Verifying the governing building codes 5

[ANE91]

All,

I have a repair project located in a smaller city of Alabama. The building is a single-story retail structure with wood stud walls and pre-fab'd wood roof trusses. About 200 square feet of roof area is in need of attention following a tree impact. Before diving into any calculations or recommendations, I want to determine the governing building codes.

Per iccsafe.org (

https://www.iccsafe.org/advocacy/adoptions-map/alabama/),

the 2021 IBC and IEBC are in effect. However, the Code of Ordinances for the city lists the 2012 IBC and IEBC. I have not run into this conflict before. Does the state code supersede the city code? The other way around? Or does the newest code always govern?

I am not sure if I should be working with the city's building department (if they even have one) or the state's. Whether or not we will have to submit drawings–and what should be on those drawings–is my primary concern. I do still need to inspect to determine if Substantial Structural Damage applies.

Thank you.

 

[phamENG]

Does the state code supersede the city code? The other way around?

This gets into the difference between "Dillon Rule" and "Home Rule" states. Dillon was a supreme court justice who authored an opinion on this in the 1800s. If I remember correctly, Dillon Rule is the 'default' if the state doesn't specify otherwise. It makes the state the overarching authority and everything within (county, city, town, etc.) is subordinate and is not permitted to pass a law or ordinance without specific permission. In a Home Rule state (there are only a few), it's the other way around. Localities can do whatever they want unless the state specifically tells them they can't.

I'm not sure where Alabama falls there, but this website indicates that the state only exercises authority over state owned buildings, schools, and hotels. Residences and non-hotel commercial buildings are up to the town. So I'd say go with what the town says.

That said...I would say you still have a responsibility to design for more stringent requirements if you know they exist. So if they are just using the 2012 but new data shows that wind speeds increased or some other hazard has changed for the worse, I would use the new data in your design. Sort of picking the worst case between the two. (So if wind speed went down, use the older and higher one.)

 

[JedClampett]

Sometimes the city building department has a webpage that defines the applicable codes. And it might conflict with the code of ordinances.
When I'm feeling bored, I'll call the building department and ask. It builds my frustration level as I'm transferred from one drone to another, who are either suspicious or unknowing (or both).

 

[jerseyshore]

Could it just be that a town website hasn't been updated in a while? This is super common around here since NJ has a billion little towns that are very very slow at updating anything. I still see references to IBC/IRC 2006 in some places. Just call them and ask for sure.

 

[dauwerda]

Every State is definitely different.
A few years ago (maybe 2015ish) the (very small) town my parents live in, in Nebraska was trying to enforce/use the 1997 UBC.
At the time I believe that the state of Nebraska had the 2006 IBC adopted, which, similar to above, only applies to state buildings. However, Nebraska also has legislation that IF cities or counties want to enforce a building code, they have to adopt (with local amendments allowed) the same model code that the state was using or a newer version of it (and I think there was a one year grace period or something). So, as long as said town had in their ordinances that they were using the 1997 UBC, they were not in compliance with NE state law, and therefore they technically had no legally adopted code, and they couldn't technically enforce anything.
So, sometimes the local jurisdiction doesn't even know what they should be enforcing.

 

[Richard_Honne]

The area having jurisdiction will govern regardless of the state adopted code is.

In the last code cycle, I've had plan reviewers in Texas and Louisiana that required all my code references to be revised to the 2015 IBC codes for compliance. It took less effort updating the text on the PDF than to argue.

I would call the local jurisdiction to confirm. This would dictate if your design loads are per the ASCE 7-10 or ASCE 7-16.