HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Building Code Board Of Appeals - 12/03/2015 REGULAR MEETING
Building Code Board of Appeals
Thursday, December 3,2015
MINUTES
I. Call to Order: 1:30 pm
IL Roll Call
Present: Garry Camp® Randro Maim:X RE, Robert Knowles PE, Ray Jones, Randy Farrar
Staff. Gene elauro® Bill Green,Jessica Gonzalez, Yvette Dodd,Julio Dimas,Jesse Hernande:
Visitors:Jeri Morey, Govind Nadkarml, Prabin KC PE
Absent: Steven R. AIcClure and Chuck A nastos.
111. Approval of Absences: September 17,2015:All Board members resent®
No approval needed.
IV. Approval of Minutes: September 17,2015,Regular Agenda.
No motion was made to approve minutes.
V. Public Comments:
Jeri More)-stated she has nothing new to preseniftom what was presented before,
VI. Citizen appeal regarding alternate foundation proposal and windstorm insurance requirement waived
for their property at 331 Buddy Lawrence,Corpus Christi,Texas 78401 (CITGO).
Gene®Board has heard similar tjpes, city is working to administratively change or requirements to
alloys=,for and design, but right now city has language in local amen dinents that require all
)test,projects to go through TDIprocess and applicant is proposing to be sed insured and not go
through the process by submitting an alternate foundation design, essentiarlly®submitting a block and
pad
Garry,C asked ifbitilding was inside the propertye Mr. Nailkand stated that is it.
Garry C`.-The building will be inspected by the city and the utilities will be hooked tip.
Jesse H-Brail ding will be within city limits. It is not in the industrial district.
Gene-Asked if the building was lemporarjg
Jesse H,-Budding's purpose isfbr turnarounds. For file most part, it is a temporary structure, It may
be staffed a short amoutit of time during,the turnaround. It could be staffedfor a short ainount of time
Turn around could last three to sbr months then vacated and if there is nothing happening, there is file
potential for building to move off-site until something comes tip or it may be more in demand The
overall purpose is it is Prot set tip as a permanent sraff)aciliry. It'sfor the purpose of maintenance on
file refineries. It is Plot designated as a permanent structure.
Mr. Nadkarinl- Tire city does not allots,a designation as a lemporar3a The building will be usedfor
about six to eight months, then won't be rased for about eight months, depending on company
turnaround schedule.
Jesse H,- The city allowsfor temporary construction trailers for the purpose of vertical
improvements. This means that ifbuilding a subdivision or large scale project, the city®allows for a
temporary construction trailer to be on site. This hits a different purpose. It is being lysed for staff'and
work out of for the purposes of turnaround. Does)lot meet file technical requirements. Ste has
looked at plans and has concluded that this a temporary scenario.
Robert-Building could be oil.site for a while, but the use of building will be sporadic. It can be a
permanent building, but be used sporadicaflj®
Mr.Nadkarml-If the city decides to make it a permanent structure, then we svill come back and
inodf,foundation to make it a permanent requirement oj'lhe ch) As consultants, because of the
liability issue, company has to cerfify being a permanent building, whether or not it is in the industrial
district, and have to put in permanent foundations and the company has done that and fired it on that
basis.
Gene-Asked how close is adjacent structures to the location.
Mr.Nadkarml- There is not any residential building close by, closest building is oil file other side of
thefteeivay. Refinery purchased the land that used to occupy residential buildings.
Gene- When you are self-insured, not rawly®are you self-insuring your own building,you are sed
insuring against damage to other structures.
Robert K -If the structure was Plot in the industrial district, this ivouldnt be apt issue.
Ramiro kf-Make a motion to accept was submitted, irith the follouIng remarks:obtain a 2 year
Certificate ref occupancy for temporary structure, have the engineer modify drctu,ing to Exposure C
instead of Exposure B.
Garry Camp moves to accept the request ivith the remarks. Robert!anon les seconds the motion. 5:0
approved
Vii. Discussion and possible action regarding present and future requirements for sprinkler systems related
to transient use in single family dwelling.
Informational discussion, no action taken.
VIll. Discussion and possible action regarding Proposals for finished floor elevations(at plan submittal) for
residential plans regarding new construction and additions.
Presentation ivas made after Public Comments.
