Jefferson City officials held the first of two public meetings to seek comments after a City Council-created committee recommended adoption of several new building codes, including new requirements regarding swimming pools, storm shelters and fire sprinklers.
The city updates its building codes every six years and currently uses international versions of several 2009 codes. Members of the Ad Hoc Steering Committee for Building Code Review first met in February 2016 and held almost 80 meetings, reviewing the new codes and seeking public input. Most of the updates will fill small holes in current codes, city officials said. However, the city wants to customize the codes for Jefferson City's needs.
As is, the steering committee plans to recommend the council adopt the 2014 version of the National Electric Code, 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, International Fuel Gas Code, and the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code.
Larry Burkhardt, Jefferson City building official, told a small crowd current city code mentions pools, but only in fleeting instances. The new codes will fully regulate pool installation.
"We never had it under construction (codes)," Burkhardt said. "When someone came in for a pool permit, we could tell them that eventually they'd have to put a 48-inch-tall barrier around it. Now when it's under construction, we can do some more parameters that were deficient before."
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. Once its recommendations are made to the council, the temporary
committee will be dissolved.
Burkhardt said the city is working to customize the codes to meet Jefferson City's needs. Most are small things like changing height requirements for fences from what's in the international codes.
One of the biggest changes the committee made though is to change the requirement commercial buildings be built with storm shelters that can withstand EF-5 tornadoes with winds of 250 mph. Burkhardt said 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 still be required to build tornado shelters that can withstand EF-4 tornadoes with winds of 200 mph.
"It's just kind of overkill," Burkhardt said.
Throughout the process, the most contentious debate over the new codes regards the city's switch to the 2015 International Fire Code.
This fire code says all types of homes should be equipped with fire sprinklers. Missouri state law does not require single-family homes and duplexes to install sprinklers in homes, but requires builders give buyers the option to install them.
A recommendation from the committee that will require sprinklers in triplexes and larger complexes is drawing the ire of local developers because of concerns about the cost of installing such systems in new homes.
Jim Crabtree, who chaired the Fire and Property Maintenance Subcommittee, said they understand why developers are concerned about increasing rental prices, but need to err on the side of safety.
"We really didn't see the economics driving this decision," Crabtree said. "Sprinklers give the fire department more response time. There may still be a fire, but it may not spread."
The Apartment Association estimates the changes could add an extra $25 per month to rents.
However, area developer Ken Thoenen said rental rates just aren't high enough to be profitable with the sprinkler requirement.
"I looked at trying to keep our costs down as much as I could," Thoenen said. "It's a lot more economical to build 10-plexes than duplexes.
The Steering Committee will hold another meeting 6-7 p.m. June 15 at the Police Training Room inside the Jefferson City Police Department's headquarters at 401 Monroe St.
The recommendations could be reviewed by the City Council at its July 17 meeting and approved Aug. 7. If the codes are approved at the Aug. 7 meeting, they'd go into effect 60 days later at the beginning of October.