City of Lawrence

Building Code Board of Appeals

December 21st , 2006 minutes

MEMBERS PRESENT:	Lee Queen - Chairperson, Mark Stogsdill, Janet Smalter Mike Porter, John Craft
MEMBERS ABSENT:
STAFF  PRESENT:
Guess Present :
Ex-Officio	Adrian Jones

Meeting Called to Order 11:55

Review IRC Draft Ordinance

The Board reviewed the IRC ordinance.  Jones advised the draft ordinance for the 2006 IRC was carried over from the draft completed for the 2003 IRC. The Board previously approved Appendix E Manufactured Housing Used as Dwelling, Appendix H Patio Covers and Appendix J Existing Buildings and Structures. Jones said that he added Appendix H Radon control Methods and Appendix M Home Day Care R-3 Occupancy for discussion and possible inclusion. Radon control was on the agenda for discussion. The Fire department asked the Board to consider Appendix M Home day care in R-3.

Queen noted that Section R105.5 item 5 should read “Decks and sidewalks less than 30 inches above grade”

The Board reviewed Section R113.5. The Board thought the wording in this section was confusing.

Jones said that the wording was inserted from Ordinance 7380. This section was included to prevent transfer of water services until the final inspection is approved. The Board asked staff to have the legal review this section for clarity.

The Board discussed Section R112.1 Organization and Members.  The board felt that the requirement for a civil engineer was unnecessary. The Board felt that as long as the engineer was licensed in the state of Kansas he or she was qualified to serve on the Board.

The Board discussed Section R113.1 Unlawful acts. Jones advised that this section was added to provide enforcement language. The City prosecutor recommended the ordinance include an unlawful act section.  Specifically it should be clear that it is unlawful to list licensed subcontractors on the building permit application and then use unlicensed contractors to do the work.  Jones said there have been recent occasions where it has been difficult to prosecute cases because there was no unlawful act section in the code.

Porter noted that the wording should be changed from “failure to” to “fail”.

The Board reviewed Section R113.4. The consensus of the Board was that the wording

“shall be deemed guilty” was overly harsh. This in effect made Building Safety Division judge and jury. The Board asked staff to have the legal department review this section for better wording.

Meeting Adjourned 1:00