1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to construction; giving the state building 
  1.3             official final authority for interpreting the State 
  1.4             Building Code and prescribing its enforcement; 
  1.5             requiring municipalities to submit annual reports on 
  1.6             construction-related fees; regulating 
  1.7             construction-related fees; prohibiting municipalities 
  1.8             from requiring waivers of rights as a condition for 
  1.9             issuance of a construction-related permit; amending 
  1.10            Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 16B.61, subdivision 
  1.11            1; 16B.62, subdivision 1; 16B.63, by adding a 
  1.12            subdivision; 326.90, subdivision 1; 462.353, 
  1.13            subdivision 4; proposing coding for new law in 
  1.14            Minnesota Statutes, chapters 16B; 462. 
  1.15  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.16     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 16B.61, 
  1.17  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.18     Subdivision 1.  [ADOPTION OF CODE.] Subject to sections 
  1.19  16B.59 to 16B.75, the commissioner shall by rule establish a 
  1.20  code of standards for the construction, reconstruction, 
  1.21  alteration, and repair of buildings, governing matters of 
  1.22  structural materials, design and construction, fire protection, 
  1.23  health, sanitation, and safety, including design and 
  1.24  construction standards regarding heat loss control, 
  1.25  illumination, and climate control.  The code must conform 
  1.26  insofar as practicable to model building codes generally 
  1.27  accepted and in use throughout the United States, including a 
  1.28  code for building conservation.  In the preparation of the code, 
  1.29  consideration must be given to the existing statewide specialty 
  1.30  codes presently in use in the state.  Model codes with necessary 
  2.1   modifications and statewide specialty codes may be adopted by 
  2.2   reference.  The code must be based on the application of 
  2.3   scientific principles, approved tests, and professional 
  2.4   judgment.  To the extent possible, the code must be adopted in 
  2.5   terms of desired results instead of the means of achieving those 
  2.6   results, avoiding wherever possible the incorporation of 
  2.7   specifications of particular methods or materials.  To that end 
  2.8   the code must encourage the use of new methods and new 
  2.9   materials.  Except as otherwise provided in sections 16B.59 to 
  2.10  16B.75, the commissioner shall administer and enforce the 
  2.11  provisions of those sections. 
  2.12     The commissioner shall develop rules addressing the plan 
  2.13  review fee assessed to similar buildings without significant 
  2.14  modifications including provisions for use of building systems 
  2.15  as specified in the industrial/modular program specified in 
  2.16  section 16B.75.  Additional plan review fees associated with 
  2.17  similar plans must be based on costs commensurate with the 
  2.18  direct and indirect costs of the service. 
  2.19     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 16B.62, 
  2.20  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.21     Subdivision 1.  [MUNICIPAL ENFORCEMENT.] The State Building 
  2.22  Code applies statewide and supersedes the building code of any 
  2.23  municipality.  A municipality must not by ordinance or through 
  2.24  development agreement require building code provisions 
  2.25  regulating components or systems of any residential structure 
  2.26  that are more restrictive than any provision of the State 
  2.27  Building Code.  The State Building Code does not apply to 
  2.28  agricultural buildings except with respect to state inspections 
  2.29  required or rulemaking authorized by sections 103F.141, 216C.19, 
  2.30  subdivision 8, and 326.244.  All municipalities shall adopt and 
  2.31  enforce the State Building Code with respect to new construction 
  2.32  within their respective jurisdictions.  
