September 16, 2010

Mo Madani, CBO, Technical Unit Manager

Building Code and Standards

Florida Department of Community Affairs

2555 Shumard Oak Boulevard

Tallahassee, FL 32399-2100

Dear Mr. Madani,

The purpose of this letter is to formally express concerns with the proposed changes to Rule 9N-3, relating to the product approval rule. Specifically, my clients have concerns with the proposed subscript wording that would be included on the Building Code Information System (BCIS) for those products which receive state product approval through the new expedited product approval process. Additionally, there are concerns with respect to manufacturers having to split the credit card payments for product approval between the department and the program administrator.

First, the proposed subscript wording-- “Approved by DCA subject to review and ratification by the POC and/or the Commission if necessary”-- implies that the product is approved by the department upon review and ratification by the Product Approval Program Oversight Committee (POC) or Commission which is totally counter to the law. Products are to be approved by the department and then subsequent to approval, ratification occurs; products are not approved “subject to” ratification.

It is imperative that the subscript wording on the BCIS reflects that the product is approved for use immediately upon department approval; otherwise, building officials could interpret the wording to indicate that the products may not be used until ratification occurs. We suggest that the subscript wording on review and ratification be changed to reflect the law by stating: “Approved for use by DCA. Approvals by DCA shall be reviewed and ratified by the POC and/ or the Commission if necessary.”

Our suggested language clearly indicates that an action will occur, but the product approval is not “in “limbo” until review and ratification. Moreover, we respectfully request that the department prepare a memorandum clearly explaining to the building officials and other

Mr. Mo Madani

September 16, 2010

Page Two

stakeholders the new expedited product approval process, emphasizing that the products are available for use immediately upon department approval. It is extremely critical that we educate the building officials so as not to cause unnecessary delays in getting approved products to market.

Secondly, with regards to the split payments for product approval, we believe that this could potentially become an onerous process for the product manufacturers. It is unclear as to whether all of the credit card information will have to be input more than once in order to split the payments between the department and the program administrator.

As always, I appreciate your willingness to heed the concerns of those most impacted by these changes and I look forward to working with you and the department to craft a workable solution.

Sincerely yours,

Kari Hebrank