GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS > DEFENDING YOUR INDUSTRY GHBA Advocacy Report
City of Houston 2012 IRC Review
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By CASEY WATTS MORGAN, GHBA Vice President and Director of Government Affairs
GHBA and Construction Industry Council (CIC) have conducted 2012 International Residential Code (IRC) reviews since December, as the City of Houston released proposed amendments to the 2012 IRC late last year.
The most contentious issue during the review was focused on the City’s proposal to change a current code, increasing the 3 ft. firewall separation distance requirement to 5 ft.
Over the last several months, the GHBA Codes & Standard Committee and IRC review task force organized bi-monthly meetings that included detailed research and robust discussion. Members of the committee and task force collected information from other U.S. cities that currently require the same 3 ft. firewall separation distance, as well as fire safety information from the Houston Fire Department.
Additionally, members collected information on the impact the possible code change would have on the local home building industry. For example, GHBA builders estimated that on a typical 25 x 100 ft. lot, the home width would decrease from 22 ft. to 19 ft. wide. On two-story homes, this would subtract 140 square feet from the home, and on three-story homes, the potential code change would reduce the home’s square footage by 270 square feet.
You Have a Voice with GAC!
If you have questions about this article or would like to get involved on the Government Affairs Committee, call (281) 664-1430 or email Casey at
cmorgan@ghba.org.
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GHBA builders also argued that the largest impact would hit smaller projects (three homes per lot) as increasing the firewall separation distance to 5 ft. would make smaller developments nearly impossible, unless the intention was to build very small, expensive homes.
After combining all technical arguments and blending into one document, GHBA member and CIC representative John Williams submitted GHBA’s position to the Houston Code Enforcement Office last month in
support of maintaining the current 3 ft. code requirement.
Days later, the Code Enforcement staff responded to the GHBA that they determined to approve the association’s justification and keep this particular code requirement as is. This was exciting news for the Codes & Standards Committee members as well as the IRC review task force!
Moving forward, the Code Enforcement staff plans to provide a presentation on upcoming 2012 IRC changes and clarifications to the Houston City Council later this month. If approved by Council, the code changes will go into effect 60 days later, likely in late August.
If you have questions or would like to view the COH’s proposed amendments to the 2012 IRC, please contact Amy Carl at
acarl@ghba.org.
Update on EPA’s Proposed Waters of the U.S. Rule
Last November, GHBA provided written comments opposing EPA’s proposed Waters of the U.S. rule. Tthis proposed rule greatly expands the definition of “navigable waters,” subjecting currently unregulated waters to expanded federal oversight and stringent development requirements.
The comment period for the proposed rule closed on November 30. GHBA participated in the public comment period. Since that
Continued on page 17 JUNE 2015 | HOUSTON BUILDER | GREATER HOUSTON BUILDERS ASSOCIATION – BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE
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