HB 497: "An Act relating to building and life safety codes, including creation of the Building and Life Safety Code Commission, the adoption of building and life safety codes for the state, and making exemptions for municipalities; relating to mechanical contractors, electrical administrators, mechanical administrators, plumbers, the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, boilers, unfired pressure vessels, water heaters, the administration of certain building and life safety codes, and fees for administration of building and life safety codes; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 497 01 "An Act relating to building and life safety codes, including creation of the Building and 02 Life Safety Code Commission, the adoption of building and life safety codes for the state, 03 and making exemptions for municipalities; relating to mechanical contractors, electrical 04 administrators, mechanical administrators, plumbers, the Alaska Housing Finance 05 Corporation, boilers, unfired pressure vessels, water heaters, the administration of 06 certain building and life safety codes, and fees for administration of building and life 07 safety codes; and providing for an effective date." 08 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 09 * Section 1. AS 08.18.171(12) is amended to read: 10 (12) "mechanical contractor" means a contractor whose business 11 operations involve plumbing, pipe fitting, sheet metal, heating, air conditioning, 12 ventilating, or sprinkler and dry chemical fire protection trades in order to install or 13 modify mechanical piping and systems, devices, fixtures, and equipment or other
01 mechanical materials subject to the plumbing, swimming pool, spa, hot tub, solar 02 energy, and mechanical codes adopted by the Building and Life Safety Code 03 Commission under AS 18.60.900 - 18.60.939 [FOLLOWING CODES AS 04 PUBLISHED BY THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PLUMBING AND 05 MECHANICAL OFFICIALS OR THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF 06 BUILDING OFFICIALS: 07 (A) UNIFORM PLUMBING CODE; 08 (B) UNIFORM SWIMMING POOL, SPA, AND HOT TUB 09 CODE; 10 (C) UNIFORM SOLAR ENERGY CODE; AND 11 (D) UNIFORM MECHANICAL CODE]; 12 * Sec. 2. AS 08.40.120(a) is amended to read: 13 (a) Each applicant shall be examined to determine the applicant's 14 (1) ability to understand plans, design specifications, and engineering 15 terms commonly used in the electrical field; 16 (2) knowledge of electrical installations and wiring; 17 (3) familiarity with the regulations contained in the electrical code 18 adopted by the Building and Life Safety Code Commission under AS 18.60.900 - 19 18.60.939 [NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODE AND THE NATIONAL 20 ELECTRICAL SAFETY CODE, AS APPROVED BY THE AMERICAN 21 STANDARDS ASSOCIATION]; 22 (4) familiarity with other installation and safety regulations approved 23 by the American Standards Association; 24 (5) [REPEALED 25 (6)] personal skill and ability. 26 * Sec. 3. AS 08.40.270(a) is amended to read: 27 (a) Each applicant shall be examined to determine the applicant's 28 (1) ability to understand plans, design specifications, and engineering 29 terms commonly used in the mechanical field; 30 (2) knowledge of mechanical installations and piping; 31 (3) familiarity with the requirements of the plumbing, swimming
01 pool, spa, hot tub, solar energy, and mechanical codes adopted by the Building 02 and Life Safety Code Commission and [UNIFORM PLUMBING CODE, 03 UNIFORM SWIMMING POOL, SPA, AND HOT TUB CODE, UNIFORM SOLAR 04 ENERGY CODE, AND THE UNIFORM MECHANICAL CODE] currently in effect 05 in the state; 06 (4) [REPEALED 07 (5)] personal skill and ability. 08 * Sec. 4. AS 08.40.490(3) is amended to read: 09 (3) "mechanical administrator" means a person who is responsible for 10 (A) installing or modifying mechanical piping and systems, 11 devices, fixtures, equipment, or other mechanical materials subject to the 12 plumbing, swimming pool, spa, hot tub, solar energy, and mechanical 13 codes adopted by the Building and Life Safety Code Commission under 14 AS 18.60.900 - 18.60.939 [UNIFORM PLUMBING CODE, UNIFORM 15 SWIMMING POOL, SPA, AND HOT TUB CODE, UNIFORM SOLAR 16 ENERGY CODE, AND THE UNIFORM MECHANICAL CODE AS 17 PUBLISHED BY THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PLUMBING 18 AND MECHANICAL OFFICIALS AND THE INTERNATIONAL 19 CONFERENCE OF BUILDING OFFICIALS]; or 20 (B) certifying that an installation or modification described in 21 (A) of this paragraph complies with the applicable codes; 22 * Sec. 5. AS 18.56.300(e) is amended to read: 23 (e) In this section, 24 (1) "construction codes" means, with reference to a municipality, the 25 building, mechanical, plumbing, and electrical codes, or any of them that have been 26 adopted and are enforced by the municipality; 27 (2) "rural area" means a community with a population of 5,500 or less 28 that is not connected by road or rail to Anchorage or Fairbanks; 29 (3) "state building code" means 30 (A) for building standards, the standards set out in the building 31 code [VERSION OF THE UNIFORM BUILDING CODE] adopted by the
