03/19/1993 01:30 PM House CRA

  HB 180:  AHFC HOUSING INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS                                
                                                                               
  Number 164                                                                   
                                                                               
  DAVID HARDING, LEGISLATIVE AIDE TO REPRESENTATIVE EILEEN                     
  MACLEAN, PRIME SPONSOR of HB 180, began by saying, "Some                     
  problems occurred as a result of the merging of the Rural                    
  Housing Loan programs that were in DCRA (Department of                       
  Community and Regional Affairs) into AHFC (Alaska Housing                    
  Finance Corporation) last year (1992).  The existing rural                   
  loan program was specifically exempted from the inspection                   
  requirements in the statute under consideration.  So when                    
  this other rural loan program came over to AHFC it seems as                  
  though there would be an argument for a similar exemption.                   
  That is not what Representative MacLean is proposing here.                   
  She recognizes the value of a housing inspection program to                  
  insure good construction standards.  What we've asked to do                  
  is broaden the pool of people eligible to make these                         
  inspections in rural areas..."                                               
                                                                               
  MR. HARDING then addressed the concerns raised when HB 180                   
  was last heard in the committee, "...Architects and                          
  engineers, whether or not they should be added specifically                  
  as a group of eligible inspectors or whether they ought to                   
  be approved on a case by case basis.  The availability of                    
  architects and engineers would make a very small, very                       
  important difference.  The likelihood is that when an                        
  architect, for example, was in a rural community inspecting                  
  some public works project...they might be asked by the                       
  community or someone in the community to do one of these                     
  inspections as long as they're there.  It would be done as a                 
  professional courtesy, this is not going to be a cash cow                    
  for architects and I really believe it will be more of a                     
  headache for them than anything else.  If they have to go to                 
  AHFC and get specific authorization, they just won't do                      
  it...  Representative MacLean asks that you leave architects                 
  and engineers in there..."                                                   
                                                                               
  Number 198                                                                   
                                                                               
  MR. HARDING continued, "A couple of people asked last week                   
  that in any case inspectors be approved on a case-by-case                    
  basis.  That is largely what this bill (HB 180) allows AHFC                  
  to do.  They can approve someone to be an inspector for part                 
  of one inspection or an entire single inspection or they can                 
  just identify someone in the community that they feel is                     
  good enough to do any part of this inspection.  There's a                    
  lot of flexibility there for them to provide a case-by-case                  
  review as they see fit...  There has been an informal                        
  inspection process out there in the rural areas already.                     
  The banks who are loaning the money out there have had to in                 
  whatever ways available to them, provide some kind of                        
  inspection process so they can have some assurance that                      
  they're putting their money behind a good project.  They've                  
  identified people in the communities over the years that                     
  they can trust..."                                                           
                                                                               
  Number 230                                                                   
                                                                               
  MR. HARDING then said, "There was a suggestion to allow a                    
  grace period of maybe a year or three years to allow time                    
  for people in remote areas to become ICBO certified...  Our                  
  feeling is that really would not work because there's just                   
  not the volume of housing construction out there to make it                  
  work...  There was the question on the definition of                         
  rural...  The law already exempts from these inspection                      
  requirements, any municipality that has its own code and its                 
  own inspection program.  In Southeast Alaska that includes                   
  Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka, Petersburg and Skagway..."                         
                                                                               
  MR. HARDING concluded, "On the matter of substandard                         
  housing, there was the concern that this might open the door                 
  to bad housing being built in rural Alaska.  ...Again, I                     
  think the bankers who make the loans would tell you the                      
  quality of housing in rural Alaska, even without an                          
  inspection program has been steadily improving over the                      
  years...because of the cost of energy and the awareness of                   
  energy efficiency..."                                                        
                                                                               
  Number 283                                                                   
                                                                               
  REPRESENTATIVE JOHN DAVIES asked, "You said there was still                  
  the ability of AHFC to approve people, but as I read the                     
  bill (HB 180), a person by virtue of being an architect or                   
  engineer would automatically be approved."                                   
                                                                               
  MR. HARDING said, "That's right."                                            
                                                                               
  REPRESENTATIVE DAVIES said, "I would still raise that as an                  
  area of some concern to me.  I don't know if it's fatal...                   
  It doesn't take much of a refresher course to understand                     
  certain basic principles that are important...  I'm not so                   
  sure it would be an unreasonable requirement to ask AHFC to                  
  have a small checklist or one day refresher course..."                       
                                                                               
  MR. HARDING replied, "I would think AHFC certainly could                     
  make available the kind of checklist you're talking                          
  about..."                                                                    
                                                                               
  REPRESENTATIVE DAVIES pointed out that often banks are                       
  involved only in the construction phase because mortgages                    
  are sold.                                                                    
                                                                               
  Number 344                                                                   
                                                                               
  REPRESENTATIVE OLBERG said, "This says an architect and an                   
  engineer are eligible.  It doesn't say they're automatically                 
  going to be hired by anybody.  I'd be surprised if Alaska                    
  Housing didn't have a fairly stringent in-house training                     
  program or qualification scenario."                                          
                                                                               
  REPRESENTATIVE BUNDE MOVED that HB 180 be passed out of                      
  committee with individual recommendations.  Without                          
  objections, IT SO MOVED.                                                     
                                                                               
  Number 379