GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2001
H	2
HOUSE BILL 355*
 Committee Substitute Favorable 4/16/01

Short Title:	State Building Code Changes-AB.	()	
Sponsors:	     	
Referred to:	     	
March 1, 2001

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT To provide that the department of insurance is not liable for costs incurred in satisfying the fiscal note requirement for changes in the State building code; TO UPDATE REFERENCES TO ORGANIZATIONS WHOSE STANDARDS MAY BE USED IN ADOPTING CODE PROVISIONS; AND TO GIVE THE BUILDING CODE COUNCIL EXPLICIT AUTHORITY TO USE STANDARDS OF INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 143‑138(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Preparation and Adoption. – The Building Code Council may prepare and adopt, in accordance with this Article, a North Carolina State Building Code. Before the adoption of the Code, or any part of the Code, the Council shall hold at least one public hearing. A notice of the public hearing shall be given once a week for two successive calendar weeks in a newspaper published in Raleigh. The first publication of the notice shall not occur fewer than 15 days before the date of the hearing. The Council may hold such other public hearings and give such other notice the Council considers necessary.
The Council shall request the Office of State Budget, Planning, and Management to prepare a fiscal note for a proposed Code change that has a substantial economic impact, as defined in G.S. 150B‑21.4(b1), or that increases the cost of residential housing by eighty dollars ($80.00) or more per housing unit. The Council shall not take final action on a proposed Code change that has a substantial economic impact or that increases the cost of residential housing by eighty dollars ($80.00) or more per housing unit until at least 60 days after the fiscal note has been prepared. The change can become effective only in accordance with G.S. 143‑138(d). Neither the Department of Insurance nor the Council shall be required to expend any monies to pay for the preparation of any fiscal note under this section by any person outside of the Department or Council unless the Department or Council contracts with a third-party vendor to prepare the fiscal note."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 143‑138(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	Standards to Be Followed in Adopting the Code. – All regulations contained in the North Carolina State Building Code shall have a reasonable and substantial connection with the public health, safety, morals, or general welfare, and their provisions shall be construed reasonably to those ends. Requirements of the Code shall conform to good engineering practice. The Council may use as guidance, but is not required to adopt, the requirements of the International Building Code of the International Code Council, the Standard Building Code of the Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc., the Uniform Building Code of the International Conference of Building Officials, the National Building Code of the Building Officials and Code Administrators, Inc., the National Electric Code, the Life Safety Code, the National Fuel Gas Code, the Fire Prevention Code of the National Fire Protection Association, the Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators, and the Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and standards promulgated by the American National Standards Institute, Underwriters' Laboratories, Inc., and similar national or international agencies engaged in research concerning strength of materials, safe design, and other factors bearing upon health and safety."
SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.