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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Building Code Board Of Appeals - 10/22/1998 © 1-- Ci Of Building Code Board of Appeals CO US Minutes of the Regular Meeting = Ch Sti• (October 22, 1998) I3NrAerAreirs Present: Jerry Kramer, Chairman Bill Braselton, Vice-Chairman Ernesto Gonzalez Richard Dodson Brian Barnett Jerry Garcia Joe Fulton Board Members Absent: Staff Members Present: Arthur N. Sosa, Building Official John Kendall, Plans Examiner III Jay Reining, Attorney Norbert Hart, Director Housing &Community Eric Johnson, Chief Building Inspector Crawford Taylor, Plans Examiner II Dina O. Longoria, Secretary Jerry Kramer, Chairman called the meeting to order at 1:35 p.m in the Council Chambers on the first floor of City Hall. The first item of business was the approval and correction of minutes for the meeting of September 24, 1998. Mr. Richard Dodson requested that his September absence be counted as excused since he was out of town on business. Joe Fulton made a motion to approve the minutes as corrected. Jerry Garcia. seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. The second item of business was the discussion of the 1997 Standard Building Code. The significant changes to the code were reviewed by Mr. Sosa. At this time the board asked for some time to review the handouts of the changes. Art Sosa informed the board that City Hall experienced a major computer crash on October 8th and there was a substantial loss of information including Chapter 1 Administration and the Corpus Christi amendments to the building code. These revisions had already been entered into the computer system by Mr. Reining. Mr. Sosa mentioned that ail efforts would be made to provide the board with a draft copy of the changes and amendments prior to the November meeting. Jerry Garcia asked Mr. Reining about the Administration Chapter, the section on "how to do business". Mr. Reining advised the board that he had a"saved" copy and improvised to make this available to the board at this time. Most of the changes will affect the numbering of the chapters and sections. Mr. Reining reviewed Chapter 16 and informed the board that the City had a draft(of the law) and intended to adopt the Texas Department of Insurance Building Code for Windstorm Resistant Construction. Mr. Reining also advised the board that there would be no substitutions, Texas Department of Insurance rules would supercede the City code. Mr. Reining also said that Texas Department of Insurance did have the authority to certify city inspectors as certified inspectors for the TDI code. V^ ` Mr. Sosa, the Building Official introduced State Representative Jaime Capelo. VJ� Representative Capelo announced that he and Mr. Sosa had been trying to meet to discuss the city's involvement with TDl's Building Code for Windstorm Resistant Construction and agreed to look into the matter of getting the city involved in plan reviews and inspections. He listened to the concerns from all the area construction companies about the existing and new construction and the need for it to be insurable. f� City staff was in a position to recommend adopting the TDI code. The city preferred that along with adopting, staff wanted to include plan review, enforcing, and inspecting to the code. Therefore, staff would probably be recommending the 1997 Standard Building Code as T.D.I. to be P.O. Box 9277 • Corpus Christi, Texas 78469-9277 • (512) 880-3000 \10%."r Building Code Board of Appeals Minutes for October 22,1998 Page 2 referenced in Chapter 16. Mr. Sosa did have a lengthy conversation with the Commissioner's staff and asked that Jaime Capelo assist with the city's becomming involved with the issues of T.D.I. Joe Fulton suggested that insurance companies let the City issue the WPI-8, Building Certificate. Currently their(TDI) inspectors inspect and hold certifications as Coastal inspectors. One major setback with compliance of T.D.I. is the 8 weeks spent waiting for the inspector to issue the WPI-8. Mr. Sosa stated that in retrospect, Corpus Christi is the largest jurisdiction in the 14 coastal county region as mapped by T.D.I. Other concerns were the resources available, insurability, Certificate of Compliance, and financial lenders. Erik Johnson,Chief Building Inspector addressed the board and elaborated on his concerns on the different types of materials requested for certain TDI standards as compared to the City's Building Code requirements. He stated that there will be confusion and also delays in the process of having to propose changes and substitutions through an engineer before getting approval to continue on construction. He stated that the smaller operations, the Mom and Pop builders of this community would not be able to build their own house. If this trend continues he stated that several people from our community would be forced into purchasing and living in "manufactured housing" due to the expense and delays. There will no longer be any low income (affordable homes) housing in the future in Corpus Christi. Staff was advised that the meeting had to be relocated to an adjacent room due to the need for others to use the council chambers. There was a short recess during which time the meeting was moved to the Committee Room. There were no pending/old business discussions. Next item of business was the Building Official's report. Mr. Sosa requested that the Chairman, Mr. Kramer re-schedule the November 1998 meeting because the regular meeting date would fall on the Thanksgiving holiday. Mr. Kramer asked the board members for suggestions. Mr. Fulton made a motion to schedule the meeting to Tuesday, November 24,1998. Mr. Garcia seconded the motion. After a bried discussion, the motion passed unanimously. Mr. Sosa advised the board members that Chapter 1 Administration would be mailed to them prior to the November board of appeals meeting. Mr. Reining requested that the board members try to write down any issues they wish to discuss and also to feel free to call him with any questions prior to the meeting. Mr. Garcia thanked the board and Mr. Sosa for their efforts in discussing the TDI standards with the contractors, builders, and engineers of this community. There were no petitions from the audience. Mr. Garcia made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Fulton seconded the motion, the motion passed unanimously. 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