Department: Fire
Staff Contact: Jeff DeGraffenreid / Mark Wassom
Subject: Proposed amendments to Titles 15 and 16 of the Olathe Municipal Code concerning the adoption and amendment of the 2018 International Codes relating to building, residential, existing buildings, plumbing, mechanical, fuel gas, electrical, energy conservation, swimming pool, property maintenance and fire codes.
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Item Description:
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Consideration of Ordinance Nos. 19-27, 19-28, 19-29, 19-30, 19-31, 19-32, 19-33, 19-34, 19-35, 19-36, and 19-37, regarding proposed amendments to Titles 15 and 16 of the Olathe Municipal Code concerning the adoption and amendment of the 2018 International Codes relating to building, residential, existing buildings, plumbing, mechanical, fuel gas, electrical, energy conservation, swimming pool, property maintenance and fire codes.
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Summary:
The City currently uses the 2012 Edition of the International Codes related to building, residential, existing buildings, plumbing, mechanical, fuel gas, electrical, energy conservation, swimming pool, property maintenance and fire codes. These editions with local amendments were adopted in April of 2013.
Maintaining current codes is important to support safety, innovation, development, resilience and sustainability. The model codes are updated every three years. The jurisdictions in Johnson County have traditionally adopted every other edition, so the local code updates are done on a six-year cycle. Other cities in the County and across the nation have adopted or will be adopting these same codes. Having consistent codes throughout the county and region helps architects, engineers, developers and builders design and construct projects more efficiently. Staff participated in multiple task groups focused on consistency in codes across the region dating back to the Spring of 2018. These groups include the Johnson County Building Officials Association Code Committee and the metro wide Code Adoption Task Force sponsored by the Metro Fire Chief’s Association. These meetings were also attended by the Home Builder’s Association and other interested parties.
The proposed adoption and amendment of the 2018 International Codes was presented to the council on April 2 and May 7, 2019. Between presentations, staff also met with and discussed amendments with many of the council members to address questions and to provide additional information. Based upon input provided by the Council during presentations and discussions, we have made two revisions to the ordinances previously proposed. We have added the appendix covering Radon Control to the adoption ordinance in the International Residential Code. This will require passive radon control systems to be added to residences during construction rather than during resale as is commonly done at this time. We also updated the proposed Energy Conservation Code to the 2018 Edition. Current amendments are retained so that the industry can continue using the current approach to many aspects of energy conservation that have proven to be appropriate for this region. Revisions for the Energy Code provisions were made in the International Residential Code and the International Energy Conservation Code.
The Board of Code Review reviewed and met concerning the code adoption on several occasions during the review process. During their latest meeting on Tuesday, June 11th, they reviewed the proposed adoption and amendments, including the latest modifications to the radon control provisions and the 2018 Energy Code adoption. The Board voted on a motion to recommend approval of the proposed adoption and amendment of the 2018 codes which passed 5-0.
We recommend a transition period between the adoption and the effective date of the codes to allow designers and builders to adapt to the updated requirements. The proposed effective date is September 1, 2019 as indicated in each ordinance.
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Financial Impact:
None
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Action Needed:
Consider a motion to approve or deny.
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Attachment(s):
A: Ordinance 19-27 - Chapter 15.02 - Building Code
B: Ordinance 19-28 - Chapter 15.04 - Residential Code
C: Ordinance 19-29 - Chapter 15.06 - Existing Building Code
D: Ordinance 19-30 - Chapter 15.08 - Plumbing Code
E: Ordinance 19-31 - Chapter 15.10 - Mechanical Code
F: Ordinance 19-32 - Chapter 15.12 - Fuel Gas Code
G: Ordinance 19-33 - Chapter 15.14 - Electrical Code
H: Ordinance 19-34 - Chapter 15.16 - Energy Conservation Code
I: Ordinance 19-35 - Chapter 15.20 - Swimming Pool and Spa Code
J: Ordinance 19-36 - Chapter 15.22 - Property Maintenance Code
K: Ordinance 19-37 - Chapter 16.05 - Fire Code