2001-038 Supports BOAF Position on Inspectors•
RESOLUTION NO.__38-2001
A RESOLUTION OF THE VILLAGE COUNCIL OF THE VILLAGE OF NORTH
PALM BEACH, FLORIDA, SUPPORTING THE BUILDING OFFICIALS
ASSOCIATION OF FLORIDA IN ITS EFFORTS TO OPPOSE LEGISLATION
DURING THE 2001 LEGISLATIVE SESSION WHICH AMENDS CURRENT
STATE REGULATIONS REGARDING THE HIRING, LICENSING, AND
ACCOUNTABILITY OF COMMERCIAL BUILDING INSPECTORS; FURTHER
SUPPORTING THE ASSOCIATION IN ITS APPEALS FOR THE FOLLOWING
LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS: THE DEFEAT OF PROPOSED SB 744 AND ITS
PROPOSED COMPANION BILL HB1223; THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A
PROCESS FOR CAREFUL EXAMINATION, DEBATE AND EVALUATION OF
THE ISSUES; AND THE REQUEST FOR COOPERATION AMONG
INTERESTED PARTIES TO ASSIST THE FLORIDA BUILDING COMMISSION
IN THE RESOLUTION OF PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH PLAN REVIEW
AND INSPECTION PROCEDURES AT ISSUE; PROVIDING FOR
DISTRIBUTION; REQUESTING SUPPORT FROM OTHER MUNICIPALITIES;
PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE VILLAGE COUNCIL OF NORTH PALM BEACH,
FLORIDA:
WHEREAS, legislation known as Senate Bill 744 (Senator Clary -sponsor) and
similar legislation known as House Bill 1223 (Representative Cantens & Bennett, co-
sponsors) (the "Proposed Bill") has been proposed which addresses specifically the hiring,
licensing and accountability of commercial building inspectors as these procedures relate to
the requirements imposed on local government agencies for commercial building code
inspections; and
WHEREAS, the Proposed Bill's implied intent to expedite the plan review and
inspection process for commercial buildings is far outweighed by the negative impacts it will
have on safe building practices, licensing of commercial building inspectors and ethical
• standards for such inspectors; and
VC RES SB944 BLDG CODE
Section 3. Copies of the Resolution shat) be sent to the Florida League of Cities,
Inc., the Florida Association of Counties, the Palm Beach County League of Cities, Inc., the
Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation, the Palm Beach County Commission, the
Building Officials Association of Florida, and the Building Officials Association of Palm
Beach County, thereby, requesting their support.
action 4. This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption.
•
PASSED AND ADOPTED THIS 12th DAY OF
(Village Seal)
AT~ ~C.~
VILLAGE CLERK
VC RES SB944 BLDG CODE
• WHEREAS, the Proposed Bill, as drafted, will impose totally unreasonable time
constraints for the review processes by the local governments resulting in the potential
automatic issuance of some building permits or certificates of occupancy for any failure to
follow the Bill's mandated procedures; and
WHEREAS, the Proposed Bill provides for the hiring of a "private" inspector who is
not accountable to the local government, thereby threatening the integrity of the process and
creating potential conflicts of interest for the commercial building inspectors so retained,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE VILLAGE COUNCIL OF NORTH
PALM BEACH, FLORIDA:
Section 1 The Village Council of the Village of North Palm Beach, Florida, hereby
supports the Building Officials Association of Florida in its opposition to the enactment of the
proposed legislation jointly known as SB 744 and HB 1223 and hereby expresses its
opposition to the entire Bill on behalf of the Village. The Village Council specifically
opposes the enactment of Senate Bill 744 and House Bill 1223 as presented since such
legislation may prevent local governments from providing their own building code inspectors
while still being held accountable for the entire plan review and inspection procedures which
have been severely jeopardized by the mandates of the proposed legislation. The Village
Council specifically endorses the position statement prepared by the Building Officials
Association of Florida dated March 12, 2001, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit
..A..
Section 2. The Village Council supports the establishment of a process for careful
examination, debate and evaluation of the issues and the request for cooperation among
interested parties to assist the Florida Building Commission in the resolution of problems
associated with plan review and inspection procedures at issue.
U
VC RES SB944 BLDG CODE
EXHIBIT !'A"
Building Officials Association
of Florida, Inc.
Position Statement on SB 744/ HB 1223 March 12, 2001
One of the most fundamental purposes of any forth of government is to provide for the basic protection of the health,
safety and general welfaze of its' citizenry. Hence, in Florida, we have developed a very detailed and comprehensive
system of construction codes, regulations and enforcement procedures which are intended to work in concert in order to
safeguard the public's protection in the built environment. Unfortunately, the current versions of SB 744MB 1223
present a self serving alternative that makes a mockery of the building plan review and inspection services provided by
cities and counties. The proposed bills will weaken the very foundation of this fully integrated system that is designed to
afford Florida's citizens the very best built and safest structures possible.
