Tradewinds Island Grand
5500 Gulf Boulevard
St. Petersburg Beach,
Florida 33706
Plenary Session
August 22, 2014
8:30 AM
COMMISSIONERS PRESENT:
Dick Browdy,
Chairman Jeff
Gross
James Batts Robert
Hamberger
Donald Brown Brian
Langille
Oscar Calleja Darrell
Phillips
Jay Carlson Bradley W. Schiffer
David Compton Frederick
Schilling
Nan Dean Jim Schock
Kevin Flanagan Brian
Swope
Charles
Frank Tim
Tolbert
David Gilson
COMMISSIONERS
NOT PRESENT:
Hamid Bahadori Steve
Bassett
Bob Boyer Beth
Meyer
Drew Smith Jeff
Stone
OTHERS PRESENT:
.
Jim Richmond Chris
Burgwald
Mo Madani April
Hammonds
Robert
Benbow Jim
Hammers
MEETING
FACILITATION:
The meeting was facilitated
by Jeff Blair from the FCRC Consensus Center at Florida State University. Information at: http://consensus.fsu.edu/
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Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
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Welcome:
Time: 8:30 am
Chairman Browdy welcomed
Commissioners, staff, and members of the public to St. Petersburg Beach and the
August 22, 2014 plenary session of the Florida Building Commission. He stated that in addition to considering
regular procedural issues including product and entity approvals, applications
for accreditor and course approvals, petitions for declaratory statements,
accessibility waivers, and recommendations from our various committees, the
primary focus of the August meeting is to conduct scheduled rule initiatives,
and to discuss Commission funded
research projects for fiscal year 2014-2015.
Chairman Browdy advised members
of the public to sign the attendance sheet on the speaker’s table in the center
of the room. In addition, we have a sign-up sheet for general public comment. He
stated as always, we will provide an opportunity for public comment on each of
the Commission’s substantive discussion topics (actions that are not procedural
or ministerial in content). Chairman
Browdy sated if a member of the public would like to comment on a specific
substantive Commission agenda item, please come to the speaker’s table when the
issue is up for consideration so we know you want to speak. He advised that public
input is welcome, but should be offered before there is a formal motion on the
floor. Chairman Browdy asked that all participants and members of the audience
keep all electronic devices turned off
or in a silent mode. Thank you for your cooperation.
Chairman Browdy stated that there
are also buff colored “Public Comment Forms” on the speakers’ table that
can be used to provide written comments. All written comments will be included
in the Facilitator’s Summary Report. Please give your completed “Public
Comment Forms” to Jeff Blair. He
advised some of the licensing boards located within the Department of Business
and Professional Regulation have adopted rules regarding continuing education
credits for attending Florida Building Commission meetings and/or Technical
Advisory Committee meetings. If your board participates you may sign-in on the
kiosk laptop provided in the meeting room.
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Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
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Roll
Call:
Chairman Browdy performed roll
call, a quorum was met with nineteen members present.
Chairman Browdy requested that Jeff Blair cover the agenda items
for the meeting today.
Jeff Blair welcomed participants to
the August Plenary Session and introduced the agenda as follows:
To Consider Regular Procedural
Issues: Agenda Approval and Approval of the June 20,
2014 Facilitator’s Summary Report
and Meeting Minutes.
Chairman Browdy requested a motion to approve the August
22, 2014 agenda as presented. A motion
was entered by Commissioner Schock and seconded by Commissioner Schilling, the
motion passed unanimously.
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Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
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Approval of the June 20, 2014
Facilitator’s Summary Report and Meeting Minutes:
Chairman Browdy requested a motion
to approve the June 20, 2014 Facilitator’s Summary
Report and Meeting Minutes.
Commissioner Schiffer entered a
Motion to approve the June 20, 2014 Facilitator’s Summary
Report and Meeting Minutes. Commissioner
Flanagan seconded the Motion. The Motion
passed unanimously.
Chairman’s
Discussion Issues and Recommendations:
Appointments:
Chairman Browdy thanked departing
members for their dedicated/outstanding service. And thanked new members for agreeing to serve.
Chairman Browdy announced he has
appointed Joe Hetzel to the Structural TAC and thanked Joe for agreeing to
serve.
Chairman
Browdy advised that since
the Building Officials Association of Florida (BOAF) is unwilling to subject
itself to all of the restrictions and conditions that must be imposed pursuant
to the binding interpretation process adopted in Section 553.775 (3.)(c), F.S.,
and there was no legislation on the issue during the 2014 Legislative Session, he
is appointing an Interim Binding Interpretation Panel so that the Commission
can meet its statutory mandate to hear binding interpretations. He further
stated that at the June 2014 meeting the Commission approved a recommendation
to the 2015 Legislature requesting that unless a stakeholder group proposes
statutory changes to resolve BOAF’s concerns, the Commission recommends that
this authority be repealed. In the interim, the Commission will maintain the process
as it must be lawfully implemented by the Commission. Chairman Browdy stated
that we have proposed a panel of experienced building code administrators from
geographically diverse regions of Florida. He stated the following are the appointments:
1. George Wiggins, Chair, City of
Winter Park - Chairman
2. Anthony C. Apfelbeck,
Altamonte Springs
3. John Barrios, City of Tampa
4. Wayne Eseltine, City of
Sebastian
5. Ted Fowler, City of Cooper
City
6. John Travers, Monroe County
7. William Weeks, City of
Pensacola
8. Howard White, St. Johns County
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Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
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Chairman’s
Discussion Issues and Recommendations (cont.):
After a brief discussion among
the Commission, Chairman Browdy asked for a motion to approve the formation of
the Interim Binding Interpretations Panel and the appointment of the eight
members for the panel.
Commissioner Schock entered a
motion to approve the formation of the Interim Binding Interpretations Panel
and the appointment of the eight members for the panel. Commissioner Tolbert seconded the motion, it
passed unanimously.
Appreciation for
Ila Jones:
Ila Jones has retired as the
Codes and Standards Section administrator after 14 years of dedicated
and outstanding service to the
Commission, DCA/DBPR, and the citizens of Florida. I would like to read and
have the Commission unanimously adopt the proposed resolution of appreciation
for Ila.
WHEREAS, the Florida Building
Commission was constituted by the Florida Legislature with members appointed by
the Governor to develop and maintain the Florida Building Code System;
and
WHEREAS, Ila Jones served for 14
years as the administrator of the Codes and Standards Section which provides
staff support to the Commission;
and
WHEREAS, Ila Jones possessed
unparalleled skill at navigating the complex processes of State government,
such as its budgeting processes, its procurement practices and its personnel
policies; and applied that skill to fulfill the Commission’s directions and
otherwise for the benefit of the Florida Building Commission to the greatest
extent possible;
and
WHEREAS, Ila Jones’ skill
together with her familiarity with the Department of Business and Professional
Regulations, its personnel and its processes represented a particularly
valuable asset to the Commission during its transfer to the Department;
and
WHEREAS, Ila Jones contributions
to the Commission’s mission related to development and implementation of the
Building Code Information System will be appreciated for years to come; and
WHEREAS, on July 1, 2014, Ila
Jones began enjoying her retirement;
and
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that
the Florida Building Commission at its public meeting held in Saint Petersburg
Beach, Florida voted unanimously to express their appreciation and respect for
the outstanding dedication, public service, integrity and commitment to the
citizens of Florida demonstrated by Ila Jones.
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Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
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Chairman’s
Discussion Issues and Recommendations (cont.):
Appreciation for
Ila Jones (cont.):
Commissioner
Schiffer entered a motion to adopt the resolution of appreciation for Ila
Jones’ Service. Commissioner Schilling
seconded the motion, the motion passed unanimously.
Accessibility
Waiver Applications:
Chairman Browdy the Commission
will now consider this month’s requests for accessibility waivers. April Hammonds will serve as legal
counsel and present the Accessibility Advisory Council’s recommendations. He
then asked April please present the Councils’ recommendations regarding waiver
requests in turn.
Kappa
Delta Sorority House, 555 West Jefferson Street, Tallahassee – Council recommended denial.
Commissioner Schock entered a motion to
accept the Council Members recommendation to deny waiver. Commissioner Batts seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Epic
Theatres, Lot Adjacent to HH Gregg, 8380 Merchants Way, Jacksonville – Council recommended granting the
waiver to the extent that a waiver is necessary.
Commissioner Batts entered a motion to
accept the Council Members recommendation to grant the waiver to the extent
that a waiver is necessary. Commissioner
Schock seconded the motion. The motion
passed unanimously.
The
Temple House, 1415 Euclid Avenue, Miami Beach – Council recommended granting the
waiver based on technical infeasibility.