01 Building and Life Safety Code Commission [DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC 02 SAFETY] under AS 18.60.900 - 18.60.939 [AS 18.70.080], including the 03 provisions of that code applicable to buildings used for residential purposes 04 containing fewer than four dwelling units, notwithstanding the exclusion of 05 those buildings from the Department of Public Safety's jurisdiction made by 06 AS 18.70.080(a)(2); 07 (B) for mechanical standards, the standards set out in the 08 mechanical code [VERSION OF THE UNIFORM MECHANICAL CODE] 09 adopted by the Building and Life Safety Code Commission 10 [DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY] under AS 18.60.900 - 18.60.939 11 [AS 18.70.080], including the provisions of that code applicable to buildings 12 used for residential purposes containing fewer than four dwelling units, 13 notwithstanding the exclusion of those buildings from the Department of 14 Public Safety's jurisdiction made by AS 18.70.080(a)(2); 15 (C) for plumbing standards, the [MINIMUM] plumbing code 16 adopted for the state under AS 18.60.900 - 18.60.939 [AS 18.60.705]; and 17 (D) for electrical standards, the [MINIMUM] electrical code 18 adopted under AS 18.60.900 - 18.60.939 [STANDARDS PRESCRIBED BY 19 AS 18.60.580]. 20 * Sec. 6. AS 18.60.180 is amended to read: 21 Sec. 18.60.180. Regulations. The Building and Life Safety Code 22 Commission [DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT] 23 shall formulate definitions and regulations for the safe and proper construction, 24 installation, repair, use, and operation of boilers and for the safe and proper 25 construction, installation, and repair of unfired pressure vessels. The definitions and 26 regulations must be based upon and shall follow the generally accepted nationwide 27 engineering standards, formulae, and practices established for boiler and unfired 28 pressure vessel construction and safety. [THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND 29 WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT MAY ADOPT THE EXISTING PUBLISHED 30 CODIFICATION OF THESE DEFINITIONS AND REGULATIONS, KNOWN AS 31 THE BOILER CONSTRUCTION CODE OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF
01 MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, AND MAY ADOPT THE AMENDMENTS AND 02 INTERPRETATIONS MADE AND PUBLISHED BY THAT SOCIETY. THE 03 DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT SHALL 04 ADOPT AMENDMENTS AND INTERPRETATIONS TO THE CODE 05 IMMEDIATELY UPON THEIR ADOPTION BY THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF 06 MECHANICAL ENGINEERS SO THAT THE DEFINITIONS AND 07 REGULATIONS AT ALL TIMES FOLLOW GENERALLY ACCEPTED 08 NATIONWIDE ENGINEERING STANDARDS.] 09 * Sec. 7. AS 18.60.210(a) is amended to read: 10 (a) AS 18.60.180 - 18.60.390 do not apply to the following: 11 (1) boilers and unfired pressure vessels under federal regulation; 12 (2) unfired pressure vessels meeting the requirements of the federal 13 Department of Transportation for shipment of liquids or gases under pressure; 14 (3) air tanks located on vehicles operating under the regulations of 15 another state authority and used for carrying passengers or freight; 16 (4) air tanks installed on the right-of-way of railroads and used directly 17 in the operation of trains; 18 (5) unfired pressure vessels having a volume of five cubic feet or less 19 or vessels having an inside diameter not exceeding six inches; 20 (6) unfired pressure vessels designed for a pressure not exceeding 15 21 pounds a [PER] square inch when not located in a place of public assembly; 22 (7) manually fired miniature boilers for model locomotive, boat, 23 tractor, or stationary engines constructed or maintained as a hobby for exhibition use, 24 having a volume less than five cubic feet and grate area less than two square feet and 25 equipped with a [AN AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS 26 CODED] safety valve of adequate capacity and size according to the mechanical 27 code adopted by the Building and Life Safety Code Commission under 28 AS 18.60.900 - 18.60.939, a water level indicator, and pressure gauge; 29 (8) except as provided in (c) of this section, antique manually fired 30 boilers of locomotive, boat, tractor, or stationary engines constructed or maintained as 31 a hobby and equipped with a [AN AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL
