The Florida Building Commission (FBC) took up two FHBA priority issues last week: the establishment of a Residential “TAC” and the transition of the new code process passed by the 2017 Legislature (HB 1021) into operational rules. (See full summary of FHBA actions here). FHBA staff members, Douglas Buck, Director of Governmental Affairs, and Joe Belcher, Building Code Consultant, attended to uphold our priority issues.
The establishment of a Residential “TAC” is advocated by the FHBA to elevate residential code development issues to a level on par with roofing, electrical, plumbing, etc. Although no formal action was taken by the FBC, staff are working on options to achieve our objectives.
The second issue involves the modification of the current code development process to reflect the new statutory mandate code process. While many of sections of adopting code modifications remain the same, new requirements for specific code updates are mandatory now. The “How, What, and Why” of the proposed rule are of concern to FHBA staff. Detailed comments were offered to FBC staff and the Commission. A revised rule will be forthcoming. Stay tuned for more information to follow after the next FBC meeting in October.