A special citizen committee will recommend new building codes to the Jefferson City Council on July 17 that, if approved, would change the types of tornado shelters that commercial buildings are required to have; regulate swimming pools and change fire codes in mid-sized apartment complexes.
The committee and its subcommittee's 33 members include contractors, designers, city planners and other business leaders who want to create robust building codes that are easy to use but also balance business needs.
While crafting the codes, the committee sought public input for months in an effort to hear from every industry potentially affected by the changes.
Once its recommendations are made to the council, the temporary committee will be dissolved.
The city updates its building codes every six years and currently uses versions of several 2009 international codes. Members of the Steering Committee for Building Code Review first met in February 2016 and have held 83 meetings, reviewing the new codes and seeking public input.
Most of the updates will fill small holes in current codes, but the city also wants to make small changes to customize the codes for Jefferson City's needs.
The steering committee plans to recommend the council adopt the 2014 version of the National Electric Code and the 2015 versions of the International Plumbing Code and the International Property Maintenance Code. The committee also plans to recommend the city adopt the International Existing Building Code, International Mechanical Code and the International Fuel Gas Code.
"This is all supposed to be very reasonable," Jefferson City Building Official Larry Burkhardt said at a previous meeting. "There's a lot of rationality behind why the codes are the way they are."
One of the biggest changes the committee made is to alter the requirement commercial buildings be built with storm shelters that can withstand EF-5 tornadoes with winds of 250 mph.
Burkhardt said at a June 1 public meeting these types of tornadoes are rare in this part of the country, and it's costly to install these types of shelters. However, under the new codes, commercial buildings will be required to build tornado shelters that can withstand EF-4 tornadoes with winds of 200 mph.
The new codes will also fully regulate swimming pool installation. Current city code mentions pools but only in fleeting instances under the construction codes section. Now the city will implement the latest version of the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code.
Other small revisions made by the committee mostly blew through public discussion uncontested. The biggest change to the building codes would force developers to install fire-prevention sprinklers in apartment complexes with three or more units.
Current city code allows developers to build apartment complexes with nine or fewer units without sprinklers. Fire officials and committee members told the News Tribune the changes are common-sense safety measures.
Most international code books update their building codes every three years. Because the city currently uses 2009 versions of most codes, it skipped 2012 revisions. Burkhardt said the city could decide to update its building codes every three years, though.
The new codes will be introduced to the council at its July 17 meeting, which will start at 5:45 p.m. The council is expected to vote on whether to adopt the building codes at its Aug. 7 meeting.