Commissioner Brown entered a motion to
accept the Council Members recommendation to grant based on technical
infeasibility. Commissioner Tolbert
seconded the motion. Discussion was held
among the Commissioners. The motion
passed with a vote of 18 for and 1 against.
Alpha
Gamma Delta Porch Enclosure, 517 West Park Avenue, Tallahassee – Council recommended deferral to
allow participation from the Sorority.
Commissioner Batts entered a motion to
accept the Council Members recommendation to defer allowing participation from
the Sorority. Commissioner Carlson
seconded the motion. The motion passed
unanimously
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Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
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Accessibility
Waiver Applications (Cont.):
Venezia Hotel, 3865 Indian Creek Drive, Miami Beach - Council recommended deferral to
allow for further information.
Commissioner Phillips entered a motion
to accept the Council Members recommendation to defer to allow for further
information. Commissioner Schock
seconded the motion. The motion passed
unanimously
Honda
of Port Charlotte, 1252 Tamiami Trail, Port Charlotte
– Council
recommended denial based on no criteria to grant.
Commissioner Schock entered a motion to
accept the Council Members recommendation to deny waiver. Commissioner Schilling seconded the
motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Ave
Maria University Press Box, 4811 Kelleher Street, Ave Maria – Council recommended granting the
waiver based on unnecessary hardship due to the size of the press boxes.
Commissioner Schiffer entered a motion
to accept the Council Members recommendation to grant the waiver based on
unnecessary hardship due to the size of the press boxes. Commissioner Batts seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Collins
Park Hotel, 2000 Park Avenue and 2035 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach – Council recommended granting
waiver based on historic nature and technical infeasibility.
Commissioner Batts entered a motion to
accept the Council Members recommendation to grant based on historic nature and
technical infeasibility. Commissioner
Carlson seconded the motion. The motion
passed unanimously.
DeVine
Wine and Grill, 15 Alafaya Woods Boulevard, Suite 117, Oviedo - Council recommended granting waiver based on
disproportionate cost.
Commissioner Batts entered a motion to
accept the Council Members recommendation to grant based on disproportionate
cost.. Commissioner Carlson seconded the
motion. Discussion was held among the
Commissioners. The motion passed with a
vote of 16 for and 3 against.
Polk
State College Center for Public Safety, 1251 Jim Keene Boulevard, Winter Haven - Council
recommended denial.
Commissioner Carlson entered a motion to
accept the Council Members recommendation to deny waiver. Commissioner Batts seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
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Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
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Applications
for Product and Entity Approval :
Chairman
Browdy stated that Jeff Blair will present DBPR staff’s
recommendations for entity approvals and the consent agenda for products
recommended for approval, and DBPR staff’s recommendations for product
approvals with discussion and/or comments. He said that Jeff will start with the consent
agenda followed by entity approval applications, and conclude with discussion
items. Chairman Browdy advised that Jeff
Blair will now present the applications on the consent agenda and entity
approval applications.
Jeff Blair advised the POC recommends that the Commission
approve the consent agenda as it was modified by the POC with the removal of product 17091 for individual consideration.
Commissioner Compton entered motion to
approve the recommendation by the POC.
Commissioner Dean seconded the motion, the motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Blair advised for the first time
ever there are no entity applications.
Mr. Blair advised that the Commission
will now be reviewing the recommendations on the nine applications with
comments.
16839
-
Commissioner Compton entered motion to conditionally approve as recommended by
the POC; Commissioner Dean seconded the motion passed unanimously.
17035
-
Commissioner Compton entered motion to conditionally approve as recommended by
the POC; Commissioner Dean seconded the motion passed unanimously.
17055
-
Commissioner Compton entered motion to conditionally approve as recommended by
the POC; Commissioner Dean seconded the motion passed unanimously.
17090
-
Commissioner Compton entered motion to approve as recommended by the POC;
Commissioner Dean seconded the motion passed unanimously.
17091
-
Commissioner Compton entered motion to conditionally approve as recommended by
the POC; Commissioner Dean seconded the motion passed unanimously.
17092
-
Commissioner Compton entered motion to conditionally approve as recommended by
the POC; Commissioner Dean seconded the motion passed unanimously.
17106
-
Commissioner Compton entered motion to defer as recommended by the POC; Commissioner
Dean seconded the motion passed unanimously.
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Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
Page 9
Applications
for Product Entity Approval (cont.):
17108
-
Commissioner Compton entered motion to conditionally approve as recommended by
the POC; Commissioner Dean seconded the motion passed unanimously.
There
was a request for public comment on this product as there was no request for
this action.
Chairman
Browdy apologized and stated he would ask for a reconsideration of the motion
to allow for public comment on product 17106.
Commissioner
Gross entered a motion to reconsider product 17106. The motion was seconded by Commissioner
Schilling. The motion passed
unanimously.
Chairman
Browdy stated the Commissioner would now hear the reconsideration of 17106 where
our previous action was to defer based on the recommendation of the POC. He then asked for public comments.
Jeff
Arneson, Structural Engineer, P.E., Quick Ties asked that he attend the meeting
on behalf of some outstanding public comments that were discussed previously at
the POC meeting. He stated that it seems
to him that the primary comment that is still pending for the state of deferral
is regarding the corrosive protection of the cable. Mr. Arneson further stated the evidence that
was submitted at the POC meeting was not even for the cable that is being
applied for this application. He said it
does not seem to be technically significant to the matter to the questioning of
the validity of this comment to create a deferral status for this application.
April
Hammonds, Esq. stated that there was representative present on the POC call
from Quick Tie, it was not Mr. Grundel.
She stated he had a representative on the line who based on the comments
that were there and he had some responses that Quick Tie would like to make, he
was presented and offered a deferral and he accepted and decided he would waive
the 90 requirement and accepted the deferral and that was the recommendation of
the POC.
Randy
Shackelford, Simpson Strong-Tie, stated that he was the cause of the confusion;
he said he submitted the comment and he has submitted three comments in the
original time. Mr. Shackelford further
stated they stand behind the original three comments namely an unjustified
point 75 reduction fastener was taken, the wrong standard was used and also the
cable does not meet the required corrosion requirements. He further stated they did go and take
pictures of some cables, but what they did not understand was that the evaluation
report testing and calculations were based on the old product. He said however, the new product the name was
changed slightly and they did not notice that change, and apologized they made
a slight error in one part of one of their comments. Mr. Shackelford again stated they stand
behind all three comments. He said also
to confirm their opinion on the .75 factor they contacted a member of the ASC 7
Wind Committee and not only did he agree with them, he pointed out a
reduction……
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Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
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Applications
for Product Entity Approval (cont.):
April Hammonds, Esq. asked Chairman Browdy to allow
her to interrupt due to legal reasons.
She stated the whole reason that the POC and Mr. Lawless, she believed
was the representative for Quick Tie on the POC call was that the Quick Tie
wanted an opportunity to respond to the comments made by this gentlemen. She further stated this gentlemen is again
making these comments here today after there has already been a deferral or
agreement of a deferral by the Company at issue, so for Mr. Shackelford to
continue to make his comments when the actual applicant has not present their
comments today would be inappropriate.
Chairman
Browdy stated typically the venue to hear these technical arguments based on
merits or lack of merits of a particular product are best held at the POC level
where people who have expertise specifically can evaluate the validity of those
comments and can make a recommendation back to the Commission. He asked for any further additional public
comment.
Mr.
Shackelford stated no further comment; he supports the POC and TAC.
Lesley
Davidson, Quick Tie, she said she is a licensed and registered professional
engineer in the State of Florida. She
stated they do understand that Mr. Shackelford and Simpson Strong-Tie are
competitor has made comments, however, the product they made comments and
photographs along with the technical evaluation report they submitted were for
an incorrect product. Ms. Davidson
stated this is a new product with a different application, a different
technical evaluation report and different material properties with different
corrosive protections.
Chairman
Browdy asked the Commission if they had questions of the individuals who made
public comment relative to this product.
Commissioner
Compton stated that he wanted to disclose that Ms. Davidson was a former
employee of his employer current. He
stated one reason the POC did the deferral was to be able to, we had comments
given last minute, the night before or morning of the meeting and the deferral
was to allow time to review. He said he
believe it was sometime on Wednesday they received an e-mail from Quick Tie or
the representative with some comments or rebuttal comments to those
comments. Commissioner Compton stated
being honest he has looked at them briefly, but has not had time to fully
review. He further stated we keep
getting comments that are last minute not allowing time to properly vent them.
Commissioner
Gilson stated the primary concern that is driving that, is that Quick Tie is
trying to drive home that they are submitting information for the wrong
product, so is it technically significant and should it be considered in this
forum.
