Title of Regulation: 13VAC5-21. Virginia Certification Standards (amending 13VAC5-21-51).

Statutory Authority: § 36-137 of the Code of Virginia.

Public Hearing Information:

March 28, 2011 - 10 a.m. - Virginia Housing Center, 4224 Cox Road, Richmond, VA

Public Comment Deadline: March 31, 2011.

Agency Contact: Stephen W. Calhoun, Regulatory Coordinator, Department of Housing and Community Development, Main Street Center, 600 East Main Street, Suite 300, Richmond, VA 23219, telephone (804) 371-7000, FAX (804) 371-7090, TTY (804) 371-7089, or email steve.calhoun@dhcd.virginia.gov.

Basis: Section 36-137 of the Code of Virginia requires the Board of Housing and Community Development to issue a certificate of competence concerning the content, application, and intent of specified subject areas of the building and fire prevention regulations promulgated by the board to present or prospective personnel of local governments and to any other persons seeking to become qualified to perform inspections pursuant to Chapter 6 (§ 36-97 et seq.) of Title 36 of the Code of Virginia, Chapter 9 (§ 27-94 et seq.) of Title 27 of the Code of Virginia, and any regulations adopted thereunder, who have completed training programs, topic examinations, or in other ways demonstrated adequate knowledge.

Purpose: As recognized in § 36-99 of the Code of Virginia, the purpose of the Uniform Statewide Building Code (USBC) is to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the Commonwealth, while permitting buildings to be constructed in the most economical manner consistent with such pertinent recognized standards relative to construction, health, and safety. Therefore, the certification and associated training and education of the local code enforcement personnel are inherent in and critical to the achievement of this purpose and ensure the technical and professional level of those personnel, including the knowledge and skill gained from the mandated periodic training and continuing education, as well as a familiarity with and understanding of recent developments within the building codes and construction industry. This regulatory action also clarifies the dual requirements for both training and education categories to sustain an active status of the certificate holder and correlates the requirements with the proposed amendments in the USBC.

Substance: Not being substantive in nature, this regulatory action primarily serves to clarify and correlate the existing regulatory requirements.

Issues: The primary advantage of this regulatory action, beyond the clarification and correlation of the existing regulations, is to provide for a consistent interpretation and application of the existing regulation among the local code enforcement personnel, ensure adequate training and education of the local code enforcement personnel, and promote a knowledge and skill level of the local code enforcement personnel that progresses concurrently with the building code cycles and construction industry developments. All certificate holders in code enforcement, consisting of building officials and technical assistants, must separately obtain both periodic training to maintain a level of technical knowledge required of the certificate topic as well continuing education to progress the level of professional skill commensurate with the building code cycles and the construction industry developments. The identification of active versus inactive status of certificate holders assists the localities and the general public with the determination of the eligibility of the local code enforcement personnel as a building official or technical assistant and assurance of the technical and professional levels of the local code enforcement personnel. This regulatory action poses no foreseen disadvantages to the public or the Commonwealth.

Department of Planning and Budget's Economic Impact Analysis:

Summary of the Proposed Amendments to Regulation. The Board of Housing and Community Development (Board) proposes to amend its Virginia Certification Standards to clarify that regulated entities must complete both periodic maintenance training and required continuing education credits in order to maintain certification.

Result of Analysis. The benefits likely exceed the costs for all proposed changes.

Estimated Economic Impact. Currently, these certification standards require active certificate holders to have attended all periodic training designated by the Board but do not specify what this training entails. The Board proposes to flesh out this requirement by including the types of training (maintenance training and pertinent continuing education) that certificate holders will have to periodically complete.

Because the categories of training that the Board proposes to insert into these standards are already required, no regulated entity is likely to incur any additional costs on account of this proposed change. To the extent that current regulatory language may have led to confusion about what is expected of certificate holders, this change will provide the benefit of clarity.

Businesses and Entities Affected. The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) reports that approximately 2,900 local building code enforcement personnel are currently certified by the Board.

Localities Particularly Affected. No locality will be particularly affected by this proposed regulatory action.

Projected Impact on Employment. This regulatory action will likely have no impact on employment in the Commonwealth.

Effects on the Use and Value of Private Property. This regulatory action will likely have no effect on the use or value of private property in the Commonwealth.

