Residential building code posted online

WATAGUA COUNTY, N.C.,None — To the relief of builders and building inspectors, the N.C. Department of Insurance posted the 2012 N.C. Residential Code online Tuesday.

Session Law 2011-269, signed by  Gov. Bev Perdue in June 2011, set the mandatory enforcement date for the 2012 N.C. Residential Code as March 1, 2012. However, due to various delays, printed versions will not be available by March 1 and possibly not until April or May. 

"Through cooperation with the publisher, we are working to expedite the printing process," said N.C. Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin. "In the meantime … the 2012 Residential Code will be made available online, at no cost. There is no need and no justification for jurisdictions to delay the issuance of building permits, as the 2012 N.C. Residential Code will be readily available prior to its March 1 effective date."

The Residential Code includes one- and two-family dwellings, duplexes and townhomes but not multi-family apartment buildings.

Last week, the Boone Town Council unanimously voted to direct the Planning & Inspections Department to refrain from issuing residential building permits for new homes and remodels after March 1 until new state building codes are received. At that time a summary of the new code was available online, but inspectors said they were reluctant to issue permits based on summaries.

Watauga County took the opposite approach, however, with officials stating Feb. 25 they felt enough information was available to issue residential building permits that comply with the 2012 Residential Code.

Watauga County Fire Marshal and Emergency Management Coordinator Steve Sudderth, who is also president of the North Carolina Building Inspectors Association, last week told the council that of those jurisdictions who have addressed the issue, about a quarter are placing a moratorium on residential building permits from March 1 until the new codes are received, while the other three-quarters planned to move forward with issuing permits.

On Monday, the North Carolina Home Builders Association criticized local government decisions to delay residential building permits.

"There is simply no legal basis for any local government to delay the issuance of a building permit because of the absence of a current code book," the association said in its Monday Briefing. "Builders and citizens should not be punished by the withholding of applicable permits because of this temporary delay in the availability of published code books, which they share no responsibility for causing."

Boone Planning & Inspections Director Bill Bailey and Watauga County building inspector Ronnie Greene appeared at the regular meeting of the High Country Home Builders Association in Boone Monday to speak about the matter.

Bailey said he hoped the town could continue issuing residential building permits now that the new code language will be posted online. He said Boone acted to delay permits because of liability concerns and because "we wanted to send a message back up to Raleigh."

Greene advised builders to use the 2012 codes provided online. He also advised them to read the new 2012 Energy Conservation Code very carefully. The approved code is intended to reduce energy usage in new buildings by 15 percent.

"You need to read it very closely," Greene said. "The cost of building just went up 5 to 10 percent (for) every house."

He said single-family residences were driving construction in the county, unlike Boone, which sees more commercial development. Codes affecting commercial development do not become effective until June 1.

"We can't just shut our doors," Greene said.

A draft version of the code is available on the International Code Council's website at http://www.ecodes.biz_support/Free_Resources/2012NorthCarolina/12NorthCarolina_main.html.

WSOC