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Plenary Session
August
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Applications
for Product Entity Approval (cont.):
Chairman
Browdy stated Mo Madani can offer comments on how one makes a determination of
the validity of an argument as it relates to this product.
Mr.
Madani wanted to specify that the comments came at the end late in the process;
they were not for the product being considered.
He said he wanted to confirm that.
Jim
Richmond advised that the Commission is not acting on those technical aspects
on the dispute at this point, which is the whole reason for the deferral. He stated all that is before the Commission
today is recommendation of that it be deferred and that recommendation from the
POC was based on the consent of the representative of your company. He further stated the Commission is not
acting on the technical aspects; we are giving time to the POC to evaluate the
different sides and come up with a recommendation for the October Commission
Meeting.
Lesley
Davidson asked that she be allowed to respond to that comment. She stated that their product was listed as
recommended for approval at the POC, but due to these 7:30 pm comments that
were not technically relevant but were allowed they were deferred with no
alternative. Ms. Davidson asked if this
could be opened up for approval today.
Ms.
Hammonds stated that is not a correct statement, she stated there is always an
alternative. She said someone has to
waive their 90 day requirement, by law.
She further stated in fact Mr. Blair made it clear that it was not a
requirement that the person waive the 90 days and be deferred; the person had
the option to continue forward that day.
Ms.
Davidson thanked her for the clarification, as the audio did not appear to come
out that way.
Ms.
Hammonds stated she disagreed, but that is fine.
Chairman
Browdy advised on product 17106 there was a recommendation from the TAC for a
deferral and you have now heard public comments. He asked if there were comments from the
Commission.
Commissioner
Gilson asked if they do not go forward with the deferral, what would happen.
Chairman
Browdy stated they would vote down the deferral and there would be no action on
the product, or there could be another motion to approve or deny the product.
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Plenary Session
August
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Applications
for Product Entity Approval (cont.):
Ms.
Hammonds stated they were trying to give Quick Tie opportunity to respond to
the comments and allow time for response.
She said if no action is taken under 90 deemer
clause, the product would be approved.
She further stated that there is a representative from the company and
there is a representative speaking today and if they feel they sent the wrong
representative that would be a company issue.
Ms. Hammonds stated there are different people here today and we still
do not have Mr. Kurt Grundel here, but their representative waived the 90 days
and accepted the deferral which allows the company ample time to respond to the
comments from Mr. Shackelford.
Ms.
Davidson asked to be allowed to respond to Ms. Hammonds comments. She stated Mr. Madani advised Kurt Grundel,
who works on Quick Ties behalf to respond and they did respond to each counsel
and Committee Chair and Commissioner, they should have received an e-mail
addressing the comments even though they were on the wrong product.
Ms.
Hammonds stated exactly that will be heard at the next meeting that allow time
for review and response to each question.
Commissioner
Brown stated he read the e-mail and he feels prior to this it was recommended
for approval and the last minute information came in that was deemed not creditable
information, we have made a step forward rather that at the beginning. He further stated he has a concern without
laying blame; some third party has come in and thrown a wrench in the system to
slow this process down.
Mr.
Richmond stated we do have competing issues.
He said there is a concern with the use or abusive of the product
approval system with competitors in the industry. He further stated we have had these cross complaints
and food fights before. Mr. Richmond
advised that is clearly something we need to be aware of and attempt to
prevent. He said how you prevent that
has balance on the fact that we need to apply this product approval system to
ultimately protect the consumer. He said
there cannot say we will not listen to a competitor regarding a competitor’s
product. He further stated they could
have legitimate, creditable and vital information that needs to be heard. He advised there is not blanket rule in existence
and whether or not the Commission would consider one would be another topic for
discussion. Mr. Richmond stated another
competing interest here is the role of our Committees in this process and the
Chairman alluded to it, the Committees are the place for the technical issues
to be hashed out. He further stated
these could have been hashed out at the POC meeting the other day, we can
accept public comment on the conference calls as well as in person, so the
comments that are being taken exception to now could have been delivered by
anyone on the phone call and often are.
He said the POC was in a position that it could have acted on the
product and could have handled more deliberation, however there was an
agreement to defer the product and based on that agreement, they brought that
recommendation to the Commission. Mr.
Richmond stated the biggest competing interest is
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Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
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13
Applications
for Product Entity Approval (cont.):
to
allow the Committees to handle the debates and let them apply their particular
expertise in a forum designed to make those recommendations and determinations
vs the concern of the use and abuse of the system by competitors.
Mr.
Blair stated to clarify the POC members are all Commissioner Members, so the
POC members are here. He said the
Chairman are not, but what happened at the meeting, once the information was
presented, the POC thought they needed more time to evaluate this and gave the
applicant the choice would you like for us to make a decision today and take a
risk of where we might land or you could take a deferral and the applicant
chose understanding they were not required to take a deferral, they could have
the POC make a recommendation of approval, denial or conditional approval, it
was a choice made by the applicant voluntarily waive the 90 days and accept the
deferral.
Commissioner
Compton, added that the comments that were put forward they were some
additional that were not part of the inaccurate information, so there are some
outstanding comments.
Commissioner
Schock stated while sympatric to the product manufacturer, with what Commission
Compton said, he would entered a motion to accept the recommendation of the POC
for product 17106 to defer to allow time for further review. Commissioner Batts seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Chairman Browdy asked for the remaining
product.
Jeff Blair introduced the last product
and asked for public comment.
Jamie Gascon, Miami-Dade County stated
this product is not identifying the connection spacing as tested on the
documents, so the protocol that was used to test these products requires that
the fastenings be performed at twelve inches on center and therefore if it was
tested at greater spacing that should be identified on the product approval in
the documents being presented today. He
said if that were the case the protocol would still require you to space them
at twelve inches on center, however, if you tested them closed than twelve
inches on center, that means you used more fasteners than the test, that should
be conveyed that these performance the pressures, product performance was
achieved with a tighter fastener spacing..
He further stated the discussion at the POC was this may not be
necessary the protocol and the engineer would be able to perform the
calculations at time of permit. Jamie
said they stand the manner in which the product was tested should be listed in
the approval. He further said the
approval should include this information to assist building officials and
inspectors can use when needed.
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Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
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Applications
for Product Entity Approval (cont.):
Commissioner Compton asked Mr. Gascon if
he was aware of how testing was completed.
Mr. Gascon stated this information is
not available for viewing online.
17116
-
Commissioner Compton entered motion to conditionally approve on the
identification and specification of spacing used. Commissioner Schock seconded the motion passed
unanimously.
Applications
for Accreditor and Course Approval:
Chairman Browdy advised that the
Education POC did not have a quorum and conducted no business, and as a result
there are no POC recommendations regarding course applications. He stated the
Commission will decide on course applications without the Education POC’s
recommendations. Commissioner Nan Dean will
present the course applications will provide recommendations as needed.
Commissioner Dean provided the
following Advanced Accredited Courses for consideration.
646.0 – Commissioner
Dean entered a motion to conditionally approve, Commissioner Flanagan seconded
the motion, the motion passed unanimously.
645.0 - Commissioner
Dean entered a motion to approve, Commissioner Flanagan seconded the motion,
the motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Dean advised the
Commission that there were no Administratively Approved Updated Courses.
Commissioner Dean provided the
following Administratively Approved Self-Affirmed Courses for consideration.
508.0-
Commissioner
Dean entered a motion to approve; Commissioner Flanagan seconded the motion,
the motion passed unanimously.
528.0-
Commissioner
Dean entered a motion to approve; Commissioner Flanagan seconded the motion,
the motion passed unanimously.
FBC
Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
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15
Applications
for Accreditor and Course Approval (cont.):
263.2-
Commissioner
Dean entered a motion to approve; Commissioner Flanagan seconded the motion,
the motion passed unanimously.
474.0 – Commissioner
Dean entered a motion to conditionally approve, Commissioner Flanagan seconded
the motion, the motion passed unanimously.
Petitions
for Declaratory Statement: Legal
Report
Chairman Browdy asked April
Hammonds, Legal Counsel for the Commission if there were any other legal issues
or legislative issues in addition to the declaratory statement requests.
Ms. Hammonds stated there were no
legal issues to discuss.
Chairman Browdy requested that
Ms. Hammonds present the declaratory statements.
DS2014-066
by Edward Rojas of the City of Doral -
Ms. Hammonds read the petition from Mr. Edward
Rojas with response.
Commissioner Batts entered a motion to accept
the staff recommendation, Plumbing TAC with modifications and legal
recommendation. Commissioner Schilling
seconded the motion, the motion passed unanimously.
