Summary of Member Meeting on Oct. 11, 2017

Alliance for Regulatory Coordination

Summary of Member Meeting

Meeting Date: October 11, 2017

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 staffing at the Department of Safety and Professional Services, DuPont reported that Kirsten Reader, of the DSPS, recently confirmed changes to staff assignments within the DSPS plumbing and pool programs. Duties of plumbing field consultation and plan review, formerly generally performed by separate staff, have been combined and assigned to seven staff spread throughout the State. Ms. Reader also shared the latest organizational chart for the entire Industry Services Division within the DSPS. DuPont said he would soon forward that chart to ARC members.

Regarding possible carbon monoxide update legislation, DuPont reported that the DSPS has not yet decided whether or not to advance the bill draft as a Department initiative. He said time is running out relative to passage of legislation during this session, which ends next Spring. DuPont also said he has shared the preliminary draft legislation with the six organizations involved earlier in the development of this initiative. DuPont said only the Wisconsin Hotel and Lodging Association has expressed concerns with the draft; and he thought those were likely to be resolved through additional explanation and dialogue. DuPont said he would continue soliciting responses and working to answer questions and resolve concerns of these interested parties.

Regarding the DSPS not enforcing certain sprinkler code provisions for multifamily dwellings, DuPont asked if meeting attendees knew of any projects having been State approved without sprinklers. No such projects were specifically identified; however, Dave Bloom said a sprinkler contractor told him that two contracts for sprinkler installations had been cancelled as a result of the DSPS lack of sprinkler enforcement. Regarding enforcement of the sprinkler code provisions in question, Richard Paur said the City of Milwaukee is enforcing the code as written. No municipal officials at the meeting said they are not enforcing the sprinkler provisions of the Wisconsin Commercial Building Code. Marty King said the Wisconsin Fire Protection Coalition is monitoring the situation and is making plans relative to various scenarios that could play out. Ed Ruckriegel said he felt it unlikely that sprinkler trade-offs would be put back into the code at the initiative of the DSPS.

Dave Bloom told of a meeting with Governor Walker, held a couple of months ago, which was primarily focused on the Wisconsin Electrical Code, where the issue of fire sprinklers in multifamily dwellings was also raised. Bloom said that Walker indicated he would talk to builders and the DSPS about the matter.

Regarding the draft bill on municipal plan review, LRB 4064/1, advanced by the DSPS, DuPont reported that Kirsten Reader and Nate Yahn, of the DSPS, had explained the Department’s goals during a meeting with representatives of the ARC and the League of Wisconsin Municipalities on October 9, 2017. The DSPS would like to have a more robust statutory foundation for the current DSPS program for appointed agents for plan review and inspection in the state commercial building program and the state plumbing program. Ms. Reader said the Department has no plans to repeal the administrative rules for appointed agents if the proposal does not move forward.

DuPont said he felt the proposal was generally a good sign because it would further pave the avenue for municipal participation in state-level plan review and inspection. He reminded that the DSPS could have proposed repeal of the current administrative rules on appointed agents instead of proposing statutory provisions. Discussion initially centered around the purpose of requiring five-year delegation renewals. Some expressed concerns about the proposal not being clear on standards for delegation or renewal of such. DuPont agreed that such concerns are valid but recommended waiting to see how the DSPS would implement the proposed statutes if they were to become law; saying administrative rules could be developed to address details pertaining to standards and expectations for appointed agents.

Discussion next focused on two aspects of the certified municipality program and appointed agent program that the DSPS proposal does not propose to change. The first being the DSPS interpretation that they can only allow delegated municipalities, other than first and second-class cities, to conduct state level plan review for alterations in buildings containing less than 100,000 cubic feet. The second being participation fees for second class cities and appointed agents.

DuPont reported that Kirsten Reader stated that the Department would not be amending their code change package for the Wisconsin Commercial Building Code to address these two areas of concern as the ARC had requested in letters to DSPS earlier this year. He said this legislative proposal could become the avenue for action on both of those areas of concern.

There was general agreement that the ARC should recommend to the DSPS that their legislative proposal be amended to change state law to reflect the current provisions regarding plan review for alterations involving spaces of less than 100,000 cubic feet. There was also agreement that the ARC should recommend to that DSPS that participation fees for second class cities should be repealed from the statutes, thereby positively affecting second class cities as well as appointed agents.

DuPont said he would next query all ARC members about these two issues and would move forward if there was no opposition expressed by any ARC Classic Members.

The next meeting of Alliance Members was scheduled for January 9, 2018, 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 11:15 a.m.

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

It was issued on November 10, 2017.