items found throughout the codes that are specifically open for the jurisdiction’s specific data. A list of all of these items is in each code book’s sample legislation, section number two, which is located just before the table of contents in each book.

The property maintenance, existing building, and swimming pool and spa codes may be adopted as permissive codes and can be modified as needed to meet the needs of the jurisdiction. Both the mandatory and permissive codes must have administrative guidelines enacted by the jurisdiction for enforcement.

SAMPLE LEGISLATION FOR ADOPTION OF

THE INTERNATIONAL BUILDING CODE

ORDINANCE NO.______

Section 1. A[N] [ORDINANCE/STATUTE/REGULATION] of the [JURISDICTION] adopting Chapter One [or jurisdiction’s own administrative chapter] of the Building Codes as promulgated by the South Carolina Building Codes Council, regulating and governing the conditions and maintenance of all property, buildings and structures; by providing the standards for supplied utilities and facilities and other physical things and conditions essential to ensure that structures are safe, sanitary and fit for occupation and use; and the condemnation of buildings and structures unfit for human occupancy and use and the demolition of such structures in the [JURISDICTION]; providing for the issuance of permits and collection of fees therefor; repealing [ORDINANCE/STATUTE/REGULATION] No. of the [JURISDICTION] and all other ordinances or parts of laws in conflict therewith.

The [GOVERNING BODY] of the [JURISDICTION] does ordain as follows:

The following climatological and geographical sections of each code are hereby revised as allowed by law:

Section 2A. International Building Code