Wisconsin Legislature: SS 149-20 Scope Statement

The primary objective of this rulemaking project is to evaluate and update the Wisconsin Commercial Building Code, chapters SPS 361-366. This rulemaking update is intended to keep this Code consistent with dynamic, contemporary regional and national construction and fire prevention practices and standards, and with legislation enacted since the previous update of this Code. The update is also needed in order to meet the content and timeliness requirements for the energy conservation provisions of this Code as established in sections 101.027 (2) and (3) of the Wisconsin Statutes.

In addition, the project is expected to evaluate other administrative codes of the Department that may be affected by this update of the Wisconsin Commercial Building Code, including at least chapters SPS 303, 305, 314, 316, 318, 340, 343, and 345, relating to administrative procedures; licenses, certifications and registrations; fire prevention; electrical; elevators, escalators, and lift devices; gas systems; boilers and pressure vessels; anhydrous ammonia; mechanical refrigeration; rental unit energy efficiency; solar energy systems; cleaning methods for historic buildings; buildings constructed prior to 1914; and plumbing; respectively. This evaluation may result in changes and updates of the rules in these chapters. The objectives of this rule project may be incorporated into one or more rule packages.

3. Description of the existing policies relevant to the rule, new policies proposed to be included in the rule, and an analysis of policy alternatives:

The Wisconsin Commercial Building Code contains standards for the design, construction, use, maintenance, alteration, and inspection of public buildings and places of employment. This Code currently generally incorporates by reference the 2015 edition of the national-level model building code suite produced by the International Code Council (ICC)®. This suite includes the International Building Code® (IBC®), the International Energy Conservation Code® (IECC®), the International Mechanical Code® (IMC®), the International Fuel Gas Code® (IFGC®), and the International Existing Buildings Code® (IEBC®); with some exceptions deemed prudent by the department or as required due to state statutes.

The primary purpose of the codes under consideration is to protect public safety, health, and welfare. Periodic review and update of these codes is necessary to ensure that they still achieve that purpose. In addition, the review and update allows the opportunity to recognize and stay current with new construction products and practices. The review and update under this scope statement will include evaluation of the 2018 and 2021 editions of the above-mentioned model building code suite for incorporation. The primary alternative would be to not perform this rule-review process. This would reduce the public benefits that would otherwise occur by performing this review.

4. Detailed explanation of statutory authority for the rule (including the statutory citation and language):

Wis. Stat. § 227.11 (2) (a) empowers the Department of Safety and Professional Services to promulgate rules interpreting the provision of any statute the Department enforces or administers.

Wis. Stat. § 101.02 (1) (b) states, "[t]he department shall adopt reasonable and proper rules and regulations relative to the exercise of its powers and authorities and proper rules to govern its proceedings and to regulate the mode and manner of all investigations and hearings."

Wis. Stat. § 101.02 (15)

“(a) The department has such supervision of every employment, place of employment and public building in this state as is necessary adequately to enforce and administer all laws and all lawful orders requiring such employment, place of employment or public building to be safe, and requiring the protection of the life, health, safety and welfare of every employee in such employment or place of employment and every frequenter of such place of employment, and the safety of the public or tenants in any such public building. This paragraph does not apply to occupational safety and health issues covered by standards established and enforced by the federal occupational safety and health administration…

(h) The department shall investigate, ascertain, declare and prescribe what safety devices, safeguards or other means or methods of protection are best adapted to render the employees of every employment and place of employment and frequenters of every place of employment safe, and to protect their welfare as required by law or lawful orders.

(i) The department shall ascertain and fix such reasonable standards and shall prescribe, modify and enforce such reasonable orders for the adoption of safety devices, safeguards and other means or methods of protection to be as nearly uniform as possible, as may be necessary to carry out all laws and lawful orders relative to the protection of the life, health, safety and welfare of employees in employments and places of employment or frequenters of places of employment.

(j) The department shall ascertain, fix and order such reasonable standards or rules for the construction, repair and maintenance of places of employment and public buildings, as shall render them safe…”

Wis. Stat. § 101.02 (25) states that “[t]he department may promulgate rules prescribing procedures for approving new building materials, methods, and equipment.