The bills' implied intent is to expedite the plan review and inspection process for commercial buildings by allowing the
owner to hire his own private "commercial building inspector", who must be a licensed architect or engineer (or a duly
authorized representative of same). The "commercial building inspector" is allowed to review all plans for code
compliance in all disciplines (building, plumbing, electrical, mechanical and gas), and certify compliance with the code in
order to obtain a building permit from any government jurisdiction in the State. The jurisdiction must issue the permit
within I O business days or challenge the issuance through the local enforcement agency oeunty board of appeals. After
obtaining the permit, the "commercial building inspector" is authorized to perform ell mandatory inspections requ'ved by
the code, and then upon completion of the building, he may submit a certificate of compliance along with all inspection
reports to the building department. The jurisdiction is then required to issue the certificate of occupancy within 2
business days or again challenge the issuance through the local enforcement agency eeunw board of appeals. The
jurisdiction is given strict guidelines within which to respond to the initial permit request and certificate of occupancy
request, which includes the automatic issuance of a permit or certificate of occupancy if the jurisdiction fails to follow
"any of the procedures" described in the Bill.
The current versions ofthese bills contain a number ofmajorconcems for maintaining the highest level ofpublic health,
safety and general welfare. Some of the more offensive, but certainly not all, of the issues and concerns are listed below:
Threatens safe building practices - By allowing the building owner to h"ve his open plans examiner and
inspector, the integrity of the duly established neutral party plan review and building inspection
process
is jeopardized severely,
Disparity in licensure -commercial building inspector or his representative should be licensed under F.S. 468
in order to assure competence and maintain discipline standards, however, the
bill
assigns this responsibility to two othtr State Boards (Board ofArchitecture and Engineering) resulting
in unnecessary duplication of Board duties and a weakening of the inspector and plans examiner
licensing
requirements,
Lack of accountability -commercial building inspector should be accountable to the building official as
established in F.S. SS3 (threshold bldg.) so as to maintain ethical standards and avoid
conflict of interest,
Tao permissive -owner should only be allowed to utilize this private sector optional procedure when the local
jurisdiction can't provide services within reasonable time frames, as intended in F.S. 468,
• Unreasonable timeconstraintsandmandateonlocelgovernment-the 10/2 day challenge periodforpermit
or C.O.
issuance is unrealistic for many commercial projects,
Position Statement
• SB 744/HB 1223
March 12, 2001
page two
Lack of full appeal -challenge process ends at local board without ability to appeal to Florida Building
Commission as established in F.S. 553.
In addition, it is questionable whether SB 744/FIB 1223 will significantly reduce delays of the overall process which
includes building plan review and inspection. The bills have carefully excluded any restrictions on the review or
inspection performed by the fve service, zoning, engineering and other state or local regulation entities, i.e. Department
of Environmental Protection, Department ofHealth, Department ofTransportation, Division ofHotels and Restaurants,
Historic Preservation, etc. These types ofagencies have eitherstatutory or local responsibility and jurisdiction over the
permit and/or C.O. process. It is common knowledge that often these types of reviews, which tend to be very detailed,
complicated and rarely fall under the purview ofthe building department, cause more significant delays than those done
for construction code compliance by the building depamnent itself. Since they are the intake coordinators of building
plans and ultimately issue the certificate of occupancy, building departmenu are mistakenly held accountable for the
entire process.
The proponents of this initiative are truly concerned about reducing the time required for obtaining a building permit
and/or building inspections in this State. We've heard honor stories of it taking 6 or more months to obtain a permit or
3.4 days to obtain en inspection on a basic commercial building in certain jurisdictions throughout the State. Without
doing a thorough analysis as to the cause of the delay, the mere fact that such a delay is even possible speaks to the
distinct possibility that something is wrong and improvement is needed in the building construction regulatory system.
Perhaps the wisest thing the Florida Legislature can do is to defeat SB 744/HB 1223 and direct the interested parties and
all stakeholders to work towards an amicable and reasonable resolution that provides for the highest level of public
protection. An open consensus process will afford an opportunity for the issues to be carefully examined, evaluated and
deba[ed, thus guaranteeing the greatest chance of success without the heavy hand of such an onerous piece of legislation.
The Building Officials Association of Florida stands ready to assist the Florida Building Commission and/or any other
interested parties in resolving our concerns and producing an optional building plan review and inspection procedure that
supports the highest level ofpublic protection and promotes apublic-private partnership benveen local government and
the development community.
• Building Officials Association of Florida
705H West State Road 434, Longwood, Florida 32750-4907
(407) 265-9009 Office (407) 831-9875 Fax
wN•w.boaF.net