STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

Joint Committee on Code Enforcement

Office: c/o N.H. State Fire Marshal’s Office

110 Smokey Bear Blvd., Concord, NH

Mailing Address: 33 Hazen Drive, Concord, NH 03305

603-223-4289, FAX 603-223-4294

Meeting Minutes

August 6, 2013

Present: Richard M. Heath - Chair, Board of Fire Control

William McKinney - Member NH Building Officials Assn.

David Udelsman, AIA - Chair, Architects Board

Robert Cruess, PE - Member Engineers Board

Alfio Torrisi - Electrician’s Board Representative

Roger Skillings - Chair, Water Well Board

Shawn Bergeron, CFPS - Chair, Building Code Review Board

Cheryl Killian - Architectural Barrier-Free Committee

Chief Bradley Ober - NH Assoc. Fire Chiefs Representative

Matthew Labonte - Office of the State Fire Marshal

1.  The meeting was opened by Chairman Heath and members introduced themselves. A brief review of the previous meeting minutes was done.

2.  RSA 153:4-b and the specific charge of this committee was reviewed and discussed.

3.  The committee discussed the contents of an email composed by Assistant Director Sweeney that raised the issue of possible overlapping responsibilities of this committee, the BCRB and the working group he chairs specific to conflict in the IBC and Life Safety code specific to egress. The committee agreed that the provisions in RSA 155-A:10 to resolve these conflicts was working fine and this committee saw no need to suggest any further action. Shawn Bergeron will discuss this with the BCRB at the next meeting.

4.  The concern for developing minimum certification requirements for municipal building officials was raised by Shawn Bergeron. There are concerns that some code officials, and those acting in that capacity, do not have appropriate training resulting in possible legal exposure to communities. William McKinney advises NHBOA is in process of developing a program to present to the LGC in November addressing these concerns among others.

5.  A discussion concerning the requirements for architect’s seals on documents was raised by Shawn Bergeron. David Udelsman provided a summary of the history of the architect’s laws on this subject. It was agreed that David and Shawn would exchange proposed language to RSA 310-A:52 and possibly propose an action be made by the BCRB at the October meeting to better identify when a stamp is required.

6.  All meeting minutes and future agendas will be posted to the FMO website: http://www.nh.gov/safety/divisions/firesafety/boardscomm/jointcommitteecodeenforcement.html

7.  The committee agreed to meet again in August 2014 unless it was deemed by the chairman to meet at a sooner date.