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Safety and Buildings Division - Means
of Egress and Accessibility Council Meeting Summaries
Meeting summaries are
tentative until reviewed at a subsequent meeting
Thursday,
October 13, 2005, 1 p.m. - 3:15 p.m., Thompson
Commerce Center, rm.
4A, 201 W.
Washington Ave., Madison, Wisconsin
Council Member Attendance: Cleo
Eliason – Ex; Larry Earll – P;
Joe Jurkiewicz - Ex; Larry Palank – P; Dick Pomo -
Ex; Ed Solner - P; Monica
Sommerfeldt - A; Dave Wheaton – Ex
Guests: Liz Evan, Department of
Health and Family Services,
Public Health Education
Department of Commerce staff: Jim
Smith, Diane Meredith, Tom
Kasper
Welcome
and introductions: Larry Palank called the teleconference
meeting to
order at
1:15. The meeting
started with a round of
introductions and review of the previous meeting’s progress
report, which was
accepted unanimously.
Division
Updates
Jim Smith explained the various Division Specialty Councils are
currently meeting
to discuss the ICC code change proposals and to develop draft language
for any
changes to the Wisconsin Commercial Building Code (WCBC).
A meeting of the Commercial Building
Code Council (CBCC) and
Multifamily Dwelling Code Council (MDCC) is scheduled for Thursday,
October 27th
and the following Specialty Councils will report on their work: Means
of egress;
General requirements; Fire safety and fire systems; Structural
Jim noted that members of this
Council are welcome to come
to the CBCC/MDCC meeting but it is not mandatory.
Jim also reported that Kimberly
Walker became the Division
Administrator for the Division of Energy in the Department of
Administration
and that Greg Jones accepted the Administrator’s position for
the Division of
Safety and Buildings in September.
Greg
Jones came here from the Division of Workers’ Compensation
within the
Department of Workforce Development.
The timeline for the adoption of the
2006 ICC codes was
explained and the following key dates are noted:
1. Finish rule drafting by early January 2006
2. Hold public hearing in March 2006
3. Submit final draft of rules to the Legislature for
committee review by August 15, 2006
4. Adopt final rules in late 2006
5. Anticipated effective date would be early 2007
Discussion
of Letter from Sheri Johnson from Department of
Health and Family Services (DHFS)
Sheri Johnson, Division Administrator and Public Health Officer from
the
Division of Public Health, wrote to Ron Buchholz, Deputy Administrator,
for the
Division of Safety and Buildings with concerns regarding the recent
death of a
2-year old child who fell from a window on the 5th floor of a building,
and
this letter was shared with the members. Liz Evans from the Division of
Public Health addressed the
members and explained
their Division would like to see the reduction of deaths from falls
from
windows on upper stories of buildings. She explained they are looking
at increasing education to
parents and
proposing code changes, where practicable. Jim Smith noted that the
International Code Council (ICC)
has discussed
this topic area; however, no specific language is proposed, and Jim
encouraged Liz’s
group to contact the ICC groups with their concerns and proposals.
Common
path of travel for R-2 occupancies
A designer had contacted Larry Palank with a concern relating to the
common
path of travel requirements for R-2 occupancies. The designer asked why
R-2 occupancies were
not allowed an increase in travel distance for the common path of
travel, which
seemed to be provided for other occupancies. Jim Smith explained that
all R-2 occupancies are required
to be
sprinklered and the common path of travel requirement reflects the
trade-off
for sprinklers.
Areas
of refuge (ICC proposal E22)
The ICC proposal E22 eliminates the requirement that areas of refuge
are not
required in buildings that are fully sprinklered. This proposal goes
above the current federal
Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) and
this
original proposal was denied by the ICC Means of Egress Committee
because there
was not adequate information to justify the inclusion of areas of
refuge in
buildings with a complete sprinkler system. Larry Earll explained the
Department of Administration
(DOA) is
attempting to provide sprinklers in all state-owned facilities because
of the increase
in safety when buildings are sprinklered. He expressed concern that
requiring areas of refuge in all
these
buildings would increase the total cost of projects, which would have
negative
impact on DOA’s policy to provide affordable buildings. Larry
said that DOA would
not support this
change, which requires areas of refuge in addition to sprinklers.