Wis. Stat. § 101.025. “(1) Notwithstanding s. 101.02 (1) and (15), any rule which requires the intake of outside air for ventilation in public buildings or places of employment shall establish minimum quantities of outside air that must be supplied based upon the type of occupancy, the number of occupants, areas with toxic or unusual contaminants and other pertinent criteria determined by the department. The department shall set standards where the mandatory intake of outside air may be waived. The department may waive the requirement for the intake of outside air where the owner has demonstrated that the resulting air quality is equivalent to that provided by outdoor air ventilation. The department may not waive the mandatory intake of outside air unless smoking is prohibited in the building or place of employment. In this subsection "smoking" means carrying any lighted tobacco product…

(3) The department may order the owner of any public building or place of employment which is the subject of a complaint under sub. (2) to comply with ventilation requirements adopted under sub. (1) unless the owner can verify, in writing, that the elimination of the provision for outside air in the structure in question does not impose a significant detriment to the employees or frequenters of the structure and that the health, safety and welfare of the occupants is preserved. Upon receipt of a written verification from the owner, the department shall conduct an investigation, and the department may issue an order to comply with ventilation requirements under sub. (1) if it finds that the health, safety and welfare of the employees or frequenters of the structure in question is best served by reinstating the ventilation requirements for that structure.

(4) For ventilation systems in public buildings and places of employment, the department shall adopt rules setting: (a) A maximum rate of leakage allowable from outside air dampers when the dampers are closed. (b) Maintenance standards for ventilation systems in public buildings and places of employment existing on April 30, 1980.”

Wis. Stat. § 101.027 (2) “The department shall review the energy conservation code and shall promulgate rules that change the requirements of the energy conservation code to improve energy conservation. No rule may be promulgated that has not taken into account the cost of the energy conservation code requirement, as changed by the rule, in relationship to the benefits derived from that requirement, including the reasonably foreseeable economic and environmental benefits to the state from any reduction in the use of imported fossil fuel. The proposed rules changing the energy conservation code shall be submitted to the legislature in the manner provided under s. 227.19. In conducting a review under this subsection, the department shall consider incorporating, into the energy conservation code, design requirements from the most current national energy efficiency design standards, including the International Energy Conservation Code or an energy efficiency code other than the International Energy Conservation Code if that energy efficiency code is used to prescribe design requirements for the purpose of conserving energy in buildings and is generally accepted and used by engineers and the construction industry.”

Wis. Stat. § 101.053 (2) “The department shall promulgate rules revising the commercial building code to establish separate standards for the construction and inspection of recreational and educational camps. The standards established in the rules shall take into account the uses, including seasonal use, that are unique to recreational and educational camps.

Wis. Stat. § 101.055 (3) (a) “The department shall adopt, by administrative rule, standards to protect the safety and health of public employees. The standards shall provide protection at least equal to that provided to private sector employees under standards promulgated by the federal occupational safety and health administration, but no rule may be adopted by the department which defines a substance as a "toxic substance" solely because it is listed in the latest printed edition of the national institute for occupational safety and health registry of toxic effects of chemical substances. The department shall revise the safety and health standards adopted for public employees as necessary to provide protection at least equal to that provided to private sector employees under federal occupational safety and health administration standards, except as otherwise provided in this paragraph. Notwithstanding ss. 35.93 and 227.21, if the standards adopted by the department are identical to regulations adopted by a federal agency, the standards need not be published in full in the Wisconsin administrative code and register as provided in ss. 35.93 and 227.21 if the identical federal regulations are made available to the public at a reasonable cost and promulgated in accordance with ch. 227, except s. 227.21. The department may provide to the legislative reference bureau one or more Web addresses to provide electronic access to any standards adopted under this paragraph for publication in conjunction with the publication of the Wisconsin administrative code and register under s. 35.93.”

Wis. Stat. § 101.10 (2) “The department shall promulgate rules that prescribe reasonable standards relating to the safe storage and handling of anhydrous ammonia.”

Wis. Stat. § 101.12 (3m) (a) “The department shall promulgate rules for the administration of a program to certify 2nd class cities to perform the examination of essential drawings, calculations and specifications in accordance with sub. (1).”