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UCC Review and Advisory Council

Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Labor and Industry Building, Conference Room 1710
651 Boas Street
Harrisburg, PA 17121

Council Members Present:

George W. Settle, Jr., Chair
Karen L. Welsh, Vice-Chair
Ray Cudwadie
R. Clem Malot
Rich Roberts
Merle Musick
Christian H. McQuail
Edward V. Fegley
Thomas F. McCosby
Bobby Henon
Joseph A. Lavalle
Craig Glotfelty
Mark Henry
 

Also Present:

Jennifer Berrier, Esquire, Exec. Asst. to Deputy J. Scott Robinette
Dwight Decker, Esquire, Assistant Counsel, Dep’t of Labor & Industry
Cindy Sheaffer, Esquire, Assistant Counsel, Dep’t of Labor & Industry
 

Public Speakers:

John Eby, PABCO
Arden Emerick, IEA/City of Harrisburg
Larry Griffith, International Association of Electrical Inspectors, Central Pennsylvania Chapter
Sara Yerkes, International Code Council members
 

Reporter:

Rhonda K. Thorpe
 
 
The meeting was called to order by Chair George Settle, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and introduction of all Council Members and attendees.
 
  1. Approval of Agenda. Chair Settle amended the agenda for the meeting to add “date for the receipt of ICC Code Changes of 2015 Recommendations Form” as the first item under New Business. A motion was made to approve the amended agenda. Mr. Henon seconded the motion. The Council approved the amended agenda by unanimous consent.
     
  2. Approval of the minutes from the October 22, 2014 meeting: Mr. McCosby made a motion to approve the October minutes. Mr. Henry seconded the motion. The Council approved the minutes by unanimous consent.
     
  3. Approval of the minutes from the November 19, 2014 meeting: Mr. Henon made a motion to approve the November minutes. Mr. Lavelle seconded the motion. The Council approved the minutes by unanimous consent.
     
  4. Harrisburg Public Hearing regarding “2015 Code Change”: Mr. Eby, on behalf of PABCO, spoke about how the 2015 code represented a complete new work and cautioned against a strict constructionist approach towards reviewing the 2015 changes only. He recommended adopting the I Codes as published.
     
    Mr. Emerick, Assistant Code Administrator for the City of Harrisburg and a member of the International Electrical Association, discussed why it was important to update the codes in Pennsylvania and cautioned against ‘cherry-picking’ code sections because the code sections were ‘interactive.’ Mr. Emerick recommended that the new codes should be adopted with as little modification as possible.
     
    Similarly, Mr. Griffith, secretary for the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the International Association of Electrical Inspectors, discussed problems from having to use outdated code provisions in Pennsylvania and recommended adopting new codes which covered the changes in technology, products and safety standards
     
  5. Chair’s Comments: Chair Settle indicated that the ICC Code Changes of 2015 Recommendations form was posted on the website and forwarded to the subcommittee chairmen. Updated 2014 NEC changes were received and were posted. Chair Settle discussed concerns with the 2015 code review process. He indicated that he received a legal memo from Shari Shapiro to John Hanger, Governor-Elect Wolfe’s policy director, which suggests that the UCC statute requires RAC review on the latest edition. Mr. Malot stated that his position is that the entire 2015 code constituted a revision, and not just the changes between 2012 and 2015.
     
  6. Report of the Legislation Working Group: No action taken.
     
  7. Report of the Regulation Working Group: No action taken.
     
  8. Old Business:
    1. Subcommittee Reports:
      1. ADM: Mr. Fegley indicated that review of the changes was done and he will be submitting a report.
         
      2. Fire and Safety: Mr. Lavelle reported that 80% of the provisions were reviewed by the group and recommendations forwarded to Chair Settle. Mr. Lavelle will review the remaining 20%.
         
      3. IBC-General: Mr. Fegley reported that they do not have a complete report, but do have some recommendations,
         
      4. IBC – MoE: Mr. Henry reported that the changes have been integrated onto a spreadsheet, but the committee has not been able to get together.
         
      5. IBC-Struct: Mr. Roberts reported that his group has completed 60% of the initial review with recommendations submitted. His group plans to complete the remaining 40% in the next couple of weeks.
         
      6. IBCC/ICCPC: Nothing to report.
         
      7. IECC: Mr. McQuail reported that his group reviewed the first 159 of 215 sections and updated the spreadsheet with vote information and recommendations. The group had a split vote on 3 of the 159 sections reviewed, but had positive recommendations for the other sections reviewed. His group will review the remaining 56 sections, and conclude all voting on January 21st.
         
      8. IECC Residential: Mr. McCosby reported that initial review was completed and was forwarded for posting.
         
      9. IFC: no action reported.
         
      10. IFGC: Mr. Henon reported that his group is in the process of setting up a conference call and will be putting together a spreadsheet for approval.
         
      11. IMC – Chair Settle advised that this group was still in the process of reviewing.
         
      12. IPC: no action reported.
         
      13. IRC - Building: Mr. Lavelle reported that slightly more than 50% of the 272 amendments have been reviewed and recommendation posted on the spreadsheet.
         
      14. IRC – Mechanical: Mr. Musick reported that the spreadsheet was completed and that he is awaiting comments from the subcommittee on about 50% of the changes.
         
      15. IRC – Plumbing: Mr. McCosby reported that the group reviewed and voted on the first 22 items, rejecting 1 item and accepting 21 items. Recommendations on these sections were forwarded for posting.
         
      16. IWUIC: Chair Settle indicated that reviewed was completed and he received the spreadsheet, which will be posted.
         
  9. New business: Chair Settle recommended that a due date be added to the ICC Code Changes of 2015 Recommendations Form, which is posted on the website. Chair Settle asked for a motion to make March 10, 2015 the due date for submissions of ICC Code Changes of 2015 Recommendations Forms. Mr. McCosby made the formal motion. Mr. Fegley seconded it. The Council approved by unanimous consent.
     
    Chair Settle and Council discussed time frames for when the Council should meet to vote on recommendations. Mr. McQuail made a motion that meetings would be scheduled for May 6-7, 2015 with alternate days being May 13-14, 2015. Mr. McCosby seconded it. The Council approved by unanimous consent. However, due to a schedule conflict with a council member, Mr. McMQuail made motion to amend the meeting dates to May 5-6, 2015 with the alternate days May 12-13, 2015. Mr. Henon seconded the motion. The Council approved by unanimous consent.
     
  10. Public comments: Ms. Yerkes clarified that other state and local jurisdictions generally do not adopt model code provisions in their entirety without amendments.
     
  11. Future Meetings: A public hearing is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on February 11, 2015 at CareerLink, 555 Union Boulevard, Allentown, PA.
     
  12. Mr. Fegley moved that the Council adjourn the meeting. Mr. Musick seconded the motion. The Council approved by unanimous consent. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 11:00 a.m.