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Sunday, March 15, 2009

Ind. Law - "Indiana fire codes could be tougher" says Star. And they could be accessible, says ILB

That first part is the headline to a lengthy story today in the Indianapolis Star, reported by Bill Ruthhart. The story compares some of Indiana's requirements for large projects with those of San Jose, California. From the end of the story:

Indiana, like many states, adopts its building codes from the International Code Council, a Washington, D.C.-based group that updates its standards every three years.

Unlike some states, such as neighboring Illinois and Michigan, Indiana applies one set of codes statewide, and individual municipalities do not develop their own codes.

Wakefield said most major code changes are handled on the national level and then adopted by states.

Bruce Johnson, a spokesman with the code council, said that in recent years, codes have become tougher -- particularly for high-rise buildings after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Wakefield said building codes can always be strengthened but said safety concerns must be weighed against the cost to the developer.

As the ILB has noted before, the the Indiana State Building Codes are copyrighted and not available online. See this ILB entry from Aug. 7, 2008 and this one from Sept. 2, 2008.

675 IAC purports to contain the building codes (675 IAC 13), the fire prevention codes (675 IAC 22), etc. But what you actually find, if you look at for instance, p. 108 of the pdf version of 675 IAC 22-2.4-4 (Chapter 3; general precautions against fire), are almost unintelligible provisions, such as:

(1) Delete Section 301.2 in its entirety without substitution.
(2) Amend Section 304.1.2 by deleting the last sentence in its entirety without substitution.
(3) Amend Section 304.2 by deleting the text and substituting the following: Storage of combustible rubbish shall not produceconditions that will create a fire hazard that endangers the safety of persons or property.
There are over 50 pages like this, and make sense only if you look at 675 IAC 22-2.4-1 (p. 105), which reads:
Rule 2.4. Indiana Fire Code, 2008 Edition

675 IAC 22-2.4-1 Adoption by reference

Sec. 1. That certain document being titled the International Fire Code, 2006 Edition, first printing, as published by the International Code Council, Inc., 500 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Sixth Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001-2070, is hereby adopted by reference as if fully set out in this rule save and except those revisions made in sections 2 through 49 of this rule. (Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission; 675 IAC 22-2.4-1; filed Mar 18, 2008, 2:30 p.m.: 20080423-IR-675070478FRA, eff 90 days after filing with the Publisher)

I read this last line to mean that effective May 18, 2008, Indiana adopted by reference the 2006 Edition of the International Fire Code.

What about the other codes? The best list I've found is this one from the City of Goshen. As noted in the Star story, "Indiana applies one set of codes statewide, and individual municipalities do not develop their own codes."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 15, 2009 08:41 AM
Posted to Indiana Law