News Updates - July 30, 2008

Local building departments have online form to change information

The division's Jurisdictional Change online form is back up and running. The division maintains a Directory of Responsibility on its website. The directory contains contact information for the jurisdictions' building and planning departments. This is the one of the first places the public is directed to when trying to find information about their local building department on the division's Web site.

Your jurisdiction is encouraged to review the information on the Directory of Responsibility to verify that it is current. If your department has a new building official or changes to your contact information you can submit changes to BCD online. Take the time today to check it out.

Regional forum well attended in Medford

Over forty architects, building department staff members and home builders attended the newest version of BCD's regional forums. The southern Oregon gathering, held at the Medford city library, was formatted differently then BCD forums in the past. Instead of a panel giving answers to audience questions, the July 29th agenda included three speakers and information sharing. The meeting featured BCD structural chief Richard Rogers, Department of Energy analyst Brady Peeks and Medford architect Mark McKechnie.

Look for information on regional forums scheduled in your area in future Local Building Department newsletters.

Online OESC code-change course

The division will be delivering another online training in September. The Oregon Electrical Specialty Code Code-Change course will be offered on Tuesday, September 16, 2008. Dennis Clements and John Powell will be the instructors for the class. Keep updated on class time and registration information in future issues of this newsletter.

New Statewide Alternate Method adopted by Building Codes Division

The Building Codes Division adopted Statewide Alternate Method No. OESC 08-03 after the Electrical and Elevator Board approved the scientific and technical facts of the alternate method during its meeting of July 24, 2008. The new alternate method allows the installation of vertical runs of weatherproof flexible conduit as physical protection for NMB cables emerging from crawl spaces or attics and routed to surface mounted outdoor electrical enclosures. The board found that such installations were acceptable and had been for several decades.

Division adopts temporary rule exempting certain
licensees from engineering requirement

The Building Codes Division has, upon the recommendation of the Electrical and Elevator Board, adopted OAR 918-261-0015 as a temporary rule. The rule exempts general journeyman and class A limited energy technician licensees who design, plan, and lay out the electrical portion of a fire protection system for a customer from the engineer requirement of ORS 671.025. The exemption applies only to those licensees who are employed by an electrical contractor and acting as a signing supervisor.

Electrical design documents for a fire protection system prepared by a general journeyman or class A limited energy technician licensee do not require the stamp of an Oregon registered architect or professional engineer. Eligible licensees are not subject to any requirements for additional licenses or certificates to qualify for the exemption.

OAR 918-261-0015 was adopted as a temporary rule to determine if it would resolve the issues facing the division's stakeholders as a result of OSBEELS's February 5, 2008 statement regarding fire protection systems. The division is interested in your experiences with the rule and will present them to the board at a subsequent meeting. Please send your comments regarding OAR 918-261-0015 to Matt Barber, Policy Analyst, at matthew.e.barber@state.or.us.

Regional Program Services

Southern region gets regional coordinator assigned
In the last issue of the newsletter we announced the addition to the Regional Services Program staff, Wendy Beard as regional coordinator for the northwest Oregon region. The newest staff responsibility update in the program is the appointment of Michael Morter as the Southern Oregon regional coordinator. Michael is currently serving as the Mid-Willamette Valley/Coast Regional Coordinator and will retain those responsibilities as part of this new assignment. He has been helping the southern region in an interim capacity with great results.

Who is responsible for what?

Wendy Beard-Northwest
Portland metropolitan area and including Washington, Clackamas, Multnomah, Columbia, Clatsop, and Tillamook counties

Tim Lindsey-Central
Hood River, Wasco, Sherman, Gilliam, Jefferson, Wheeler, Crook, Lake, and Deschutes counties

Jerod Broadfoot-Eastern
Morrow, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Baker, Grant, Harney, and Malheur counties

Michael Morter-Mid Valley/Coast
Yamhill, Polk, Marion, Lincoln, Benton, Linn and Lane counties
Southern
Douglas, Coos, Curry, Josephine, Jackson and Klamath counties

ePermitting

Junction City goes live
Buying building permits in Lane County is now even easier and requires less driving with the addition of Junction City to the state's ePermitting Web site: www.BuildingPermits.Oregon.gov.

On Tuesday, July 29, 2008, Junction City sold their first permit online making them the 21st jurisdiction in Oregon to offer over-the-counter, non-plan review electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits on-line. The Authorization to Begin Work is received and can be printed by the contractor within minutes of completing the process on the QuickPermits site.