Discussion and possible direction regarding a County planning initiative to repeal the Amendment to the Cochise County Building Safety Code for Rural Residential Owner-Built Dwellings and Accessory Structures (Opt-out). 

The Building Safety Division of the Development Services Department is responsible for the coordination of building plan review and the subsequent inspections, for both residential and commercial structures, during construction for code conformance in the interest of public safety. Building Safety regulates building construction and building occupancy through the enforcement of the Building Safety Code to ensure quality construction for the county's residents and visitors.
 
In June of 2006, the Cochise County Board of Supervisors adopted the “Amendment to the Cochise County Building Safety Code for Rural Residential Owner-Built Dwellings” (hereafter, "the Amendment"). As a result of this Amendment, eligible Owner-Builders were permitted to "opt out" of plan review, inspections, (or both) required under the Cochise County Building Safety Code.
 
The stated intent of the original Amendment's intent was to allow "ingenuity and personal preferences of the Owner-Builder in allowing and facilitating the use of alternative building materials and methods." However, at roughly the same time, Cochise County adopted the International Code Council's Performance Code. The Performance Code allows materials and methods, not detailed in the prescriptive code, to be reviewed and inspected provided that the documentation of their performance (through accepted engineering calculations, testing or computer modeling) is submitted to the Building Division. The adoption of the performance code thus rendered the stated intent of the amendment superfluous.
 
A secondary, if not explicit, reason for the adoption of the Amendment was to provide relief from government oversight for Owner Builders in the rural areas of the County. Significantly, this Resolution does not exempt owner-builders from conformance with state and county building codes, or fire-district adopted fire codes and regulations regarding smoke detectors, nor does it exempt Owner Builders from health regulations regarding wastewater treatment systems. It does, however, limit the County’s authority/ability to inspect and verify the required building safety code compliance.
 
 
 
In addition, other direct and indirect consequences to of this Resolution include, but are limited to the following:
 

1. Financing - A conditioned Certificate of Occupancy (CO) may be issued when applicants select the Full Construction Plan Review and Limited Building Code Inspection Option. A CO, however, is not issued if the “No construction plan review with no building code inspection” option is selected. A CO serves as proof that a property has complied with all standards and codes and is now fit for occupancy. Conventional and FHA loans are difficult, if not impossible to obtain, for on a home that lacks a CO or even a TCO (Temporary Certificate of Occupancy). A lack of a CO also limits access to rehab financing, such as the FHA rehab loan (203k), which is intended to help borrowers buy and repair fixer-uppers in all-in-one transactions. Consequently, opt-out participants will find it difficult to obtain a mortgage as well as homeowner’s insurance and it will be equally difficult to finance any home improvements moving forward. This affects both the original Owner-builder as well as subsequent owners.
2. County-wide Insurance Costs –The Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule (BCEGS) program assigns each community a classification from 1 (exemplary commitment to fire and building code enforcement) to 10. The BCEGS program encourages a community to keep the intent of the structural provisions of the fire and building codes intact by assigning the maximum points when structural provisions of the codes are unamended. Better BCEGS classifications are associated lower insurance rates. The provision of an opt-out policy to a portion of our population can negatively impact all Cochise County residents by potentially reducing the County’s Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule (BCEGS) classification, thereby raising insurance premiums to the general population.
3. Health, Safety and Welfare – Ultimately, building codes are intended to protect the health, safety and welfare of our residents. While Cochise County is home to many competent and well-intentioned owner-builders, there is significant value provided by the expertise of Cochise County building inspectors. The plan examiners and inspectors employed by the County are professionally trained to verify the quality, material and workmanship of construction of all built structures. The existing permitting process gets several extra sets of eyes on plans as well as on the construction site.

 
Overall, planning staff feels the benefits of keeping the Amendment to the Cochise County Building Safety Code for Rural Residential Owner-Built Dwellings and Accessory Structures (Opt-out) in place are strongly outweighed by the consequences produced by the policy.

Move forward as the Board directs.

Planning staff will provide a presentation regarding the history, status, and ultimate impact of the Rural Residential Owner-Built Dwellings and Accessory Structures (Opt-out). Input is being sought regarding whether the BOS approves of the drafting of a Resolution repealing the enabling Resolution (14-77).
 
In the absence of this Resolution, there would no longer to be an opt-out option, meaning all residential builder applicants will be required to obtain identical permits and inspections from the date of the repeal’s effective date.

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