ARTICLE
The Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) Director has scaled back the temporary rule put in place by the Building Code Division (BCD) which would have required cities to hire electrical inspectors and increased the required building inspector certifications. This rule would have made it so small cities and municipalities who use private, third-party building and electric inspectors could not operate their building programs. As one of the legislative priorities for the upcoming year, HBA is working with OHBA to find a solution to this third-party inspection issue at the state level. Specifically, BCD has: Adopted a new rule requiring the Building Official to be employed and pass the building official certification (a two-day administrative class). No requirement for the next level of certification (passage of a national test in one of the technical disciplines or completion of a 20 to 26 week training course through BCD). Removed the electrical program rules and the electrical inspector requirement. Changed the renewal date for all local building departments to a new renewal date of July 1, 2019. DCBS has requested that BCD gets a formal opinion on the legality of a city’s use of a private, third-party building inspector program. The temporary rules have been repealed until July 1, 2019.