Mark Zehnal, CPRC, FRSA Director of Technical Services
If you didn’t already know, the next Florida Building Code modification process has started. In fact, the first part of the process ended on January 1, 2016 which was the deadline to have any code modifications to the 2015 I-Code submitted to the Florida Building Commission (FBC) for consideration as part of the 2017 Florida Building Code 6th Edition Code. The FBC staff instructed anyone interested in submitting code changes to have the code mods submitted by December 25, 2015 to make sure they were
reviewed by the staff for any deficiency that would need to be corrected prior to being accepted as a verified submittal. If any conflicts in the format weren’t corrected, then there was the possibility that that submittal would not be included for consideration by the FBC.
FRSA submitted 107 code mods by December 23, 2015. Fortunately, only eight had some formatting issues that were immediately corrected and resubmitted. All 107 have been verified for correctness by FBC staff and posted on the FBC website where they can be viewed, along with the other 450 or so code mods submitted at www.floridabuilding.org/cm/cm_code_srch.aspx.
Recently, the FBC staff sent notifications that the review and public comment period began on January 11, 2016, 11 days ahead of the posted schedule. The first comment period lasts for 45 days, ending on February 25. Using the above webpage, anyone can make a positive or negative comment on any code mod and the petitioner can use this opportunity for corrections.
The next step will take place April 11-15, 2016 during the FBC meetings in Gainesville. During this public meeting the approved code mods and any comments will be heard, debated and voted on by the designated Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). TAC members voting results are defined by the following terms: approved as submitted (AS), approved as modified (AM), no affirmative recommendation (NAR), withdrawn (W), which can only be done by code mod proponent, and insufficient, incomplete or does not
meet criteria (I).
FRSA will have representation on the TAC and by those FRSA contractor and associate members who have volunteered as experts in their field to comment in favor of FRSA-proposed code changes. FRSA members interested in supporting the FRSA during these meetings can contact me by email at mark@floridaroof.com. Remember, as a contractor, the decisions made during these hearings are creating the new code your business will be governed by for no less than three years.
After the TAC meetings in late April or early May, the FBC staff will post all TAC recommendations for another 45-day review and public comment period which should end in early to mid-June. Again, FBC staff will post proposed code changes with comments on the commission website.
The last public hearing for each TAC, other than the Glitch Correction Phase, will be in mid-July where the TAC recommendations will be completed on commented code changes before being posted by FBC staff to the FBC website in late July or early August 2016. During the FBC rule development workshop in August, the commission will consider the proposed recommendations by each of the eleven TAC’s voting for or against the proposed code changes.
In September of 2016, a draft of the 6th Edition 2017 Florida supplements, which will be integrated into the 2015 I-Codes, will be posted on the FBC website. Then in April of 2017 an integrated draft of the 6th Edition 2017 Florida supplements and the 2015 I-Codes will be posted on the FBC website. The final rule hearing to approve the official version of the 2017 Florida Building Code 6th Edition is projected to take place in June of 2017 with an effective date of December 31, 2017. This is a long, but much needed
process that FRSA undertakes each code cycle, and is certainly another reason to consider a Florida-only code.
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