Utah State Legislatures & Conflict of Interest

I had actually posted this article a while ago but since most states are in the process of adopting and amending the codes I thought I would re-post it.  Year after year it simply amazes me how an elected individual all of sudden knows more about a subject than the individuals who are in the position who enforce the codes.
The state of Utah needs to look into their Conflict of Interest laws for politicians who use their position to push legislation that pads their business('s) bottom line.
A few years ago the politicians eliminated a Building Code Commission and decided they knew better than the experts in the field and allowed state legislators to decide what code would be used, changed or eliminated.
This has become a nightmare for builders, their subs and inspectors.
Yearly, hundreds of amendments are approved by the state that change the International Code Council's (ICC) family of codes and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) originally adopted by the state and each local jurisdiction within the state.
You can imagine the difficulty of trying to keep up with the changes and try to understand why they were changed.
This is only one example as one legislator, a contractor and home builder, decided that he wanted to cut some cost so he introduces a bill that totally eliminates Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCI's). AFCI's prevented fires and saved lives but he wouldn't listen so he pushed, pushed and pushed his personal agenda.
Working together the electrical fire safety industry created AFCIs to prevent electrical fires and save lives. Per Standards Boost Business, “By collaborating on a critical standard for Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, the National Fire Protection Association, and Underwriters Laboratories have helped to prevent more than 40,000 home fires, over 350 deaths, and more than 1,400 injuries each year.” Read more at http://www.standardsboostbusiness.org/default.aspx
Supplied with the national statistics and arguments against his bill it was passed; the total elimination of the code section in the IRC on AFCI's.


2015 IRC - E3902.16 Arc-fault circuit-interrupter protection. Branch circuits that supply 120 volt, single-phase, 15- and 20-ampere outlets installed in kitchens, family rooms, dining rooms, living rooms, parlors, libraries, dens, bedrooms, sunrooms, recreations rooms, closets, hallways, laundry areas and similar rooms or areas shall be protected by any of the following:


Another state Senator had a friend who owned and operated a Food Truck who had some difficulties in licensing and inspections prior to getting a permit to operate around the state. You guessed it. The Senator pushed a bill that will completely change the process of how Food Trucks are regulated. Never mind the horror stories from around the country on the health, life and safety problems concerning Food Trucks.
Each year each member must sign and disclose their conflicts by submitting the UTAH HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2017 CONFLICT OF INTEREST & FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE form. You can look up the public records of each representative and/or senator and review their conflicts. I don't believe that anybody reading this article would be in awe of the reason behind many of the legislative bills that are proposed to change the "MINIMUM" life and safety codes that are adopted.
Last October I spent a week at the ICC Kansas City Code Hearings voting on new codes often late into the night so that as a body, a state, a country, a local jurisdiction, we would have some uniformity in the upcoming 2018 codes. Some were passed and some failed but they were voted on and then later were also voted by the governmental members electronically by cdp access. cdpACCESS® is the International Code Council’s new cloud-based system for the code development process (cdp).
This same legislative body of Utah decided that they (Developers, Realtors, Contractors, HBA, etc.) didn't want codes to change so they passed a bill that changes the code cycle adoption of the IRC (International Residential Code) to six years. They will be in for a rude awakening when they try to catch up.
So far Utah has eliminated and/or changed codes that protect lives such as Residential Fire Sprinklers, Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCI's), dimensions on stairs, window egress sizing, self-closing fire-rated man doors to a residential garage, etc., etc.; an amazing forty (40) pages of changes.
We, as inspectors, engineers, architects and others who want to follow a minimum code are losing the battle to special interest groups. I could go on and on and on but what good does it do when in the state of Utah it falls in the hands of politicians.
In summation and closing the bottom line is in the following quote:
“Change is good but dollars are better.- Tara daniels”