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Home My WebLink About01-24-2023 CBOA Agenda PacketCity of San Luis Obispo, Agenda, Planning Commission Agenda CONSTRUCTION BOARD OF APPEALS Tuesday, January 24, 2023 1:00 p.m. REGULAR MEETING Council Chambers 990 Palm Street San Luis Obispo, CA CALL TO ORDER Chair Neil Dilworth ROLL CALL: Board Members Amando Garza, Nick Graves, Christopher Wiedeman, Robert Vessely, Vice Chair Gresham Eckrich, and Chair Niel Dilworth PUBLIC COMMENT: At this time, people may address the Committee about items not on the agenda. Persons wishing to speak should come forward and state their name and address. Comments are limited to three minutes per person. Items raised at this time are generally referred to staff and, if action by the Committee is necessary, may be scheduled for a future meeting. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES 1.Minutes of the Construction Board of Appeals of October 25, 2022 PRESENTATIONS 2.Presentation on: A.Interpretation on Panelboards in Covered Multifamily Units B.Presentation on Path of Travel Recommendation: Receive and file the staff report and presentation Construction Board of Appeals Agenda for January 24, 2023 Page 2 COMMENT AND DISCUSSION 3. Staff Updates A.Staff Vacancies B.Board Vacancies C.Storm Response D.Accessibility Training E.Additional Resources i.Building Resource Webpage ii.Access Toolkit ADJOURNMENT The next Regular Meeting of the Construction Board of Appeals is April 25th at 1:00pm, in the Council Hearing Room, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, California. The City of San Luis Obispo wishes to make all of its public meetings accessible to the public. Upon request, this agenda will be made available in appropriate alternative formats to persons with disabilities. Any person with a disability who requires a modification or accommodation in order to participate in a meeting should direct such request to the Community Development Department at (805) 781-7180 at least 48 hours before the meeting, if possible. Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (805) 781-7107. Meeting audio recordings can be found at the following web address: http://opengov.slocity.org/WebLink/1/fol/60969/Row1.aspx Construction Board of Appeals Meeting of October 25, 2022 Page 1 Minutes - DRAFT CONSTRUCTION BOARD OF APPEALS Regular Meeting Tuesday, October 25, 2022 CALL TO ORDER A Regular Meeting of the San Luis Obispo Construction Board of Appeals was called to order on Tuesday, October 25, 2022, at 1:05 p.m. via teleconference, by Chair Niel Dilworth. ROLL CALL Present: Board Members Robert Vessely, Nick Graves, Vice Chair Gresham Eckrich, and Chair Niel Dilworth Absent: Board Members Amando Garza and Christopher Wiedeman Staff: Deputy Building Official Michael Loew, and City Clerk Teresa Purrington PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA None --End of Public Comment-- APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1.Consideration of the Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Construction Board of Appeals of January 4, 2022: ACTION: UPON MOTION BY DILWORTH, SECONDED BY VESSELY, CARRIED 4-0- 2 (WITH MEMBERS GARZA AND WIEDEMAN ABSENT), to approve the Minutes of the Construction Board of Appeals Special Meeting of January 4, 2022. Construction Board of Appeals Meeting of January 4, 2022 Page 2 PUBLIC HEARING 1. Presentation on: A. 2022 edition of Title 24 and Local Municipal Code update B. Interpretation on Treehouse’s C. Recent Alternative Method and Materials Requests Deputy Building Official Michael Loew provided a PowerPoint presentation regarding the 2022 edition of the Title 24 and Local Municipal Code update, treehouse interpretation and recent alternative method and materials request. ACTION: By consensus the Board directed to receive and file the reports. COMMENT AND DISCUSSION Staff Updates Deputy Building Official Michael Loew provided an update on Solar app+, staffing and Board vacancies ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 2:18 p.m. The next Regular Meeting of the Construction Board of Appeals will be held on January 24, 2023 in the Council Hearing Room, 990 Palm Street. APPROVED BY THE CONSTRUCTION BOARD OF APPEALS: XX/XX/XXXX DATE: January 24, 2023 FROM: Rodger Maggio, Chief Building Official PREPARED BY: Michael Loew, Deputy Building Official Phone Number: (805) 781-7157 E-mail: mloew@slocity.org SUBJECT: Informational Presentation BACKGROUND: Each regularly scheduled quarterly meeting staff will present to the board recent interpretations, decisions on approved Alternative Methods and Materials Requests, and facilitate a discussion on code sections relevant to the Board's purview. For this meeting, staff will also provide the Board with an update on the Building and Safety’s involvement in recent storm response and opportunities for training. There are no appeals for the Board to decide on at this time. The only recommended action for the Board will be to receive and file staff's presentation. A. Interpretation on Panelboards in Covered Multifamily Units Introduction Section 11A of the California Building Code addresses the minimum accessibility requirements for “Covered multifamily units.” Section 1102A.1 reads as follows: Construction Board of Appeals Agenda Report Meeting Date: January 24, 2023 Item Number: 2 Section 1136A addresses electrical receptacles, switches, and control heights, and specifies various requirements such as locations and elevations in which such features shall be installed and maintained. However, the code does not address whether electrical service panels should be installed at a specific location, nor does the code specify whether an AFCI breaker should be considered a switch or control. Electrical Code Requirements The California Electrical Code, in Article 