DS-2014-075
by Sprague Owings of Marion County Building Department
Ms. Hammonds read the petition from Mr. Sprague
Owings with response.
Commissioner Flanagan entered a motion to accept the
staff recommendation, Electrical TAC with modifications, Energy TAC with
modifications and legal recommendation.
Commissioner Calleja seconded the motion, the motion passed unanimously.
DS
2014-083 by Eric Neilinger of Fire Alarm Systems and
Security Inc.
Ms. Hammonds read the petition from Mr. Eric Neilinger with response.
Commissioner Calleja entered a motion to accept the
staff recommendation to dismiss due to general applicability, Fire TAC and
legal recommendation. Commissioner
Flanagan seconded the motion, the motion passed unanimously.
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Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
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16
Petitions
for Declaratory Statement: Legal
Report
DS
2014-084 by Gary Kozan of Ridgeway Plumbing Inc.
Ms. Hammonds read the petition from Mr. Gary
Kozan with response.
Commissioner Schilling entered a motion to accept
the staff recommendation, Plumbing TAC and legal recommendation. Commissioner Calleja seconded the motion, the
motion passed unanimously.
DS2014-086
by Joe Hetzel of DASMA
Ms. Hammonds read the petition from Mr. Joe Hetzel
with response.
Chairman Browdy asked of the Structural TAC, if you
install a flood port that has some type of butterfly so that it is not
continuously open would that change the circumstances or the issues raised in
the declaratory statement?
Commissioner Schock stated he did not think so the
issue is so much the transfer of air but the structural integrity of the door
itself.
Commissioner Compton stated he would agree that it
would affect the structure of the door.
Commissioner Schock entered a motion to accept the
staff recommendation, Structural TAC and legal recommendation. Commissioner Compton seconded the motion, the
motion passed unanimously.
DS2014-089
by T.A. Krebs of Architect T.A. Krebs, LLC.
Ms. Hammonds read the petition from Mr. T.A.
Krebs with response.
Commissioner Schiffer entered a motion to accept the
staff recommendation, Code Administration TAC and legal recommendation. Commissioner Brown seconded the motion, the
motion passed unanimously.
FBC
Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
Page
17
Research
Projects, FY 2014-2015, TAC Chairman Committee Report:
Chairman Browdy advised that the Commission has
been funding hurricane resistance research based on legislatively approved spending
authority since the formation of the Commission’s Hurricane Research Advisory Committee
in January of 2005. He stated at the August 2013 meeting the Commission voted
to expand the funding of research projects to topics beyond the scope of
hurricane resistance research and to fund research into other Code related
topical areas based on recommendations from the Commission’s TACs and POCs. Chairman
Browdy advised for fiscal year 2014 -2015 the TACs and POCs met during the summer
to discuss research needs and developed recommendations for the Commission’s consideration.
He further stated that subsequently the TAC chairs met yesterday and developed recommendations
for the Commission’s consideration during today’s meeting. Chairman Browdy
advised that Jeff Blair who facilitated our TAC Chairs Meeting yesterday will review
the TAC Chairs report and recommendations regarding the funding of research
projects relevant to the Florida Building Code System for fiscal year 2014
-2015.
Jeff Blair advised the Commission that
first he will present a report and allow the Commission to accept the report
and then the Commission will be able to move on the funding. He said this will require two separate votes.
Mr. Blair stated the TAC Chairs met
August 21, 2014; they reviewed fourteen proposed projects, one of which
required no funding and one that is a yearly funding allocation for hurricane
damage investigation that is prefunded out of the funding dollars. He said that left twelve projects to evaluate
for funding.
Mr.
Blair stated the TAC
chairs were asked to evaluate these remaining twelve projects on the basis of
three criteria and if they met those three criteria for funding they would go
to the next level to be prioritized for funding. Jeff said the three criteria for funding were:
1.) definition of research and/or technical enrichment, 2.) urgency/immediacy,
and 3.) funding available (full or partial). He advised this was what the TAC chairs used
for the process and voted that the following 7 projects met the criteria and remained
for funding:
Mr.
Blair advised that 7 projects meeting the criteria for funding required
$502,917 to fully fund them, and there is $346,477 available for funding (after
funding project #13: hurricane damage investigation), leaving a funding deficit
of $156,440 for the full funding of the 7 projects.
Mr.
Blair stated that the TAC Chairs performed a 10 point ranking exercise of those
7 projects from the highest priority (urgent) down to the lowest. He said once completed they voted on full
funding or partial funding for each. He
advised the following was the list of 7 projects listed in priority order and
funding that was allocated on each by the TAC Chairs.
FBC
Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
Page
18
Research
Projects, FY 2014-2015, TAC Chairman Committee Report (cont.):
1. Project #5: Impact
of Spray Foam Insulation on Durability of Plywood and OSB Roof Decks.
Recommended for
full funding: $90,092
2. Project #6: Investigation
of corrosion of fasteners for both roofing and screen enclosures.
Recommended for
full funding: $85,030
3. Project #9: Structural
wood panels – Study catenary loads and develop equations for designer, design
for CMU and brick veneers and opening. Recommended
for full funding: $67,049
4.
Project
#1: Investigation of the Effectiveness and Failure Rates of Whole-house
Mechanical Ventilation Systems in Florida.
Recommended for partial funding: $45,000 with staff to negotiate the
scoping to ensure project has applied applications.
5. Project # 8: Screen
enclosures – Characterization of mechanical resistance of connection details
and pressure loading in boundary layer wind tunnel including full-scale
testing. Recommended for partial
funding: $30,000, with the $53,523 funding already committed to investigations
of buildings damaged by hurricanes (provided
yearly in case of hurricane damage) applied to the project if the funding is
not needed for hurricane damage investigation for 2014.
6.
Project
#2: Developing Exhaust Air Energy
Recovery Credits for the Florida Energy Code.
Recommended for partial funding: remainder or available
funding ~$29,306
7. Project #4: Phase II an Assessment of
Energy Efficient Methods of Indoor Humidity Control in Florida Housing. No funding allocated for this project.
Mr.
Blair advised the TAC Chairs recommend the Commission approve funding the
research projects for fiscal year 2014-2015 as recommended by the TAC chairs on
the basis that the proposed projects evaluated meet the three criteria for
funding: 1.) definition of research and/or technical enrichment, 2.)
urgency/immediacy, and needed for the 2014 FBC, and 3.) funding available (full
or partial), and should be approved for
funding based on the funding levels recommended by the TAC chairs, and staff
administering and overseeing the research, and negotiating contracting as
appropriate.
Chairman Browdy advised the length of meeting for
the TAC Chairs and the list of presentations given during the meeting bringing
forth recommendations to the full Commission.
FBC
Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
Page
19
Research
Projects, FY 2014-2015, TAC Chairman Committee Report (cont.):
Chairman Browdy asked for a motion to accept the
report.
Commissioner Phillips entered a motion to accept the
TAC Chairs report. The motion was
entered by Commissioner Schock, the motion passed unanimously.
Chairman Browdy asked for a motion to accept the
funding recommendations for FY 2014-2015 by the TAC Chairs on basis they meet
the three criteria of funding and they are approved for funding based on the
recommendation and staff administering and overseeing the research to be charge
with negotiating contracting as appropriate.
Commissioner Swope entered a motion to accept the
funding recommendations for FY 2014-2015 by the TAC Chairs on basis they meet
the three criteria of funding and they are approved for funding based on the
recommendation and staff administering and overseeing the research to be charge
with negotiating contracting as appropriate.
The motion was seconded by Commissioner Schock.
Commissioner Calleja stated that the allocations
prioritizing, there were no Chairs present at the meeting for Mechanical or
Energy and he feels they were left behind.
He asked if there is a way to allocate the resources to make it more
open or larger view.
Chairman Browdy stated there was an advocacy for the
projects in question. He did advise
Commissioner Smith nor Commission Bassett were present at the meeting. He said the meeting was opened and everyone
was noticed and there was ample opportunity to allow input. Chairman Browdy stated the ranking system was
very fair based on the information guidelines provided.
Commissioner Flanagan addressed the Commission
advising how important this meeting had been and the experience was
valuable. He said he felt the meeting
overall went very well with a fair process.
He encouraged all members to attend when they can.
Commissioner Gross stated he echoed the importance
of this meeting and it is difficult, and he feels that in a perfect world they
would make every code change on facts and science, unfortunately it can’t be
done. He stated he would like to see
this expand and secure more funds, try to establish a foundation to secure more
funds.
Commissioner Schiffer asked if the TAC Chair s were
not there would that have affected the voting.