In a written response received prior
to the meeting, Joe
Jurkiewicz indicated there may be other options to providing areas of
refuge
within the stairway, such as providing compartment areas for moving
people
horizontally within the building, similar to what is provided in
hospitals.
The members generally agreed that
this requirement should be
reviewed more in detail by the ICC Committees, so this code change
proposal
would not be accepted.
Site
Arrival Points at buildings with Type B dwelling or
sleeping units (ICC proposal E137)
The ICC proposal E137 change relates to the site arrival points and
removes
language consistent with the federal Fair Housing regulations and adds
language
to the accessible route requirements from the primary entrance to the
dwelling
unit entrance. The
members reviewed this
change and felt the proposed requirement was misplaced and did not
address the
concern raised by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
(DHUD)
and suggested maintaining the language reviewed by the ICC Means of
Egress
Committee during their last meeting.
Review
of Wisconsin Modifications that do not appear in any
of the IBC updates
The members are to review the list of Wisconsin
modifications that may need to be retained since they are not
specifically
addressed in any of the IBC updates. Dave Wheaton’s comments,
which were sent prior
to the meeting, were also
shared with the members for their information. It
was requested the members get back with
staff by October 24th, if they feel any changes should be made to the
identified Wisconsin modifications. After
receipt of these suggestions, staff will
prepare a proposed public hearing draft and will share with the
members.
Next
meeting Depending
on the public comments received, the group would not meet again until
after the
public hearings, which are anticipated to be held in March of 2006.
August
31, 2004 Meeting Summary: Tuesday, August 31, 2004, 9:30
a.m. to1:15 p.m., Thompson Commerce Center, Room 3B, 201 W. Washington
Ave., Madison, Wisconsin 53703
Council Member Attedence: Cleo Eliason-P; Larry Earll-P; Joe
Jurkiewicz-P; Larry Palank-P; Dick Pomo-Ex; Ed Solner-Ex; Monica
Sommerfeldt-P; Dave Wheaton-P.
Department of Commerce Staff: Jim Smith, Diane Meredith, Tom Kasper,
Jim Quast.
-- Welcome and introductions: Jim Smith opened the meeting by welcoming
the members and thanking them for volunteering their time and talents
to participate on the Division’s Means of Egress and
Accessibility Council. He noted that the last time this group met the
task was to review the means of egress and accessibility requirements
under the International Building Code (IBC) the 2000 edition for
adoption in Wisconsin. That endeavor was much more encompassing at that
time since using a model building code was a new concept. Now the goal
of this group is to review the changes made in the 2003 IBC as well as
the 2004 supplement in anticipation of adopting the 2006 edition of the
IBC, and to also review the existing Wisconsin-based requirements for
need. Jim felt this Council may meet approximately 2 to 3 times and the
projected effective date for the updated code is July 2007. The
Division’s Advisory Council Manual was distributed and
explained to the members. It was also noted that the final work of this
Council would be forwarded to the umbrella councils for their review.
The review of this group’s initial recommendations will begin
early next year.
-- Review of the Summary of changes to IBC chapters 10 and 11: The
means of egress and accessibility handout material was explained. The
members asked that the summary sheets prepared by staff for the means
of egress and accessibility changes be used during the meeting so they
could get a better understanding of the changes. Jim Smith pointed out
that the summaries are staff’s analysis of the changes and
encouraged the members to review the actual code language. The majority
of the changes discussed were to improve consistency in terminology,
update cross-references, reword requirements for clarity, and to
include federal updates relating to accessibility. No substantive
changes were noted in the initial review. Jim Smith reminded the
members to discuss these changes with their organization. At the next
meeting, any issues or concerns raised by the members or members in
their organization will be discussed.
-- Chairperson: The members chose Larry Palank as the chairperson for
the Council.
-- Next meeting: The next meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday,
October 19, 2004 in conference room #3C in the Thompson Commerce
Center, 201 W. Washington Ave., in Madison.
Questions concerning the meeting may be directed to Diane Meredith,
Department of Commerce, 608-266-8982, or TTY 608-264-8777, or Email, dmeredith@commerce.state.wi.us
.
Email this page's manager, Todd Taylor, ttaylor@commerce.state.wi.us
or 608-267-3606 X
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