Julio-Currently we do get sporadic plans that have the it oil there. Current Flood zones
requirement is elevation certificate indicating the finished floor and Will the actual elevation
certificate comes in at the end, but t)pically the foundation worker doesn't necessary.see it on the plan
and build it Properly-proposes to make change to the plan, but may not have the effect we may be
looking for with the construction being built properly, Plans inay be drmvn tip correctly, but doesnt
mean home ivill get built correctly. Considerexamplesfront other cities and implement aforin survey
as a solution to ensure it is built properly. Have heard concern is survey cost Form survey or
preliminary certificate is same cost and tune it takes to revienv the document. Form survey or
preliminary elevation ter final elevation certificate is same cost. Time issue: survey goes out and all
we want to knou,is if 9's are correct and there's no delay on our part, An email would suffice to shou
its the elevation numbers ive need. Construction issue:time front survey form will have time to make
changes/correct issue, Doesn't suspect any Iiining issues.
Gar),C. -Agrees%vith Julio. No reason a surveyor couldn't get that done- inspector should have it in
his hand
Julio- Understands we do Plot avant to add another step. FEAM is concerned ivith elevation, For
survey can also identify any set-backs. Hopes one day the two processes can be combined
Rant-Forms cera fcate, no survey brill have elevation it oil it
Gary- The purpose ofthe faun survey is to certify the building is it;the right place of the right
elevation.
Gene-Sees residential and fighter lots in recent constructions he ivould like to see a doc to that
shoivs lie's ok because once foundation is poured, there is no way to adjust w,mar bldg. coverage on
ea',ir it. Ifsurveyor then sees a diff, wve m=ill already have aforni ivith original numbers, Ifsurveyor
goes out and sees a 9.9 before it is poured, it's easier lojix rather than after it is poured
Yvette-Doesn't feel adding the finishedfloor to the site plan is beneficial. She is res porisible for the
review front start to finish and has noticed that builders that do provide fitrishedfloor, are getting
kicked back because lite elevation certificate,foundation plan, and finished floor don't inatch. She
would like to see them match. All she sees is changing the document to snatch the elevation
certificate,-which isn't accurate hijbi-mation since she doesn't know what they're constructing. It's all
proposed finishedfloor elevation.
Gary C -It's on the civil site plan. It's an important document to make sure all numbers are correct,
Yvette-Added that in their review, the),can also state that they have it above base floor-elevation for
this property is...ex:9ft, I etc. That way they know where they need to be at to be above the
requirement. During construction, the forret board survey is the most beneficial for construction. She
has noticed in the last week, they've had at least 2 houses trying to get CO's that were below the base
flood elevation. We cannot allow them to occupy until they,make corrections. Garages are an easy
ftr, but in one instance they had one come to the board afew months ago and the entire finishedfloor
was below base flood elevation-there is no easy way to fry that. Site would much rather see, lite
middle certificate and also the final certificate for insurance purposes-proposed
RObert K.-Finishedfloor: Feels there should be a benchmark set
Gene-There's a big difference benreen residential and commercial. It's a very small percentage
Julio-Sees issue willi roughly-grated residential properties more than a specific building, etc.
Residential has a designer/cuslontized design. Most issues are oil the residential side.
Rain-Can we modify the current foundation certification form?Can ive out a box to include FEAIIA
requirements?
Julio- We can modify the current cerci ication farms® but FEAM won®t accept that, JVc need afinal
elevation.
Rain- Understands we need closing documents for FEA14 and photograph for the closure, Biel as part
of'thefoundation certificate, since it's already a required four,, can we add afew lines slating, "I
verified the forma work"
Julio- Yes we can, but often times the elevation is still off
Yvette-If we modified the foundation certificate as Ram suggests, we would still want an elevation at
that time,
Rain-Stated clarified that what he is suggesting including a statement opt the form that states I have
inspected and verified the elevation prior to concrete place ntent, loot afterwards prior tothe
concrete placement. Wdch ineans he has to certify,that he inspected the for svork, rebar, and the
elevation.