Mr. Blair no it would have had a large impact in the
overall ranking.
FBC
Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
Page
20
Research
Projects, FY 2014-2015, TAC Chairman Committee Report (cont.):
Chairman Browdy stated these were done on a super
majority vote.
Chairman Browdy then asked for the vote on the
motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Rule Hearing, 61G20-6.002
Chairman Browdy stated at the August
23, 2013 meeting the Commission approved the Education POC’s proposed language
changes to paragraphs (e), (g), (h), and (i),
contained in Rule 61G20-6.002, F.A.C. He further stated that at the October 18,
2013 meeting the Commission conducted a rule development workshop to receive
public comment and to consider the Commission’s Education Program Oversight
Committee (POC) recommendations for proceeding with the Rule. Chairman Browdy
said at the December 13, 2013 meeting the commission conducted a supplemental
rule development workshop and voted to amend Rule 61G20-6.002, Education, to
adopt the Education POC’s recommendations for revisions to the Education Rule
and to proceed with rule adoption for Rule 61G20-6.002. He said that at the April 2014 meeting the
Commission voted to approve the Education POC’s recommendations for additional
revisions to the Education Rule, and to proceed with rule adoption for Rule
61G20-6.002, Commission Approval and Accreditation of Advanced Building Code
Training Courses. Chairman Browdy advised that the Joint Administrative
Procedures Committee (JAPC) has comments on the Rule that will need to be
incorporated into the Rule before final adoption. He advised today the Commission will conduct
a rule adoption hearing to incorporate legal staff’s proposed rule revisions to
address JAPC’s comments, and to finalize rule adoption. Chairman Browdy stated he received the JAPC changes
and our DBPR Rules Attorney’s responses.
He stated the rule adoption hearing is now open and April Hammonds will
provide the comments from JAPC and responses from Rules Attorney.
April Hammonds, Esq. stated that Brittney
Griffith is our Rules Attorney and she is not present today. Ms. Hammonds advised she would briefly go
over JAPC’s comments. She further stated
this may be a good exercise for those who may be frustrated with rule making
situations. She said the reason this is
coming to you in in lieu of a recommendation is due to a non-quorum meeting. Ms. Hammonds stated one of the changes in the
letter from Ms. Holiday there was an incorrect form number that will be
corrected and published through a notice of change as stated in the letter that
we are proposing to send back. She
stated there was an issue in several places it stated subsection and she would
like for it to say paragraph. Ms.
Hammonds ask the permission of the Commission to change the language to
paragraph from subsection. She said they
also referenced form in several places and asked for the explanation of
self-affirmation stating self-affirmed one change and self-affirmed no change
meant; she asked to read the section and asked for confirmation of her
understanding of the statement.
FBC
Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
Page
21
Rule Hearing, 61G20-6.002 (cont.):
Ms. Hammonds stated the only
other issue was a comma between administrative rule and :the word”, so in order
to make it more clearly legible we are going to make a list that says one, two
and three so that there is no concern with commas. She advised this is just an example of the
letters sent from JAPC that are holding up rules. Ms. Hammonds requested the support of the
Commission.
Chairman Browdy asked for public
comment or comments from the Commission.
Commissioner Calleja asked if in
any way this rule will affect the approval of a course, we have this issue
where the effective date of the Code is coming up sometime in the future, but
we wanted to train before the code comes into the rule.
Ms. Hammonds stated this is the
same rule.
Chairman Browdy stated if there
is no further discussion, Commissioners I would ask for a motion to approve DBPR
legal staff’s recommendations for revising the draft Education Rule language to
address JAPC’s comments as detailed in the letter responding to JAPC, by
issuing a Notice of Change, and proceeding with rule adoption for Rule
61G20-6.002, Commission Approval and Accreditation of Advanced Building Code
Training Courses, and conducting a rule adoption hearing only if requested.
A motion was entered by Commissioner
Dean and seconded by Commissioner Schilling, the motion passed unanimously.
Update
on 5th Edition of the Florida Building Code:
Chairman Browdy advised as previously reported,
the Commission voted at the August 2013 meeting to make the effective date of
the Florida Building Code Fifth
Edition 2014 on midnight December 31, 2014. He said the selection of
this date was to meet the statutory requirement to coordinate with the adoption
of the updated version of the Florida Fire Prevention Code, which is being
developed with an effective date of midnight December 31, 2014. Chairman Browdy
stated the Commission is also statutorily required to have the Florida Building
Code published for 6 months after publication before it becomes effective. He
said as a result the effective date of the Florida Building Code Fifth Edition 2014 is dependent on when
the Florida Fire Prevention Code 2013 is
adopted. Chairman Browdy advised at the June 2014 meeting Commissioner Charles
Frank reported on the status of adoption of the Florida Fire Prevention Code 2013 and indicated he thought the
adoption process was on schedule for completion this summer.
FBC
Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
Page
22
Update
on 5th Edition of the Florida Building Code (cont.):
Chairman Browdy stated at this time I
would like to ask Commissioner Charles Frank to give us an update on the status
of the adoption of the Florida Fire
Prevention Code 2013.
Commissioner Frank stated he had met
with the Bureau Chief and received an update on the 5th Edition of
the Fire Prevention Code. He said they
are currently in their seconded read of the draft and further said they have
completed all of the workshops and hearings on the Florida specific
amendments. Commissioner Frank advised
they have already sent a letter to JAPC in reference to all of the NFPA
standards that were referenced into that.
He said they have received comments back from JAPC more technical, they
are meeting with the Attorneys today to formulate a response to those
comments. Commissioner Frank stated once
the second draft comes back which will be within the next week or two, they
will be sending the actual Florida Fire Prevention Code to JAPC for comments on
that. He further stated all of their
SERCS and MRAS have been done for the Fire Code. Commissioner Frank said they are still on
track for the December 31st adoption of the Florida Fire Prevention
Code barring any complications; they are looking at a publication of their code
being available around September no later than October.
Chairman Browdy advised Based on this
report the Commission would not be able to schedule a rule adoption hearing for
the 5th Edition Florida Building Code until
the October meeting at the earliest, and will need to adjust the effective date
based on a realistic assessment of when the rule adoption process can be
completed. He stated if the rule adoption
hearing occurs in October then the earliest effective date for the Florida Building
Code would be March 1, 2015, and possibly later depending on final adoption of
the Code and the need to comply with the six month publication requirement
prior to the effective date.
Chairman Browdy stated the
Commission has two options:
Option 1: We wait until the October 2014 meeting to
take formal action on changing the effective date for the 5th Edition Florida Building Code to
allow for a firm date for the adoption of the Florida Fire Prevention Code 2013, and providing the Commission
with the ability to base the date of a rule adoption hearing and the Code
effective date accordingly.
Option 2: We can make a motion to conduct a rule
adoption hearing on the 5th Edition
Florida Building Code at the December 12, 2014 meeting, and to make the
effective date for the 5th Edition
Florida Building Code March 1, 2015.
Chairman Browdy advised the
Commission has those two options and wait until October Meeting to change the
effective date or they can move forward now and at the December 12th
meeting which would make the effective date of the Code June, 2015.
FBC
Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
Page
23
Update
on 5th Edition of the Florida Building Code (cont.):
Chairman Browdy said he knows
that everyone is anxious to get the Code out as soon as possible and he thinks
the Commission should wait until the October meeting to take formal action on
changing the effective date on the Code.
He said it would be up to the Commission, he provided the two options
again.
Jim Richmond said that he speaks
in support of the first option as the dates are a forecast at best. He further stated that Commissioner Frank
said the Fire Code itself is just going to JAPC now, the Building Code has not
gone to JAPC yet. Jim said that the
Commission would be best advised to wait for the best information we can get is
in front of us before moving forward which would entail waiting until the
October Meeting.
Commissioner Calleja asked how this
affects the three year cycle problem.
Jim Richmond stated it really
puts the Code more in line with the three year cycle as that was an issue that
had we forward moved at the pace we set last August in St. Petersburg, we would
have been about eight to ten months in advance of that three year cycle. He said he actually anticipated JAPC comment
based upon that because they are trying to get some time back and get more in
line with the Model Codes. He further
said it gets us more in line with the three year cycle we were on, the June
date would put us two months beyond. Jim
said he believes that the effective date was April 15th.
Mo Madani stated he felt to go
with the March and June dates, that is common for the Commission, all of the
Code Editions that we have done so far with the three years were done in March
and some in June. He said that is in
line with the three years.
Jim Richmond he feels this gets
us more in line with the tri-annual cycle that is required by Statute as well.
Commissioner Calleja stated the
other question would be if we decide to set a date now for example April 1st,
can that be changed later or does that create a problem.
