Summary of Member Meeting on February 10, 2017

Alliance for Regulatory Coordination

Summary of Member Meeting

Meeting Date: February 10, 2017

Location: Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin

The meeting was convened at 9:00 a.m. by Bob DuPont, of Regulatory Guidance and Design, LLC. Attendees introduced themselves and identified the organizations they were representing.

Regarding possible carbon monoxide update legislation DuPont reported that the office of Representative Kerkman has requested a revised bill draft based on ARC feedback provided to Representative Kerkman on November 3, 2016. Their office is still waiting for the bill draft and will send the newest draft to DuPont when it becomes available.

Regarding the stoppage of DSPS plan review delegation to communities DuPont asked Tom Johnson to provide information about the Village of Grafton’s experience in this regard. Tom said that the village had requested delegated agent status for the purpose of reviewing commercial building fire sprinkler and alarm plans. Their request was submitted to the DSPS in April, 2016, and they were just recently informed that the DSPS is not granting further requests for appointed agent status at this time.

DuPont said that he was contacted by DA Mattox, of Safebuilt, Inc., who said that several communities they work with have received delegation denial letters; some for delegation as a certified municipality and others for delegation as an appointed agent. Mattox told DuPont that in early 2016 Safebuilt was encouraged by Jeff Weigand, of the DSPS, to encourage communities to participate in plan review and inspection as DSPS certified municipalities and DSPS appointed agents. After months of preparation in that regard, Mr. Mattox expressed frustration to DuPont that the DSPS has apparently placed a moratorium on recognizing additional certified municipalities and appointed agents.

Mr. Mattox also told DuPont that he had been in contact with Jerry Deschane, Executive Director of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, about the delegation moratorium. Deschane subsequently contacted the DSPS and reported to Mattox that the DSPS had said they wanted to get a better handle on the delegation situation before they recognize additional certified municipalities or appointed agents.

In response to a question from DuPont, John Schulze said he has not heard any reason for the DSPS moratorium on delegations. He said there continues to be turn-over in managers within the Department, with Jeff Weigand leaving for a job at the Department of Transportation, and a new DSPS Secretary expected to be named soon, to replace Dave Ross, who is now the Secretary of the DOT. John said the ABC continues to support the participation of certified municipalities and delegated agents in state level plan review and inspection services.

DuPont said one possible reason for the moratorium is that the ARC may have raised awareness of the delegation situation with its request to the Governor about deleting the statute that requires the DSPS to charge participation fees to Second Class Cities that conduct expanded plan reviews as certified municipalities. He said that concerns about loss of plan review revenue could also be a factor under consideration by the DSPS.

After a brief discussion it was agreed that DuPont should contact Jerry Deschane to see if the League of Wisconsin Municipalities would work with the ARC on this issue, including a possible meeting with the DSPS. It was also agreed that DuPont should work with John Schulze, of ABC; and Ed Lisinski, of WCOA; to organize the possible meeting with the DSPS Secretary’s Office.

Regarding Governor Walker’s Budget Proposal DuPont reminded that the ARC had sent two letters to the Governor with requests relative to the next biennial budget: an end to lapsing of funds from the S&B appropriation; and repeal of the DSPS participation fee for second class cities that conduct expanded plan review. He said that he saw no mention of lapsing related to the DSPS in the Governors budget proposal which was released on February 8th. DuPont also said he saw no mention of a repeal of DSPS participation fees.

Meeting attendees next reviewed DuPont’s summary of Governor Walker’s budget proposal which was shared with ARC members on February 9th, with the following results.

• • Regarding the DSPS proposal to change their plan review availability goal from an annual average from five days to 13 days, it was agreed that this topic should be added to the agenda of the proposed meeting with the DSPS concerning delegation of plan review and inspection duties to municipalities. The general consensus was that by adding more certified municipalities and appointed agents the DSPS could achieve better plan review availability.

  • Regarding the DSPS goal for audits, it was agreed that the question should be asked of DSPS why they apparently left the Uniform Dwelling Code Program out of their audit goal statement. It was suggested that this question could be asked during the above-mentioned proposed meeting with DSPS officials.

  • Regarding the lapsing of funds from the Safety and Buildings Appropriation, DuPont said he would investigate the situation further by contacting the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau and report his findings to ARC members as soon as possible.

Concerning next steps related to the Governor’s Budget Proposal there was general agreement that DuPont should draft a letter to members of the Legislative Joint Finance Committee communicating the ARC position against lapsing of funds from the Safety and Buildings Appropriation. DuPont said he would draft such a letter for review by ARC members.

Regarding the DSPS project to update the Wisconsin Commercial Building Code, Richard Paur asked if anyone had heard what the projected timeline was. DuPont said that at the last meeting of the Commercial Building Code Council, DSPS officials said their goal was to have an effective date of mid-summer to early autumn. They informed the council that the ISO Building Code Effectiveness Grade for Wisconsin’s code administration program would be downgraded if the Wisconsin Commercial Building Code does not adopt the 2015 International Building Code by October 1, 2017.

The next meeting of Alliance Members was scheduled for May 3, 2017, from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m. The earlier time slot is intended to accommodate participant’s prior commitments on that day. The meeting will be held at the offices of the Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 a.m.

This meeting summary was prepared by Bob DuPont, Regulatory Guidance and Design, LLC.

It was issued on March 2, 2017.