Small Businesses: Costs and Other Effects. Small businesses in the Commonwealth are unlikely to incur any costs on account of this regulatory action.

Small Businesses: Alternative Method that Minimizes Adverse Impact. Small businesses in the Commonwealth are unlikely to incur any costs on account of this regulatory action.

Real Estate Development Costs. This regulatory action will likely have no effect on real estate development costs in the Commonwealth.

Legal Mandate. The Department of Planning and Budget (DPB) has analyzed the economic impact of this proposed regulation in accordance with § 2.2-4007.04 of the Administrative Process Act and Executive Order Number 36 (06). Section 2.2-4007.04 requires that such economic impact analyses include, but need not be limited to, the projected number of businesses or other entities to whom the regulation would apply, the identity of any localities and types of businesses or other entities particularly affected, the projected number of persons and employment positions to be affected, the projected costs to affected businesses or entities to implement or comply with the regulation, and the impact on the use and value of private property. Further, if the proposed regulation has adverse effect on small businesses, § 2.2-4007.04 requires that such economic impact analyses include (i) an identification and estimate of the number of small businesses subject to the regulation; (ii) the projected reporting, recordkeeping, and other administrative costs required for small businesses to comply with the regulation, including the type of professional skills necessary for preparing required reports and other documents; (iii) a statement of the probable effect of the regulation on affected small businesses; and (iv) a description of any less intrusive or less costly alternative methods of achieving the purpose of the regulation. The analysis presented above represents DPB's best estimate of these economic impacts.

Agency's Response to the Department of Planning and Budget's Economic Impact Analysis: The Department of Housing and Community Development concurs with the economic impact analysis provided by the Department of Planning and Budget.

Summary:

This regulatory action amends the existing regulation to clarify the existing mandatory requirements for all certificate holders in code enforcement, consisting of building officials and technical assistants, to separately obtain both periodic training to maintain a level of technical knowledge required of the certificate holder as well continuing education to progress to the level of professional skill commensurate with the building code cycles and the construction industry developments. This regulatory action further correlates the proposed amendments within the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (USBC), which encompass the relevant sections of the Virginia Construction Code (Section 105.2.3), Virginia Residential Code (Section 105.2.3), and Virginia Maintenance Code (Section 104.4.4), regarding compliance with each of the two requirements for periodic maintenance training and continuing education credits. In addition, this regulatory action applies the mandated training and education requirements to further define the active and inactive certificate status of certificate holders relative to the ongoing training and education of certificate holders. In order to achieve and sustain active status once certified, an individual must satisfactorily attend the periodic training as designated by Department of Housing and Community Development and complete the continuing education as additionally required by the regulations; the failure to satisfactorily accomplish one or both of these periodic training or continuing education requirements results in an inactive certificate status.

13VAC5-21-51. Issuance of certificates.

A. Certificates will be issued when an applicant has complied with the applicable requirements of this chapter. Certificate holders will be classified as active or inactive. An active certificate holder is a person who is certified and who has attended all periodic maintenance training courses designated by the department and completed the required continuing education subsequent to becoming certified. An inactive certificate holder is a person who is certified but who has not attended all such periodic maintenance training courses or completed the required continuing education subsequent to becoming certified. An inactive certificate holder may request reinstatement as an active certificate holder after completing make-up training courses authorized by the department. Provisional certificates may also be issued in accordance with subsection C of this section.

B. All certificates issued since June 1978 are considered to be valid unless revoked or suspended, except that provisional certificates shall remain valid as set out under subsection C of this section.

C. A provisional certificate may be issued to (i) a person who has been directed by the department to obtain a certificate; (ii) an applicant requesting a certificate under the alternative examination or training provisions of 13VAC5-21-45; or (iii) an applicant when the required training has not been provided or offered.

Such a provisional certificate may be issued when the applicant has (i) provided the written endorsement or documentation required by 13VAC5-21-31, (ii) satisfactorily completed the code academy core module, and (iii) completed any training through the code academy or through other providers determined to warrant the issuance of the provisional certificate.

The provisional certificate is valid for a period of one year after the date of issuance and shall only be issued once to any individual, except that a provisional certificate shall remain valid when the required training has not been provided or offered.