Jim Richmond stated it can be
changed later, but it can create a problem, anytime a hard date is provided,
there are a lot of expectations of the public including the audience and those
watching online. He further said
essentially if we provide hard dates it creates issues, designers will take
that as an assurance and will start designing, he said he preferred not to pick
a hard date until there is a reasonable expectation of meeting it.
FBC
Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
Page
24
Update
on 5th Edition of the Florida Building Code (cont.):
Commissioner Calleja said he gets
a lot of input from people in the field, architects are the first ones that
cry, but number one, we do not have a posted code in our worksite, he said
there was one with yellow lines showing changes, so the people could at least
look at it and the possible changes and what the codes are. He said that the more we push this back, it
puts a big burden on those trying to figure out what the changes are, and could
we get the work copies.
Mo Madani said we have been
working hard to get an integrated code put together and by the end of this
month, we should have a draft integrated with the Florida specifics marked in
red, so we will have that soon. He said
also, we have the supplements that show what the changes are, and that will be
available soon before the end of the month.
Commissioner Schiffer said it is
important that Architects know when the code comes into effect, people are
designing buildings now to the new code with the expectation that it will be
there at the end of year along side of the Fire Code. He asked if anything can be done to come up
with a date, for those designing buildings under the new code, six months to
one year on a building is not rare.
Jim Richmond stated based on the
information we have, it is not going to be before March, he feels the six
months will take it to April. He said we
could say no sooner than April.
Commissioner Schiffer stated last
meeting stated it would not be year end.
He asked if we could have a no sooner date, people have to be able to
plan and there are revisions and there are differences that will matter.
Chairman Browdy said as Mo
implicated those changes are going to be published within the next month, he
said that if you were a design professional at this stage you would want to
design to the newer code and he appreciates the concern about the actual
date. He stated he does not really know
with the requirements under the statue what the Commission can do as a result
of the process by which the Fire Prevention Code has to go through and then we
go through the same process.
Commissioner Langille said the
Fire Prevention Code goes before JAPC and we have not had Building Code go
before JAPC, how long does that process take when it goes to them, be heard by
them, or seen by them.
April Hammonds, Esq. stated the
Rules Attorney did some research on the JAPC site, they have been working on
the Fire Prevention Code the last letter came to them on June 24th had
well over 20 comments that they have to respond to. She said they had to toll the rule, they
ended up having to toll the rule, they had to send a letter, and their Counsel
had to send a letter to request
FBC
Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
Page
25
Update
on 5th Edition of the Florida Building Code (cont.):
to toll the rule. She further alluded that there have been many
times that she has told you that she cannot respond with a specific date as
there are too many variables because once you start the clock you only have a
certain amount of time to get it done before it goes away. She said one of those options is to toll a
rule because otherwise JAPC was going to file a formal objection on the Fire
Code. Ms. Hammonds further stated that
all of this is available on the JAPC website and they did review to see what
was happening with JAPC. She said they
have been working on the Education Rule for over a year, it has been submitted
to JAPC and the last notice revealed that commas were out of place, literally
JAPC is tying everyone’s hands much to the frustration of all State Agencies,
the Commission and everyone trying to complete a rule.
Commissioner Langille said all we
know is if everything is in line the earliest date would be October or is that
when we decide the date, the start date for further down the road
April Hammonds, Esq. stated that
by waiting until October will also allow us some time for JAPC to respond to
the Fire Prevention Code letter and review.
Commissioner Langille asked if
the one only thing we are waiting on now is for JAPC to return the information
back to the Fire Code and all of our work, everything we need to do as far as
our building code is concerned is done.
April Hammonds, Esq., stated yes. She explained the frustration with JAPC and
the time issues and continuous issues with JAPC returning Rules back for over a
year.
Commissioner Schock said he had
an idea to throw out, could possibly at a later meeting, maybe the Commission
could put a letter out to the jurisdictions allowing them a comfort level to
use the code as an alternate means until the adoption date.
Chairman Browdy said talk about
flood gates, there is just no way to tell what would happen if everyone had a
choice of which code they wanted to use at what time.
Commissioner Schiffer asked if we
had submitted the 5th Edition to JAPC yet.
April Hammonds, Esq. stated no
because JAPC requires every document that is referenced in it to go with it,
that is the problem, we do not have a Fire Code to attach. She stated we send over boxes and boxes of
material when we send it, they need ASTM, ANSE, Fire Code, anything referenced,
they want to look at it.
Commissioner Schiffer stated but
the Fire Code references the Building Code.
FBC
Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
Page
26
Update
on 5th Edition of the Florida Building Code (cont.):
April Hammonds, Esq, stated that is correct. She said we will probably run into something
unusual with JAPC, we do not know what JAPC is going to do.
Commissioner Schiffer asked if
she would be surprised if the Fire Code was held up.
April Hammonds, Esq, said she would not be surprised with JAPC, she said
the eleven years she has worked with the state, and this is the first time she
has seen the issue of trying to get a rule completed. She said it is not the quality of work.
Commissioner Schiffer stated his
concern is if we can avoid a situation where we have a new Fire Code and an Old
Building Code for half a year.
Chairman Browdy stated the other
alternative would be the meeting schedule is set for October and December. He said depending on when the Fire Code is
ready; it is not inconceivable that he could call a special meeting. He stated they can have a rule adoption
hearing and facilitate the enactment of the Code sooner and not be held hostage
to our typical six week process.
Chairman Browdy stated he was not aware of the required notification
time to host a special meeting, he said if that is their preference that is
fine to ensure we get the code out. He
said the special meeting can be called to have a rule hearing.
Jim Richmond advised that the noticing
requirements for the meeting are simple, it is seven days or really eight days
and a day’s notice to JAPC. He said the
problem is a rules hearing and that will require a twenty one day notice.
Chairman Browdy said that is
still better than waiting between October and December. He further said that would make a difference,
this is why he does not want to send the wrong message or date out to the
public until we are ready to perform in that threshold.
Commissioner Langille asked if
the Fire Code goes in and our documents are referenced, do we send everything
they want and we have to have our Code go through with the Fire Code. He said should they not have been submitted
together at the same time, that way they are both there.
April Hammonds, Esq. said it
deals with incorporation by reference so their document has to be finished
before we can incorporate it. She
further stated we have language in our code that references incorporated.
Chairman Browdy stated that
Option number one requires no action at this time and we can take a look at it
at the October Meeting. He said however,
in the event we have the ability to facilitate the delivery of this code sooner
by having a special meeting rather than being held hostage to
FBC
Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
Page
27
Update
on 5th Edition of the Florida Building Code (cont.):
some schedule even if the meeting
is just for one day just for that purpose.
He did confirm that this would have to be an in person.
Jim Richmond stated they have
been held via telephone; however, it becomes a problem when there is a lot of
paperwork/visuals and also large audience participation.
Chairman Browdy advised we would
discuss later if needed for a date of a special meeting.
Commissioner Flanagan asked to
make a motion to wait until the October meeting to discuss, should the event
become necessary a special meeting would be better.
Chairman Browdy advised there is
not a need for a motion if they decided to wait until October.
Commissioner Calleja asked if
there has ever conducted a meeting with the Chair of the Legislative Committee
JAPC? He stated they could voice their
opinion on how this is affecting the trade and ability to published rules.
Mo Madani, stated we have been
lucky with JAPC and we should wait.
Jim Richmond stated he did not
know if the Commission could, however, their stake holders could perhaps
contact the Chair or any member of JAPC of the Committee itself. He said the staff works autonomously. Mr. Richmond further advised that The
Building Code is a consensus document created by the industry that ultimately
is subject to its requirements. Mr.
Richmond said that to him makes it a great deal different than other agencies
rules and perhaps could obtain some level of consideration considering that
fact.
Chairman Browdy advised
Commissioner Calleja, that the Chairman of JAPC is Senator Renee Garcia and the
Vice Chair is Representative Jim Grant.
He then read the Committee Members names.
Commissioner Calleja stated he
had the names.
Commissioner Brown stated having
served on this Committee, he said Jim characterized it well, and it sounds like staff is dominating this
process, but he would caution and use extreme discretion in our conversations
and dialog about the job they do. He
said they should very discretely converse with them and to avoid any upset for
the Senators and Representatives, this could cause more issues.
Commissioner Gross asked if the
certification of the Accessibility Code has any updates.
FBC
Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
Page
28
Update
on 5th Edition of the Florida Building Code (cont.):
April Hammonds, Esq. advised that
they are still being told they are working on it. She said the reviews have been completed next
is the Access Board.