01 ENGINEERS CODED] safety valve of adequate capacity and size; 02 (9) automatic utility hot water heaters that are used for space heating 03 using the potable system, if the hot water heater 04 (A) is equipped with a safety relief valve and operational 05 controls required by the boiler construction code [LATEST BOILER 06 CONSTRUCTION CODE PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN SOCIETY 07 OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS THAT HAS BEEN] adopted by the 08 Building and Life Safety Code Commission [DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 09 AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT] under AS 18.60.900 - 18.60.939 10 [AS 18.60.180]; 11 (B) contains only water; 12 (C) does not exceed 120 gallons in capacity, a water 13 temperature of 210 degrees Fahrenheit, a pressure of 150 pounds of square 14 inch gauge pressure, or a heat input of more than 200,000 BTU an hour; and 15 (D) contains a tempering valve that will regulate the outlet 16 domestic water temperature at not more than 140 degrees Fahrenheit. 17 * Sec. 8. AS 18.60.580 is repealed and reenacted to read: 18 Sec. 18.60.580. Minimum electrical standards. The electrical code adopted 19 by the Building and Life Safety Code Commission under AS 18.60.900 - 18.60.990 20 constitutes the minimum electrical safety standards of the state. 21 * Sec. 9. AS 18.60.590(b) is amended to read: 22 (b) AS 18.60.580 - 18.60.660 do not affect the authority of any municipality 23 or rural electrification association to prescribe by ordinance, rule, or order standards 24 for their respective areas of jurisdiction not less stringent than the standards 25 [PRESCRIBED BY THE DEPARTMENT OR THOSE] established under 26 AS 18.60.580. 27 * Sec. 10. AS 18.60.705 is repealed and reenacted to read: 28 Sec. 18.60.705. Plumbing Code. The plumbing code adopted by the Building 29 and Life Safety Code Commission constitutes the minimum plumbing code for the 30 state. 31 * Sec. 11. AS 18.60.710 is amended to read:
01 Sec. 18.60.710. Duties of the department. The department is responsible for 02 the administration of the code. The department may adopt regulations designed for 03 maximum practical implementation of the code [, AND MAY GRANT 04 EXCEPTIONS FROM SPECIFIC CODE PROVISIONS, WHERE DISTANCE OR 05 OTHER FACTORS MAKE IMPLEMENTATION IMPRACTICAL. SPECIFIC 06 CONSIDERATION SHALL BE GIVEN TO OUTLYING VILLAGES AND 07 SPARSELY POPULATED AREAS TO ENSURE THAT AS 18.60.705 - 18.60.740 08 WILL NOT IMPOSE AN UNDUE FINANCIAL BURDEN]. The department may by 09 regulation designate appropriate inspection to a public or private utility company. A 10 company so designated may refuse utility connections if an installation does not meet 11 the requirements of this code. 12 * Sec. 12. AS 18.60 is amended by adding new sections to read: 13 Article 14. Building and Life Safety Code Commission. 14 Sec. 18.60.900. Creation of Commission. For administrative purposes, the 15 Building and Life Safety Code Commission is located in the division of occupational 16 licensing in the Department of Community and Economic Development. 17 Sec. 18.60.902. Membership of commission. (a) The commission consists 18 of nine voting members and six nonvoting members. 19 (b) The voting members of the commission shall be appointed by the governor 20 and confirmed by a majority of the members of the legislature in joint session. 21 (c) The nine voting members shall include 22 (1) one member who is a registered engineer; 23 (2) one member who is a registered architect; 24 (3) one member who is a registered general contractor who specializes 25 in commercial construction; 26 (4) one member who is an electrical contractor registered under 27 AS 08.18; 28 (5) one member who is a mechanical contractor registered under 29 AS 08.18; 30 (6) one member who is a plumbing contractor registered under 31 AS 08.18;
