There is a free way to research the building code!
Happy New Year to all. Again this year brings new laws that all of us in the building industry have to add to our already voluminous collection. Almost no media outlet seems to produce a list and summary of these new statutes that many of us have to deal with at some level.
First, there are the building codes. Most all of us in the construction business are aware of these. What many people don't know is that you can now access these codes for free. Summaries of the changes in these documents are available from other sources.
The newest requirement of the bunch is the now mandatory CalGreen Code. Summaries of this new one are available. The biggest item in this code is that how it applied varies between jurisdictions. Adjacent cities can have widely different implementations. Anecdotally, most cities I've heard about have elected the minimum standards. But then there is always the "peoples repuiblic of [_fill in the agancy of your choice_]". Some cities are known for being zealots of some kind.
The International Code Council has the California modified version of their model codes available on their website. Plumbing and Mechanical codes are also now available on the web, through the efforts of the Building Standards Commission.
New to California is a "Guide to Title 24" created by the Building Standards Commission to assist ALL users in the interpretations and use of these codes. It is available on the BSC website in PDF format.
Active Building code listings and their hyperlinks to the individual code websites are below. Of course you can still order the paper versions that I believe are easier to read and reference..
· Title 24, Part 3, 2010 California Electrical Code, NO FREE WEB VERSION AVAILABLE - This Code is preassembled with the 2008 National Electrical Code (NEC) of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).
· Title 24‚ Part 7, Formerly the Elevator Safety Construction Code. This is now covered by Title 8 - Industrial Relations, of the California Code of Regulations.
· Title 24, Part 11, 2010 California Green Building Standards Code (First Printing), PDF Version Available
· Title 24‚ Part 12, 2010 California Referenced Standards Code (First Printing), PDF Version Available
Note that Errata and Supplements may not have been included in the web versions. You'll also need to check the ICC Errata page.
Older codes (2007) for projects already submitted to building agencies or approved for construction are still available at the ICC Website and the BSC website.
· Title 24‚ Part 1, 2007 California Administrative Code (First Printing)‚ includes Supplements through Jan 10
· Title 24‚ Part 2, 2007 California Building Code (First Printing)‚ includes Supplements through Jan 09
· Title 24, Part 3 - 2007 California Electrical Code
· Title 24‚ Part 6, 2007 California Energy Code (First Printing)‚ includes Supplements through Jan 10
· Title 24‚ Part 8, 2007 California Historical Building Code (First Printing)‚ includes Supplements through Jan 09
· Title 24, Part 11, 2008 California Green Building Standards Code (First Printing), PDF Version available.
· Title 24‚ Part 12 2007 California Referenced Standards Code (First Printing), PDF Version available
The part that always gets us as design and construction professionals are the laws and statutes that the legislature creates in areas other than the building codes. For once I thought we should be made aware of them. That is the subject of my next article.
Richard Gonser, AIA CSI CCCA SCIP LEED is an independent Consulting Architect and Specification Writer in Southern California. He can be reached at SpecStudio@verizon.net. If you would like a copy of this article with active web links, please send me a request by email.