Committee
Reports and Recommendations:
Chairman Browdy asked that the Committee
Chairman, please confine their TAC/POC reports to a brief summary of key issues
and recommendations, emphasizing any issues requiring an action from the
Commission. He asked that they please frame any needed Commission action in the
form of a motion. Chairman Browdy
advised that there is no need to read the TAC/POC minutes since the complete
minutes will be linked to the committees’ subsequent meeting agendas for
approval by the respective committees.
Accessibility
Technical Advisory Committee
Commissioner Gross provided a brief
summary of the TAC meeting of June 24, 2014 held via teleconference.
Commissioner Gross entered a
motion to approve the TAC report, Commissioner Schilling seconded the motion,
the motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Gross asked about
the funding approval and when they can take action.
Chairman Browdy stated there is
no permission needed for the funding.
Code
Administration Technical Advisory Committee
Commissioner Carlson stated per
instruction, there is no report today.
Education
Program Oversight Committee
Commissioner Dean stated there was a POC meeting
scheduled for August 15, 2014 held via teleconference there was not a quorum
and therefore there is no report.
Electrical
Technical Advisory Committee
Commissioner Flanagan provided a b brief
summary of the TAC meeting of August 7, 2014 held via teleconference.
Commissioner Flanagan entered a
motion to approve the TAC report, Commissioner Swope seconded the motion, the
motion passed unanimously.
FBC
Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
Page
29
Committee
Reports and Recommendations (cont.):
Energy
Technical Advisory Committee
Mo Madani provided a brief
summary of the Energy TAC meeting August 8, 2014 and June 26th held via
teleconference.
Commissioner Calleja entered a motion
to approve the TAC reports. Commissioner
Phillips seconded the motion, the motion passed unanimously.
Fire
Technical Advisory Committee
Mo Madani provided a brief
summary of the Energy TAC meetings June 27, 2014 and August 6, 2014 held via
teleconference.
Commissioner Schiffer entered a motion
to approve the TAC reports. Commissioner
Phillips seconded the motion, the motion passed unanimously.
Mechanical
Technical Advisory Committee
Mo Madani provided a brief
summary of the Energy TAC meeting June 25, 2014 held via teleconference.
Commissioner Calleja entered a motion
to approve the TAC report. Commissioner
Phillips seconded the motion, the motion passed unanimously.
Plumbing
Technical Advisory Committee
Mo Madani provided a brief
summary of the TAC meeting of August 6, 2014 held via teleconference.
Commissioner Schilling entered a motion
to approve the TAC report. Commissioner
Phillips seconded the motion, the motion passed unanimously.
Product
Approval Program Oversight Committee
Commissioner Compton provided a
brief summary of the POC meeting August 7, 2104 held via teleconference.
Commissioner Compton entered a
motion to approve POC report.
Commissioner Swope seconded, the motion passed unanimously.
FBC
Plenary Session
August
22, 2014
Page
30
Committee
Reports and Recommendations (cont.):
Roofing
Technical Advisory Committee
Commissioner Swope provided a
brief summary of the Roofing TAC meeting June 27, 2014 held via teleconference.
Commissioner Swope entered a
motion to approve the TAC report.
Commissioner Brown seconded the motion, the motion passed unanimously.
Special
Occupancy:
Commissioner Phillips advised
there was no report.
Structural
Technical Advisory Committee
Commissioner Schock provided a brief
summary of the TAC meetings of June24, 2014, July 14, 2014 and August 4, 2014
held via teleconference.
Commissioner Schock entered a
motion to approve the TAC reports. Commissioner Compton seconded the motion,
the motion passed unanimously
Swimming
Pool Technical Advisory Committee
Commissioner Tolbert provided a
brief summary of the TAC meeting held June 26, 2014 held via teleconference.
Commissioner Tolbert entered a
motion to approve the TAC report.
Commissioner Swope seconded the motion, the motion passed unanimously.
Chairman Browdy advised that there was a need to
go back to the Product Approval POC report.
Jeff Blair stated the report was
approved; however, there was one outstanding item, which he gave to
Commissioner Compton.
Commissioner Compton advised
there was an item omitted from the report.
He stated the POC recommends that the Commission move the product
approval application submittal completion deadline back by one week to the
current preliminary review deadline date for the product approval applications
cycle.
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Plenary Session
August
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Committee
Reports and Recommendations (cont.):
Chairman Browdy stated also he
would assume that from a structural point of view that this will need to be
incorporated into the Product Approval POC report or would it be a separate
action.
Jeff Blair stated this would be
taken up as a separate action.
Commissioner Compton entered a
motion to move the product approval application submittal completion deadline
back by one week to the current preliminary review deadline date for the
product approval applications cycle.
Commissioner Schock seconded the motion, the motion passed unanimously.
General Public Comment:
Chairman Browdy opened the
meeting to public comment. He advised
the public if they wished to address the Commission and have not yet signed the
speaker’s list to please do so now. He further stated that the Commission
welcomes their comments on its actions or any other topic under the
Commission’s purview and authority.
Chairman Browdy asked the speakers to approach the table and identify
themselves for the record.
Mark Zehnel, FRSA, referenced
prior information discussed by Commissioner Calleja regarding the code
development process. He said he the ICC
has already sent out the 2015 version of their code and they will start working
on the next edition within a few months and we are working off of 2013 code
which is now the 2014 code which was based off of their 2013 code. Mr. Zehnel said therefore we are not catching
up and he feels confused, he is trying to find out where we are at, and it
seemed to him we are actually getting further behind where we were catching up
before, if we base our next code which should have been the 2016. He further stated it will be 2016 before we
even start on the version that will be based on the 2015 code of ICC who will
have already been in the 2018 code. Mr.
Zehnel said to please forgive him, but there is a lot of industry asking
questions and he thinks the architects are asking the same questions, and they
are also working on ASE 7 16 which is going to make major changes for wind
design from what he is hearing. He asked
if we get into the next code cycle are we going to be faster with the next one
or are we going to fall back behind just to try to stay level.
Jim Richmond advised the initial
schedule tried to pick up a year and it did not work. He said picking up time is not a realistic
objective at this time. Mr. Richmond stated that we need to stay consistent
with the Fire Code, which is statutory there is no way to get around it. He advised the process we have is statutory,
we are doing the best we can. He further
stated if you want to change the rule again, your stakeholder groups are very
able to do that, we would need the 60 review on the front end, TAC review,
Commission review, and then go under Chapter 120 and have rule adoption
hearings, rule development workshops, then we would need to go through the JAPC
process and rule adoption process, this is extremely lengthy process and we are
getting
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General Public Comment (cont.):
bound up in it. Mr. Richmond stated it is not surprising, all
agencies are getting bound up in it, but we are doing the best we can.
Mark Zehnel stated they are not
casting blame; they are just trying to find out the direction we are going to
go.
Doug Buck, stated he wanted to
echo to what he heard early, that Jim Richmond touched on again. He asked the audience who was there
representing their association and do they have communication back to their
lobbyists in Tallahassee. Mr. Buck said
that he hears the word it is statutory, once a year the legislature meets in
Tallahassee and change the statute. He
said Representative Brown, Commissioner Brown said yes that is what they
do. Mr. Buck said they do that under the
advocacy of groups and when groups come together it is almost non-controversial,
it is a matter of process. He said so
when there is a consensus that something needs to be changed that is a powerful
thing in Tallahassee. Mr. Buck stated
what the industry needs, Jack Glenn and himself talked so every year they did a
building code bill, every year there is a building code bill, but the
recommendations that come from here may not even show up until February or
March which is way too late to include in bills. He said although many times many of your
issues are. He further stated you also
have to be sensitive to the fact that you have a Department and a process, but
he would suggest that all that are here probably because of some association
supported you would like to hear back from you.
He said they would like to hear what would make their job easier and
help the industry build. Mr. Buck said
regarding the six months, it is a problem, but you have to look historically at
how we did we get to the six month barrier, we got there because we had an
adopted code effective code and nobody had a copy, so we have had problems with
process and maybe we are at a new era of understanding that. He said he would suggest a lot more dialog,
each member has associations support and they need to be used. He said in that regard Jim Richmond, have you
been invited to the Construction Coalition and are you coming.
Jim Richmond stated he has not
yet been invited and it will go through the Division.
Mr. Buck stated you have an
opportunity to attend in about a month.
He said almost everyone attending today should make an attempt attend
the Coalition Meeting; they want to make it easier for them to do their job and
not face statutory barriers. He said the
Associations have to agree, so he is putting this out there as an offer.
Jim Richmond stated he wanted to
explain lack of response for the code edition that no one could get. He said there were some contentious times and
they do not need to be re-hashed, but to look forward.
