Marshall County Building Inspector Chuck Dewitt altered County Commissioners of a policy change that will directly impact his department’s permitting process.
When the Commissioners met Monday morning, Dewitt shared that Senate Enrolled Act 393 requires officials to report any kind of” advanced structural components. He said that includes things such as wooden trusses and I-joists as well as wooden and steel floor trusses.
He said the information needs to be collected at the time of application. Applicants would submit drawings that describe what elements are present and where they’re located. Dewitt said the information then needs to be relayed to the local fire jurisdiction as well as the 911 dispatch center.
He explained, “Anytime that there’s an emergency call that has this attached to it, they will let the first responders know that there is lightweight construction in the building.”
Dewitt said that he and other building officials were generally opposed to the policy change. He said it seems more effective for first responders to automatically assume that structures have these elements since they’re used so frequently. He said about 95 percent of the time these type of components are utilized when building a home.
Commissioner Kurt Garner concurred, saying that he’s been working in the building and restoration field for more than 20-years he’s never come across a structure that didn’t have at least a few of these components included.
Regardless of the opposition from local officials, SEA 393 went into effect on July 1st. As a result, Dewitt said that a major portion of the online permitting system and the review process have to be rewritten to account for the new requirements.
More information from the building inspector’s report will be included in the Maximum Impact Program this Sunday at noon.
