June 20, 2007, Introduced by Senator BASHAM and referred to the Committee on Energy Policy and Public Utilities.
A bill to amend 1972 PA 230, entitled
"Stille-DeRossett-Hale single state construction code act,"
by amending sections 2a and 4 (MCL 125.1502a and 125.1504), section
2a as added by 1999 PA 245 and section 4 as amended by 2004 PA 584.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 2a. (1) As used in this act:
(a) "Agricultural or agricultural purposes" means of, or
pertaining to, or connected with, or engaged in agriculture or
tillage which is characterized by the act or business of
cultivating or using land and soil for the production of crops for
the use of animals or humans, and includes, but is not limited to,
purposes related to agriculture, farming, dairying, pasturage,
horticulture, floriculture, viticulture, and animal and poultry
husbandry.
(b) "Application for a building permit" means an application
for a building permit submitted to an enforcing agency pursuant to
this act and plans, specifications, surveys, statements, and other
material submitted to the enforcing agency together or in
connection with the application.
(c) "Barrier free design" means design complying with legal
requirements for architectural designs which eliminate the type of
barriers and hindrances that deter persons with disabilities from
having access to and free mobility in and around a building or
structure.
(d) "Board of appeals" means the construction board of appeals
of a governmental subdivision provided for in section 14.
(e) "Boards" means the state plumbing board, board of
mechanical
rules, and the electrical administrative boards board,
and
the barrier free design board. created in section 5 of 1966 PA
1,
MCL 125.1355.
(f) "Building" means a combination of materials, whether
portable or fixed, forming a structure affording a facility or
shelter for use or occupancy by persons, animals, or property.
Building does not include a building, whether temporary or
permanent, incidental to the use for agricultural purposes of the
land on which the building is located if it is not used in the
business of retail trade. Building includes the meaning "or part or
parts of the building and all equipment in the building" unless the
context clearly requires a different meaning.
(g) "Building envelope" means the elements of a building which
enclose conditioned spaces through which thermal energy may be
transferred to or from the exterior.
(h) "Business day" means a day of the year, exclusive of a
Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.
(i) "Chief elected official" means the chairperson of the
county board of commissioners, the city mayor, the village
president, or the township supervisor.
(j) "Code" means the state construction code provided for in
section 4 or a part of that code of limited application and
includes a modification of or amendment to the code.
(k) "Commission" means the state construction code commission
created
by section 3 3a.
(l) "Construction" means the construction, erection,
reconstruction, alteration, conversion, demolition, repair, moving,
or equipping of buildings or structures.
(m) "Construction regulation" means a law, act, rule,
regulation, or code, general or special, or compilation thereof,
enacted or adopted before or after January 1, 1973, by this state
including a department, board, bureau, commission, or other agency
thereof, relating to the design, construction, or use of buildings
and structures and the installation of equipment in the building or
structure. Construction regulation does not include a zoning
ordinance or rule issued pursuant to a zoning ordinance and related
to zoning.
(n)
"Cost-effective", in reference to section 4(3)(f) and (g),
means,
using the existing energy efficiency standards and
requirements
as the base of comparison, the economic benefits of
the
proposed energy efficiency standards and requirements will
exceed
the economic costs of the requirements of the proposed rules
based
upon an incremental multiyear analysis. All of the following
provisions
apply:
(i) The analysis shall take into consideration the
perspective
of
a typical first-time home buyer.
(ii) The analysis shall consider benefits and costs
over a 7-
year
time period.
(iii) The analysis shall not assume fuel price increases
in
excess
of the assumed general rate of inflation.
(iv) The analysis shall assure that the buyer of a home
who
qualifies
to purchase the home before the addition of the energy
efficient
standards would still qualify to purchase the same home
after
the additional cost of the energy-saving construction
features.
(v) The analysis shall assure that the costs of
principal,
interest,
taxes, insurance, and utilities will not be greater after
the
inclusion of the proposed cost of the additional energy-saving
construction
features required by the proposed energy efficiency
rules
as opposed to the provisions of the existing energy
efficiency
rules.
(n) (o)
"Department" means the
department of consumer and
industry
services labor and economic
growth.
(o) (p)
"Director" means the
director of the department or an
authorized representative of the director.
(p) (q)
"Energy conservation"
means the efficient use of
energy by providing building envelopes with high thermal resistance
and low air leakage, and the selection of energy efficient
mechanical, electrical service, and illumination systems,
equipment, devices, or apparatus.
(q) (r)
"Enforcing agency" means
the enforcing agency, in
accordance with section 8a or 8b, which is responsible for
administration and enforcement of the code within a governmental
subdivision, except for the purposes of section 19 enforcing agency
means the agency in a governmental unit principally responsible for
the administration and enforcement of applicable construction
regulations.
(r) (s)
"Equipment" means
plumbing, heating, electrical,
ventilating, air conditioning, and refrigerating equipment.
(s) (t)
"Governmental
subdivision" means a county, city,
village,
or township which in accordance with section 8 8a has
assumed responsibility for administration and enforcement of this
act and the code within its jurisdiction.