Yvette-during review, the proposed elevation certificate she sees land surveyor's and engineers in this
area that are giving incorrect base flood elevation at this time,
Ram-observation is that FEW agent is not there to monitor the construction project He's only
there at the beginning and at the end The engineer is the one responsible for rebar inspection®
having correct Ws at time of inspection. Hefeels the engineer needs to be responsible for certifying
that his base flood elevation numbers are in compliance.
Yvette-Stated the engineers still have the incorrect baseflood elevation numbers. When he goes out
and fills the box that lie certifies but at the end of it all, he still below base flood elevation.
Rain-Feels that's when the engineer needs to go make reference to that when he's doing file
inspection, Double checks his own work and confirms lie verified according to the pre-subretinal, etc.
Ram states he basically,doesn't want to add another form to their process. He's already responsible
for the drawings, FEIIA pre-submittal,foundation certificate, and the WT R2-he has enough to fill
out already. ffelevation isn't covered in the 5 documents he already,fills out, he feels there's apt issue
with that process.
Gene-Stated they,are proposing that the elevation foray would substitute the pre-subiniltalforni, since
they already need to have a pre-submittal form in place.
Ram-Since we have to have the pre-subminal to determine the elevation anyway Also still need to go
out there and inn the elevation rottle to get the final elevation Still need to run programming and get
it back-checked for the correct elevation
Gene-Has recently,discussed issues with different benchmarks, Some normal variations but should
not be much more than a]Off. Has seen wild variationsfrom diffierew parcels
Ram-Historically, they®go back to an old benchmark, but it's outdated and not in compliance with
new requirentents. Frequently sees corrections made to these benchmarks and they always go back
and forth.
Alio-Sees tryst followingplans or using different benchmark-has 3 benchmarks.
Gary;_Engineer should be setting temporaf),benchmark to solve problem to make sure set at the
correct elevation and this should solve the problem.
Julio-The issue isn't on the commercial side bill rather on the residential primarily stand-alone
projects have the most issues. Process began with I benchmark on one side of new subdivision then
down the road, they hit a rock and thats where issues began.
Rain-Asked fear median of how much it's off
Julio-Responded issues can be easily,fixed bur the finished floor, however garage should be at I Oft
then go upfrom there.
Gene-It would help ifire had a free board standard in place. Butfor now, the problem is they,start
froin the bare inininumi and don't leave room, Some can be helped with afree board standard later,
But if inininwin is 10, most builders are starting with 10 and not leaving room
Alto-AC condenser, garage are separate issues that will be addressed if below,nrinimuni 9,99 is ok
but the wholehouse then that's a bigger issue,
Ram- Why,use aform if it'll correct 10-15%of issues will be prevented?
Julio- Understands that this may not be the best time to a newform procedure- By March is looking to
go to City Council with the new FEMA maps and the higher slandardsfor approval. Would like to
throw in I ft free board he'llfeel better about iviggle room, Would like to raise the requirementsfrom
10 to 11, that%vay®it meets FE AM requirements Big picture, loo kingforan option before construclion
to prevent fixture elevation problems.
Ram-Suggests requiring the I ft.free board but ifthey want anything lower, they ere required to have
the form elevation certificate prior to construction to make any adjustments necessary
Yvette-44 CFR, , adopted code if'FEMW guidelines are modified by city, it then becomes "City,
FEAV guidelines"
Alio-His hesitation is that someone will see the loophole, Customer can be misled FEMA may say
Ch),of Corpus what is your ordinance is and we It make sure everyone complies. Even though the
free board would comply, FEAM would still expect us to enforce that ordinance.
Yvette-Stated that FE AM would still insure customer at a higher premier ifnot in compliance, but if
ever review=ed by cit),assistance program they will look to the city to bring that property tip to
compliance. There are FEM4 standards and construction standards
Rain-Clarified that we would need to write it for the city in order for FEMA to accept it,
Yvette-Confirmed,yes,,
Julio-Agreed that regardless of'implewnfing a newformlsdep, the eh�g the sainiss
e ues
y anticipaie sL
Builders mayshil do what the),are accuslomed to. Suggest trying this to see if it helps the process and
regardless q�which docimpent we put it on, we basicalt),need iqfbrinaflon to nPaich in acrd r°to let the
perin it go.
M lBuilding Official's Report
A. Department Updates
B. Permit Recap
X. Identify items to The aced on ext agenda
XL Adjourn
.....................
Presiding Officer