01 (7) one member who is an insurer who specializes in commercial 02 insurance; 03 (8) one member who is actively conducting journey-level training 04 programs on building and life safety codes; and 05 (9) one member who is a fire inspector from a municipality. 06 (d) The nonvoting members shall include 07 (1) one member who represents the Department of Labor and 08 Workforce Development; 09 (2) one member who represents the Department of Transportation and 10 Public Facilities; 11 (3) one member who represents the division of occupational licensing 12 in the Department of Community and Economic Development; 13 (4) one member who represents the Alaska Housing Finance 14 Corporation; 15 (5) one member who represents the division of fire prevention in the 16 Department of Public Safety; and 17 (6) one member who is a building official of a municipality. 18 Sec. 18.60.904. Terms of the members. The term of a member of the 19 commission is three years. 20 Sec. 18.60.906. Chair. The voting members of the commission shall elect 21 one of the voting members as chair of the commission. 22 Sec. 18.60.908. Meetings. The commission shall meet at least once a year. 23 Five voting members of the commission constitute a quorum for the transaction of the 24 business of the commission. 25 Sec. 18.60.910. Staff and other assistance. (a) The Department of 26 Community and Economic Development shall provide the commission with staff and 27 other assistance requested by the commission to carry out the commission's duties 28 under AS 18.60.900 - 18.60.939. 29 (b) The Department of Community and Economic Development, Department 30 of Labor and Workforce Development, and the Department of Public Safety shall 31 provide the commission with information, data, and technical assistance requested by
01 the commission for the purpose of carrying out the commission's duties under 02 AS 18.60.900 - 18.60.939. 03 Sec. 18.60.912. Duties of commission. The commission shall 04 (1) adopt by regulation under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure 05 Act) building and life safety codes for the state; 06 (2) decide requests by municipalities under AS 18.60.914 to receive 07 exemptions from a provision of a building or life safety code adopted by the 08 commission; and 09 (3) take all reasonable measures to implement the commission's duties. 10 Sec. 18.60.914. Adoption of building and life safety codes. The commission 11 shall adopt building and life safety codes that the commission determines are in the 12 best interests of the state. 13 Sec. 18.60.916. Application of codes. (a) The building and life safety codes 14 adopted under AS 18.60.900 - 18.60.939 constitute the building and life safety codes 15 throughout the state, except for exemptions and changes granted under AS 18.60.918. 16 (b) AS 18.60.900 - 18.60.939 do not affect the authority of a municipality to 17 establish by ordinance, rule, or order, standards for the municipality's respective area 18 of jurisdiction if the standards are not less stringent than those established under 19 AS 18.60.900 - 18.60.939. The provisions of AS 18.60.900 - 18.60.939 are not 20 intended to duplicate or preempt code administration or enforcement by 21 municipalities. The exemption in AS 18.60.735 applies to this subsection. 22 Sec. 18.60.918. Requested exemptions and changes. (a) The commission is 23 the exclusive authority for granting a municipality an exemption or a change from a 24 building or life safety code. 25 (b) A municipality may request from the commission 26 (1) an exemption from a building or life safety code adopted by the 27 commission on the grounds that the provision is not in the best interests of the 28 municipality; or 29 (2) a change to a provision in a building or life safety code adopted by 30 the commission. 31 (c) The commission may grant the exemption or change requested under (b) of
01 this section if the commission determines that the municipality needs the exemption or 02 change to meet a particular situation in the municipality and the exemption or change 03 is not detrimental to the safety of the residents of the municipality. 04 (d) To request an exemption, a municipality shall file a request with the 05 commission on a form provided by the commission. 06 (e) If the commission denies an exemption or change, the municipality may 07 appeal the denial to the commissioner of administration. The commissioner shall hold 08 a hearing if the municipality requests a hearing on the appeal. 09 Sec. 18.60.920. Commission administration account. Except for the fees 10 that are deposited in the building safety account under AS 18.60.360, 18.60.800, and 11 AS 18.62.030, the fees collected by the Department of Labor and Workforce 12 Development and the Department of Public Safety for the administration of the 13 building and life safety codes shall be accounted for separately and deposited in a 14 separate account for the administration of the commission. Appropriations may be 15 made from the account to pay the expenses of the commission. 