240.24 (Article 240 – Overcurrent Protection), does address “Accessibility” for switches that contain fuses and circuit breakers. This section says that the handle of the switch or circuit breaker, when in its highest position, shall not be more than 6 ft. 7 in. above the finished floor. This elevation far exceeds, and maximum reach ranges found in any disabled access standard (The current maximum reach range is 48 inches above finish floor and was previously 54 inches above finish floor). Therefore, it is of sound reason to interpret the Electrical Code’s requirement for accessibility as readily accessible, or unobstructed. Annex J of the Electrical Code outlines various disabled access standards; however, this section is not adopted as code, and is placed in the text for informational purposes only (See opening note in Annex J). Furthermore, Annex J does not address electrical panels nor AFCI breakers. Other Standards While the Building and Electrical Codes are silent on this matter, there is one other standard that applies to covered multifamily units. The Fair Housing Act (FHA), while not locally adopted by the City of San Luis Obispo, is a federally enforced law with applicable design criteria and commentary. The Fair Housing Act is based on the ANSI A117.1-1986 and went through various revisions until its final publication in 1998. Most of the minimum requirements found in section 11A of the California Building Code are consistent with the standards found in the FHA Design Manual, including the applicable date of March 13th, 1991. Chapter 5 of the Fair Housing Act, on page 5.3, specifically addresses light switches and electrical outlets. This section reads “Controls and outlets not covered by this Guidelines include circuit breakers…” The design manual goes on to also specify that emergency interruption switches to mechanical systems are not covered either; however, it recommends the installation of such features to be reachable from “outside the closet by a person using a wheelchair.” Conclusion AFCI breakers are more prevalent in new construction projects that are built under more recent iterations of the National Electric Code. The purpose of the breaker is to protect residents from arcing, which is known to be a primary source of residential fires. Arc fault interrupting breakers detect when wires from a small household appliance, such as a vacuum or blender, are compromised and not completely shorted. While these breakers are known to “trip” more frequently than other breakers, the increased likelihood of the breaker tripping is not a justifiable reason supported in code that would require electrical service panelboards to be in a location, or at an elevation, that is accessible to disabled persons. Even with the increase prevalence of the AFCI breakers, an electrical service panelboard is intended to be utilized by service personnel. Therefore, the City of San Luis Obispo will not require electrical service panelboards to be installed in accordance with any disabled access standards at this time. B. Path of Travel Introduction Chapter 11B of the California Building Code requires disabled access improvements when existing buildings or structures undergo an addition or alteration (11B-202.2 and 11B-202.3). Exceptions can be granted when the local authority determines compliance with an applicable requirement is “technically infeasible.” However, in general, an accessible path of travel to the altered space must be established, and the route and elements along that path must be brought up to date with the minimum standards of the current code. Section 11B-202.4 requires that a primary accessible path of travel starts at the area of alteration, includes the primary building entrance, toilet and bathing facilities serving the area, drinking fountains serving the area, public telephones serving the area, and signs, and the path must extend to site arrival points (parking and/or the public sidewalk). There are 10 exceptions to this requirement in 11B-202.4 and this report will focus specifically on exception 5 and exception 8 11B-202.4 Exception 5 This section exempts facilities from having to address path of travel updates when the scope of work only consists of parking lot resurfacing and restriping. While this appears to be clear and concise, this topic is actually a bit more nuanced since the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design requires parking lots to be updated in these instances. The City of San Luis Obispo does not adopt the 2010 ADA as an enforceable code, and as a result, this has not been previously addressed. Staff is exploring the option of enforcing this requirement. 11B-202.4 Exception 8 The section introduces a rule to help limit the costs associated with path of travel improvements. The ADA refers to this a “disproportionality.” This allows building owners to forgo the requirements to update the path of travel when the cost of doing so exceeds 20 percent of the overall project cost. This section also establishes a “current valuation threshold,” which is updated annually. The threshold amount for 2022 was $187,172.00 and will be updated for 2023, but the Department of State Architect has not yet published the new amount at the time this report is being written. Projects below the threshold amount are permitted to spend a maximum of 20 percent. Projects that exceed the amount are required to provide full path of travel compliance unless a hardship waiver is submitted and approve by the Building Official. No project, with or without a hardship waiver, shall be permitted to spend less than 20 percent of the overall project cost on path of travel upgrades, unless full compliance is already provided. When determining which features along the path of travel must be updated, a recommended priority list is given: