Hey Tim,
You've helped me greatly as I'm in the process of building my first home. Right now we a pulling wire on the inside and the mason is working away on the stone outside. However, my builder called me today with a bad surprise. He said he heard a rumor that a town about ten minutes from my house, with a population of 100, may have annex jurisdiction and might use the ICC code instead of UCC. This has a great impact on the steepness of my staircase and will narrow the doorway of my library. This would cost me a substantial sum of money as the stairs would have to be rebuilt. Do you have any suggestions on how I should handle this?
Justin L. Saunders
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Justin,
I don't see a problem at all. First, I don't have all of the facts so my advice may be subject to change if I had access to certain information in your town.
Typically when a building permit is issued, a building code is in force at the time the actual permit is granted. This code could be a national model code, a local one, or a modified national code such as the International Residential Code or the traditional CABO code. The building department will have the actual document with a volume number, series and copyright. That is the code you must follow no matter if the code changes as you build.
It would be impossible for builders to bid jobs if they had to look into a crystal ball and wonder what the code might be. See if your local building department operates this way. If not, ask them just how a builder / homeowner is supposed to protect themselves when code changes are announced. Can you imagine being one or two days away from completion of a new home and the inspector walks in and says, "Well, time to rip out all of the plumbing. The code has changed!" Yeah, right!
Tim Carter
www.askthebuilder.com
W3ATB