Alliance for Regulatory Coordination Summary of Member Meeting Meeting Date: April 30, 2015 Location: Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin The meeting was convened at 9:05 a.m. by Bob DuPont, of Regulatory Guidance and Design, LLC. Attendees introduced themselves and identified the organizations they were representing. Regarding the Governor’s budget proposal, DuPont summarized a conversation he had with Matt Moroney of the Governor’s Office. Moroney had asked for the conversation after receiving the ARC letter, and White Paper, about concerns related to the proposed merger of the Department of Safety and Professional Services and the Department of Financial Institutions. The conversation covered the following topics: adequate capacity for safety and building related code development; support for local regulatory programs in the form of code interpretations and training; hiring technical experts to lead programs focused on customer groups instead of hiring general supervisors based on geographical regions; and keeping the lines of communication open through meetings and through an agency email system that could inform customers of upcoming code development meetings, hearings and training. DuPont also provided a brief recap of the public hearing on Senate Bill 119, held by the Senate Committee on Workforce Development, Public Works and Military Affairs on April 22, 2015. SB 119 also contains the same agency merger as the Governor’s budget proposal relative to the DSPS and the DFI. He said most testimony and concerns were related to the banking and credit union industries as well as to private schools. Most testified against the proposed merger based on concerns about loss of focus and attention in a larger agency. DuPont asked if ARC should take a position on the proposed agency merger. He said perhaps the list of concerns sent to the Governor’s Office and the two agency Secretaries was sufficient. After brief discussion it was agreed that the Alliance would remain neutral on this issue. Regarding other pending legislation DuPont reminded that:
DuPont asked if a workgroup should be formed to have dialogue with the Wisconsin Builders Association on the inspection triggers proposed in AB 111 and SB 87. There was general agreement that DuPont should continue to work with the Wisconsin Code Officials Alliance and the WBA to develop more specific recommendations for consideration of all ARC members. Regarding DSPS code development Richard Paur reported on the first meeting of the statutorily created Building Code Council which occurred on March 23, 2015. He made the following points: The council voted Michael Mamayek as chair and Samuel Lawrence as vice chair of the council. There were no representatives of the fire service appointed to the council as of the meeting date. The council started reviewing changes contained in the 2012 and 2015 editions of the International Building Code, based on the comparison document developed by the DSPS. Besides review of the IBC, review of the 2012 and 2015 editions of the International Energy Conservation Code, International Gas Code, International Mechanical Code and International Existing Buildings Code are also expected to be part of this code update effort. No target for completion of the code update activity was identified or estimated by the DSPS. Dan Smith, an Architect, has been assigned as the staff person to work with the council. Dave Bloom said that the Wisconsin State Fire Chief’s Association and the Wisconsin State Fire Inspectors Association are working on certification of inspectors of fire detection, prevention and suppression devices in new construction, alterations and additions. They plan on presenting their recommendations to the DSPS in an effort to have administrative rules in place to facilitate the credentialing of such inspectors as required by 2013 Wisconsin Act 270. Under that legislation, beginning in May 2017 all such inspections must be performed by persons certified by the DSPS. DuPont noted that he mistakenly did not include this specific code change project in his latest list of active code change projects concerning safety and buildings. He asked if there was interest in the list having a more informative format, showing dates of project milestones and nest steps in the process. There was agreement that such revisions would be helpful and DuPont said he would work on such. The next meeting of Alliance Members was scheduled for July 22, 2015, from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. The meeting will be held at the offices of the Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin. The meeting was adjourned at 10:35 a.m.
This summary was prepared by Bob DuPont, Regulatory Guidance and Design, LLC. It was issued on May 28, 2015. |