(t) (u)
"Mobile home" means a
vehicular, portable structure
built on a chassis pursuant to the national manufactured housing
construction and safety standards act of 1974, title VI of the
housing and community development act of 1974, Public Law 93-383,
42
U.S.C. USC 5401 to 5426, and designed to be used without a
permanent foundation as a dwelling when connected to required
utilities and which is, or is intended to be, attached to the
ground, to another structure, or to a utility system on the same
premises for more than 30 consecutive days.
(u) (v)
"Other laws and
ordinances" means other laws and
ordinances whether enacted by this state or by a county, city,
village, or township and the rules issued under those laws and
ordinances.
(v) (w)
"Owner" means the owner
of the freehold of the
premises or lesser estate in the premises, a mortgagee or vendee in
possession, an assignee of rents, receiver, executor, trustee,
lessee, or any other person, sole proprietorship, partnership,
association, or corporation directly or indirectly in control of a
building, structure, or real property or his or her duly authorized
agent.
(w) (x)
"Person with
disabilities" means an individual whose
physical characteristics have a particular relationship to that
individual's ability to be self-reliant in the individual's
movement throughout and use of the building environment.
(x) (y)
"Premanufactured unit"
means an assembly of materials
or products intended to comprise all or part of a building or
structure, and which is assembled at other than the final location
of the unit of the building or structures by a repetitive process
under circumstances intended to insure uniformity of quality and
material content. Premanufactured unit includes a mobile home.
(y) (z)
"Structure" means that
which is built or constructed,
an edifice or building of any kind, or a piece of work artificially
built up or composed of parts joined together in some definite
manner. Structure does not include a structure incident to the use
for agricultural purposes of the land on which the structure is
located and does not include works of heavy civil construction
including, but not limited to, a highway, bridge, dam, reservoir,
lock, mine, harbor, dockside port facility, an airport landing
facility and facilities for the generation or transmission, or
distribution of electricity. Structure includes the meaning "or
part or parts of the structure and all equipment in the structure"
unless the context clearly requires a different meaning.
(2) Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, a
reference to this act, or to this act and the code, means this act
and rules promulgated pursuant to this act including the code.
Sec. 4. (1) The director shall prepare and promulgate the
state construction code consisting of rules governing the
construction, use, and occupation of buildings and structures,
including land area incidental to the buildings and structures, the
manufacture and installation of building components and equipment,
the construction and installation of premanufactured units, the
standards and requirements for materials to be used in connection
with the units, and other requirements relating to the safety,
including safety from fire, and sanitation facilities of the
buildings and structures.
(2) The code shall consist of the international residential
code, the international building code, the international mechanical
code, the international plumbing code published by the
international code council, the national electrical code published
by the national fire prevention association, and the Michigan
uniform energy code with amendments, additions, or deletions as the
director determines appropriate. The Michigan uniform energy code
shall be the 2006 international energy conservation code, and no
amendments, additions, or deletions to that code that decrease
energy efficiency or increase energy use in buildings shall be
permitted.
(3) The code shall be designed to effectuate the general
purposes of this act and the following objectives and standards:
(a) To provide standards and requirements for construction and
construction materials consistent with nationally recognized
standards and requirements.
(b) To formulate standards and requirements, to the extent
practicable in terms of performance objectives, so as to make
adequate performance for the use intended the test of
acceptability.
(c) To permit to the fullest extent feasible the use of modern
technical methods, devices, and improvements, including
premanufactured units, consistent with reasonable requirements for
the health, safety, and welfare of the occupants and users of
buildings and structures.
(d) To eliminate restrictive, obsolete, conflicting, and
unnecessary construction regulations that tend to increase
construction costs unnecessarily or restrict the use of new
materials, products, or methods of construction, or provide
preferential treatment to types or classes of materials or products
or methods of construction.
(e) To insure adequate maintenance of buildings and structures
throughout this state and to adequately protect the health, safety,
and welfare of the people.
(f)
To provide standards and requirements for cost-effective
energy efficiency that will be effective April 1, 1997.
(g)
Upon periodic review, to continue to seek ever-improving ,
cost-effective
energy efficiencies.
(h) The development of a voluntary consumer information system
relating to energy efficiencies.
(4) The code shall be divided into sections as the director
considers appropriate including, without limitation, building,
plumbing, electrical, and mechanical sections. The boards shall
participate in and work with the staff of the director in the
preparation of parts relating to their functions. Before the
promulgation of an amendment to the code, the boards whose
functions relate to that code shall be permitted to draft and
recommend to the director proposed language. The director shall
give consideration to all submissions by the boards. However, the
director has final responsibility for the promulgation of the code.
(5) The code may incorporate the provisions of a code,
standard, or other material by reference. The director shall add,
amend,
and rescind rules to update the code codes in subsection (2)
not less than once every 3 years to coincide with the national code
change cycle.
(6) Before the Michigan building code, the Michigan
residential code, the Michigan plumbing code, the Michigan
mechanical code, the Michigan uniform energy code, and the Michigan
rehabilitation code may be enforced, the director shall make each
Michigan-specific code available to the general public for at least
45 days in printed, electronic, or other form that does not require
the user to purchase additional documents or data in any form in
order to have an updated complete version of each specific code,
excluding other referenced standards within each code. This
subsection does not apply to any code effective before April 1,
2005.