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General Public Comment (cont.):
Martin Perrone, Carpenter
Electric, stated he was present at the April meeting he handed out a copy of a
workbook a study book/guide for an ARC Flash Safety training program that he
has been providing to a lot of companies.
He stated it is actually a state approved CEU course sanctioned by the
Bureau of Fire Standards and Training, so any firefighters or inspectors they
receive CEUs. He said recently it came
to their attention, the NFPA 70-E which was created in 1972 OSHA had never
adopted that because of obvious reasons, it would require lengthy and expensive
process. Mr. Perrone said that on April
11, 2014, OSHA finalized that rule and that ruling is OSHA 29CFR 1910.269 and
on July 10, 2014 that went into law. He
said basically it is a 1600 page ruling filled with a lot of information, he
tried to compile a synopsis to bring in April and then again today.
Mr. Perrone said in the first
paragraph, “The updated standards bring together construction and general
industry requirements so that the same rules apply generally in the same lines
of work.”. He further stated you will
find that this ruling states if you are general industry building and you do
not have a way of estimating the ARC Flash incident energy that can come from a
piece of equipment while someone is working on it, via the personal protection
equipment categories levels 1, 2, 3, and
4 or actually a new one 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 by January 1, 2015, OSHA is asking
building owners to have the analysis done, so when an electrician works on a piece
of equipment if it is energized, they are capable of seeing these ARC flash
labels so that they know what type of PPE they must put on, so they are safely
working on that equipment.
Mr. Perrone stated the reason he
brought the literature to the April meeting was to allow dialog to begin among
the Commission and allow professionals start recognizing this is an important
issue. He said they could start policing
the fact that or letting businesses that are buying a new building have an ARC
Flash Coordination Study done prior to the building receiving its certificate
of occupancy. He further stated if he
purchased a building and spent $10 million dollars on it and amortized the loan
however long 20 or 30 years and out of the blue I am asked to spend another $30
or $40 thousand dollars, I would be upset that it could not be a part of the
loan.
Mr. Perrone thanked the
Commission for their time and he would answer any questions.
Commissioner Flanagan stated ARC
Flash Safety is very important, there is a man on the west coast that was badly
burned.
Mr. Perrone stated he does know
this man and knows he is now traveling and educating on this subject. He said an ARC Flash suite that an
electrician wears is only there to do one thing, to prevent the electrician
from receiving incurable third degree burns which means if he is wearing a 40 calc suit and is working on 2000 amps switch gear and an
explosion occurs, he/she is still going to get 1st or 2nd
degree burns, it is there to keep them from being severely burned. Mr.
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General Public Comment (cont.):
Perrone said he is actually
giving this seminar to 24 OSHA compliant officers on September 5th in Ft.
Lauderdale
Chairman Browdy thanked Mr.
Perrone and asked if there were further questions, there being none, Mr. Gascon
was recognized.
Jamie Gascon, Miami-Dade stated
he was here today as a messenger. Mr.
Gascon advised he was delivering a message from FIU, a gift that they will be
contributing as part of the ongoing research as he mentioned at the TAC
committee last month of research that they have already been funded through the
National Science Foundation and three key points of research that they are
going to be doing that the results will then be forwarded to the Commission in
the form of Code changes or in a form the Commission can use for future code
changes. Mr. Gascon said that the timing
could very well fall in line with what efforts you are doing here in trying to
implement changes to the 2014 Code. He
stated these are going to be in the areas of Dynamic Effects of Wind Loading on
Portable Take Systems, Wind Effects on Standing Seamed Metal Roofs and also
Wind Effects on Shingle Roofs and their use above thirty three foot mean
elevation mark that currently exist. Mr.
Gascon said that the results of this research that they have already been
funding for elsewhere will also contribute to efforts here being done in the
Florida Building Commission and Code.
Chairman Browdy asked who funded
FIU.
Mr. Gascon stated it was through
National Science Foundation.
Mo Madani stated National Science
Foundation receives funding through the legislature. He said there are allocations.
Chairman Browdy thanked Mr.
Gascon for the gift.
Commission
Member Comments and Issues:
Commissioner Swope questioned
Commissioner Brown if he stated it would be good or bad to reach out to a
member of JAPC.
Commissioner Brown advised they
should be very discreet, reaching out to Senators or Representatives is
something, they are there to hear from the public, but as a member of the
Commission, I would be careful. He said
he thinks he will read between the lines and it sounds like the issue is a
staff issue and the members of that Committee may not be fully aware of
it. He said how this is communicated
should be conducted in a careful way to avoid backlash.
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Commission
Member Comments and Issues (cont.):
Jim Richmond stated that he
thinks the obstacles we encounter are not always the person we deal with. He feels it is more the representation of
what we deal with, i.e. rules with the current administration. He further stated Governor Scott ran on a
stringent platform when it came to regulation and has also been mimicked in the
House, where there is a Committee on the Rules.
Mr. Richmond stated he would not categorize this as a staff issue and
why he referred Commissioners back to their constituent groups. He said he would emphasize it again it is not
so much that it is a staff issue or the Committee’s Mission, but a reminder
that the building code is different and really is a consensus of a product and
something he thinks is far more impactful when that message is delivered by the
constituent groups in lieu of staff contact.
Commissioner Brown said he felt
Mr. Richmond hit an important point, with regard to the Building Code it is
different. He said legislatively there
are cycles as members and leadership take their positions over time. He further said to the extent that they defer
legislative action to rule making and Jim is correct we are in one of those
cycles they are looking closely within their purview. He said the most import statement made is
that the Building Code is something they have asked to be done and it needs to
be facilitated and not held up unnecessarily, that would be the part of his
message to leadership or to staff either is that the Building Code is different
and is very important to the economy and to the legislatures.
Commissioner Schiffer wanted to
go to the point to the study of the Building Code could be better coordinated
with the Fire Code and the ICC process.
He said he asked at the last meeting to put together a task force to
look at this. He said his concern is we
are fumbling at the end and it is difficult for the design community and has to
be difficult for the governing jurisdictions and maybe there is a way to look
at this and better coordinate it, staff should be part, stakeholder should have
part. Commissioner Schiffer stated he
feels now is the time to look at it.
Commissioner Gross stated as a Commissioner
he takes a lot of heat regarding changing the code so much and why does it take
so long. He said if you go on the ICC
website they have a page which shows what additions of the ICC code are adopted
in different parts of the United States, there are a few states have state
codes and others that have local county and city codes. Commissioner Gross said
we are ahead of the medium, the only city he believes Seattle is the only city
that has adopted the ICC Code.
Commissioner Gross said there are few legislative bodies will allow
city, state, county, etc. their person to adopt the latest ICC edition face
value before it comes out. He said there
is always a delay in what edition you have; again if you look where we are at
we are ahead. Commissioner Gross said that we tried to pick up a year this
year, ahead of everything; confusion was there and then the issue with the Fire
Code. He suggested maybe we could get
them approved at the same time same cycle.
We are always going to be behind the ICC.
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Commission
Member Comments and Issues (cont.):
Commissioner Calleja stated on
our next code, when we start working on that one.
Mo Madani stated we will start as
soon as we put this code to publish status, he will start the process. He said it will begin late next year.
Commissioner Swope asked about
the update on the latest edition of the Tile Manual, Concrete Roofing Tile
Manual.
Mo Madani stated the last thing
seen was the notice of change sent out with regards to the changes we reviewed
at the last meeting. He said that with
the notice of change normally there is a twenty one day associated with
that. He said the next step is to file
it.
April Hammonds, Esq., stated she
was not ignoring Commissioner Swope, she said this is one reason why there is
Rules Attorney and she is responsible for many of the Rules and she does our
Rules. Ms. Hammonds said she has
requested that she attend the meetings on many occasions especially during
Rules Hearing and different issues. She
said she was not trying to ignore you, but she said she does not have the
responsibility, we look at it from a technical perspective to be sure that is
what the Commission wanted and voted on, but the Rules Attorney has the
process.
Commissioner Swope stated he
understood, he asked Mr. Madani about the twenty one day process before it is
filed and that is before it goes into place or back before JAPC.
Mo Madani said at the last
meeting, there were comments made and changes to the reference document to the
manual, so because of the changes a notice of change has to be issued and the
twenty one days will be given to public interest to comment on it if necessary,
that is where we are at this point. He
stated he has not heard anything after that, he said normally after the notice
of change without comment, it will go straight to be noticed. He stated he would keep them posted.
Adjournment:
Commissioner Tolbert entered a
motion to adjourn; Commissioner Brown seconded the motion, the motion passed
unanimously. The meeting was adjourned
at 11:43 am.