Directs the state fire prevention and building code council to update the state fire prevention and building code and the state energy conservation construction code within 18 months of the publication of any updated or revised edition of the international and national codes relating thereto, so as to ensure that the state's codes reflect such revisions and updates.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5249
SPONSOR: Hunter TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law and the energy law, in relation to
requiring the updating of the state uniform fire prevention and building
code and the state energy conservation construction code on the basis of
update of certain international codes
PURPOSE:
To direct the state fire prevention and building code council to update
the state fire prevention and building code and the state energy conser-
vation construction code
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 renumbers subdivision 2 of section 377 of the executive law to
subdivision 3 and adds a new subdivision 2.
A new subdivision 2 is added to require that the state uniform fire
prevention and building code the state energy conservation code be
updated in accordance to changes in international fire codes. These
codes include the International Building Code, the International Fire
Code, the International Residential Code, the International Plumbing
Code, the International Mechanical Code, the International Property
Maintenance Code, and the National Electrical Code. New subdivision 2
states each time a revised edition of a code is updated, the council
shall, within twelve months of such publication, update the uninform
fire prevention and building code to be updated to reflect such changes.
Section 2 amends chapter 516 of the laws of 1984 to update the purpose
of a state energy construction code. Section 3 states that the fire
prevention and building code council may decide to update a code if it
is cost effective. In determining if it is cost effective, the council
shall consider the cost of their installation to meet its standards
would be equal to or less than the present value of energy savings that
could be expected over a 10 year period from when the materials are
installed. For residential buildings, the code shall meet or exceed the
then most recently published international Energy Conservation Code, or
achieve equivalent or greater energy savings and cause the state energy
conservation constriction code to be updated to reflect such changes.
JUSTIFICATION:
When states and local governments stay current with updated building
codes, they encourage market-ready solutions that increases the safety,
resiliency, energy-efficiency, and overall performance of homes,
schools, hospitals, and other buildings. Timely adoption of model safety
codes promotes private sector innovation and competition by guiding new
technologies into the marketplace through the code, it increases
protection and decreases reconstruction costs from damage caused by
natural disasters; and protects the value of the building owners'
investment.
The 2012 President's Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force was charged
with the development of guidelines and recommendations of how to direct
more than $20 billion in federal funding for infrastructure recovery and
resilience. One of the recommendations was for states to use the most
current building codes saying that "using the-most current code ensures
that buildings and other structures incorporate the latest science,
advances in technology and lessons learned... These codes help ensure
that more resilient structures are built and that communities are better
protected from all types of hazards and disasters".
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2017-18: A.6824
2019-20: A.4460
2021-22: A.3559B
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5249
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 7, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. HUNTER, PEOPLES-STOKES, WALLACE, JACOBSON -- read
once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the executive law and the energy law, in relation to
requiring the updating of the state uniform fire prevention and build-
ing code and the state energy conservation construction code on the
basis of update of certain international codes
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 377 of the executive law is renum-
2 bered subdivision 3 and a new subdivision 2 is added to read as follows:
3 2. Each time a revised or updated edition of the International Build-
4 ing Code, the International Fire Code, the International Residential
5 Code, the International Plumbing Code, the International Mechanical
6 Code, the International Fuel Gas Code, the International Existing Build-
7 ing Code, the International Property Maintenance Code or the National
8 Electrical Code is published, the council shall, eighteen months after
9 publication of a revised or updated edition, cause the uniform fire
10 prevention and building code to be updated to reflect changes in any
11 such revised or updated edition. To the extent that the uniform fire
12 prevention and building code has not been updated to reflect changes in
13 any such revised or updated edition as of the effective date of this
14 subdivision, the council shall, as soon as practicable and no later than
15 eighteen months after the effective date of this subdivision, cause the
16 uniform fire prevention and building code to be updated to reflect such
17 changes.
18 § 2. Section 11-101 of the energy law, as amended by chapter 516 of
19 the laws of 1984, is amended to read as follows:
20 § 11-101. Purpose. In furtherance of the [policy] policies set forth
21 in subdivision two of section 3-101 of this chapter and in chapter one
22 hundred six of the laws of two thousand nineteen enacting the New York
23 state climate leadership and community protection act, the legislature
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06858-01-3
A. 5249 2
1 hereby directs that a state energy conservation construction code be
2 adopted to protect the health, safety and security of the people of the
3 state and to assure a continuing supply of energy for future generations
4 and that such code mandate that [economically] reasonable energy conser-
5 vation techniques be used in the design and construction of all public
6 and private buildings in the state.
7 § 3. Subdivision 2 of section 11-103 of the energy law, as amended by
8 chapter 374 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as follows:
9 2. (a) The state fire prevention and building code council is author-
10 ized, from time to time as it deems appropriate and consistent with the
11 purposes of this article, to review and amend the code, or adopt a new
12 code, through rules and regulations provided that the code remains cost
13 effective with respect to building construction in the state. In deter-
14 mining whether the code remains cost effective, the code council shall
15 consider (i) whether the life-cycle costs for a building will be recov-
16 ered through savings in energy costs over the design life of the build-
17 ing under a life-cycle cost analysis performed under methodology as
18 established by the New York state energy research and development
19 authority in regulations which may be updated from time to time, and
20 (ii) secondary or societal effects, such as reductions in greenhouse gas
21 emissions, as defined in regulations. Before publication of a notice of
22 proposed rule making establishing the methodology or defining secondary
23 or societal effects, the president of the authority shall conduct public
24 meetings to provide meaningful opportunities for public comment from all
25 segments of the population that would be impacted by the regulations,
26 including persons living in disadvantaged communities as identified by
27 the climate justice working group established under section 75-0111 of
28 the environmental conservation law. For residential buildings, the code
29 shall meet or exceed the then most recently published International
30 Energy Conservation Code, or achieve equivalent or greater energy
31 savings; and for commercial buildings, the code shall meet or exceed the
32 then most recently published [ASHRAE] ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1,
33 or achieve equivalent or greater energy savings.
34 (b) When adopting the first amended version of the code next following
35 the effective date of [the] chapter three hundred seventy-four of the
36 laws of two thousand twenty-two [that added this paragraph] and any
37 subsequent codes, the state fire prevention and building code council
38 shall, as soon as practicable and no later than eighteen months after
39 the publication of each revised or updated edition of the International
40 Energy Conservation Code or the ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1, use its
41 best efforts to adopt provisions for residential buildings that achieve
42 energy savings greater than energy savings achieved by the then most
43 recently published International Energy Conservation Code and to adopt
44 provisions for commercial buildings that achieve energy savings greater
45 than energy savings achieved by the then most recently published
46 [ASHRAE] ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1, both at levels recommended by
47 the New York state energy research and development authority, provided
48 that the state fire prevention and building code council determines that
49 such advanced energy savings can be achieved while still meeting the
50 cost effectiveness considerations contemplated by this subdivision.
51 (c) The state fire prevention and building code council shall, as soon
52 as practicable and no later than eighteen months after the publication
53 of each revised or updated edition of the International Energy Conserva-
54 tion Code or the ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1, cause the state energy
55 conservation construction code to be updated to reflect changes in any
56 such revised or updated edition. To the extent that the state energy
A. 5249 3
1 conservation construction code has not been updated to reflect changes
2 in any such revised or updated edition as of the effective date of this
3 paragraph, the council shall, as soon as practicable and no later than
4 eighteen months after the effective date of this paragraph, cause the
5 state energy conservation construction code to be updated to reflect
6 such changes.
7 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