16 Sec. 18.60.939. Definitions. In AS 18.60.900 - 18.60.939, 17 (1) "building and life safety codes" includes a building code, an 18 electrical code, a fire code, a mechanical code, a plumbing code, a swimming pool, 19 spa, and hot tub code, a solar energy code, a boiler code, and an elevator code; 20 (2) "commission" means the Building and Life Safety Code 21 Commission established under AS 18.60.900. 22 * Sec. 13. AS 18.62.070 is amended to read: 23 Sec. 18.62.070. Persons required to obtain certificate. A person engaged in 24 one of the following trades shall first obtain from the department the appropriate 25 certificate of fitness in that trade: 26 (1) electrical wiring subject to the standards established in 27 AS 18.60.580; and 28 (2) plumbing subject to the [UNIFORM] plumbing code identified [; 29 IN THIS PARAGRAPH, "UNIFORM PLUMBING CODE" MEANS THE 30 MINIMUM PLUMBING CODE ADOPTED FOR THE STATE] under AS 18.60.705. 31 * Sec. 14. AS 37.05.146(c) is amended by adding a new paragraph to read:
01 (78) Building and Life Safety Code Commission administration 02 account (AS 18.60.920). 03 * Sec. 15. AS 39.50.200(b) is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 04 (58) Building and Life Safety Code Commission (AS 18.60.900). 05 * Sec. 16. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 06 read: 07 INITIAL APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS OF THE BUILDING AND LIFE 08 SAFETY CODE COMMISSION. (a) Notwithstanding AS 18.60.904, added by sec. 12 of 09 this Act, the initially appointed members of the Building and Life Safety Code Commission 10 shall be appointed by the governor to terms as follows: three members serve for one year, 11 three members serve for two years, and three members serve for three years. 12 (b) The governor shall appoint the initial members of the Building and Life Safety 13 Code Commission, as described under AS 18.60.902, added by sec. 12 of this Act, on or 14 before December 1, 2004. 15 * Sec. 17. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 16 read: 17 EFFECT; NOTIFICATION. (a) Notwithstanding AS 18.60.912, added by sec. 12 of 18 this Act, the regulations adopting the building and life safety codes by the Building and Life 19 Safety Code Commission take effect under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act), but not 20 before the effective date of secs. 1 - 11 and 13 - 15 of this Act. 21 (b) The Building and Life Safety Code Commission shall notify the revisor of statutes 22 when the commission has adopted by regulation all the building and life safety codes that the 23 commission is required to adopt under AS 18.60.900 - 18.60.939, added by sec. 12 of this 24 Act. 25 * Sec. 18. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 26 read: 27 TRANSITION REGARDING DEPARTMENT RESPONSIBILITIES. 28 Notwithstanding another statute to the contrary, the Department of Labor and Workforce 29 Development and the Department of Public Safety may not adopt or amend the building and 30 life safety codes of the state after sec. 12 of this Act takes effect. In this section, "building 31 and life safety codes" has the meaning given in AS 18.60.939, added by sec. 12 of this Act.
01 * Sec. 19. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 02 read: 03 TRANSITION REGARDING OTHER REGULATIONS. The Department of Labor 04 and Workforce Development and the Department of Public Safety may proceed to adopt 05 regulations necessary to implement this Act. The regulations take effect under AS 44.62 06 (Administrative Procedure Act), but not before the effective date of secs. 1 - 11 and 13 - 15 07 of this Act. 08 * Sec. 20. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 09 read: 10 TRANSITION REGARDING CURRENT PROJECTS. (a) Sections 1 - 11 and 13 - 11 15 of this Act do not apply to construction or improvement projects that are begun before the 12 effective date of secs. 1 - 11 and 13 - 15 of this Act if the project has been approved by 13 (1) the building official of the municipality where the project is located; or 14 (2) a state official with the authority to approve the project, if the project is not 15 located in a municipality. 16 * Sec. 21. Sections 1 - 11 and 13 - 15 of this Act take effect six months after the day that 17 the Building and Life Safety Code Commission notifies the revisor of statutes under sec. 18 17(b) of this Act. 19 * Sec. 22. Sections 12 and 16 - 20 of this Act take effect immediately under 20 AS 01.10.070(c).