  2.33     If a city has adopted or is enforcing the State Building 
  2.34  Code on June 3, 1977, or determines by ordinance after that date 
  2.35  to undertake enforcement, it shall enforce the code within the 
  2.36  city.  A city may by ordinance extend the enforcement of the 
  3.1   code to contiguous unincorporated territory not more than two 
  3.2   miles distant from its corporate limits in any direction.  Where 
  3.3   two or more noncontiguous cities which have elected to enforce 
  3.4   the code have boundaries less than four miles apart, each is 
  3.5   authorized to enforce the code on its side of a line equidistant 
  3.6   between them.  Once enforcement authority is extended 
  3.7   extraterritorially by ordinance, the authority may continue to 
  3.8   be exercised in the designated territory even though another 
  3.9   city less than four miles distant later elects to enforce the 
  3.10  code.  After the extension, the city may enforce the code in the 
  3.11  designated area to the same extent as if the property were 
  3.12  situated within its corporate limits.  
  3.13     A city which, on June 3, 1977, had not adopted the code may 
  3.14  not commence enforcement of the code within or outside of its 
  3.15  jurisdiction until it has provided written notice to the 
  3.16  commissioner, the county auditor, and the town clerk of each 
  3.17  town in which it intends to enforce the code.  A public hearing 
  3.18  on the proposed enforcement must be held not less than 30 days 
  3.19  after the notice has been provided.  Enforcement of the code by 
  3.20  the city outside of its jurisdiction commences on the first day 
  3.21  of January in the year following the notice and hearing.  
  3.22     Municipalities may provide for the issuance of permits, 
  3.23  inspection, and enforcement within their jurisdictions by means 
  3.24  which are convenient, and lawful, including by means of 
  3.25  contracts with other municipalities pursuant to section 471.59, 
  3.26  and with qualified individuals.  The other municipalities or 
  3.27  qualified individuals may be reimbursed by retention or 
  3.28  remission of some or all of the building permit fee collected or 
  3.29  by other means.  In areas of the state where inspection and 
  3.30  enforcement is unavailable from qualified employees of 
  3.31  municipalities, the commissioner shall train and designate 
  3.32  individuals available to carry out inspection and enforcement on 
  3.33  a fee basis.  Nothing in this section prohibits a municipality 
  3.34  from adopting ordinances relating to zoning, subdivision, or 
  3.35  planning unless the ordinance conflicts with a provision of the 
  3.36  State Building Code.  
  4.1      Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 16B.63, is 
  4.2   amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  4.3      Subd. 5.  [INTERPRETATIVE AUTHORITY.] To achieve uniform 
  4.4   and consistent application of the State Building Code, the state 
  4.5   building official has final interpretative authority applicable 
  4.6   to all codes adopted as part of the State Building Code except 
  4.7   for the plumbing code and the electrical code.  A final 
  4.8   interpretative committee composed of seven members, consisting 
  4.9   of five certified building officials and two construction 
  4.10  industry representatives, shall review requests for final 
  4.11  interpretations relating to that field.  The state building 
  4.12  official must establish procedures for membership of the 
  4.13  interpretative committees.  The appropriate committee shall 
  4.14  review the request and make a recommendation to the state 
  4.15  building official for the final interpretation within 30 days of 
  4.16  the request.  The state building official must issue an 
  4.17  interpretation within ten business days from the recommendation 
  4.18  from the review committee.  A final interpretation may be 
  4.19  appealed within 30 days of its issuance to the commissioner 
  4.20  under section 16B.67.  The final interpretation must be 
  4.21  published within ten business days of its issuance and made 
  4.22  available to the public.  Final interpretations must be 
  4.23  considered for adoption as part of the State Building Code. 
  4.24     Sec. 4.  [16B.685] [ANNUAL REPORT.] 
  4.25     Beginning with the first report filed by April 1, 2003, 
  4.26  each municipality shall annually report by April 1 to the 
  4.27  department, in a format prescribed by the department, all 
  4.28  construction and development-related fees collected by the 
  4.29  municipality from developers, builders, and subcontractors.  The 
  4.30  report must include: 
  4.31     (1) the number and valuation of units for which fees were 
  4.32  paid; 
  4.33     (2) the amount of building permit fees, plan review fees, 
  4.34  administrative fees, engineering fees, infrastructure fees, and 
  4.35  other construction and development-related fees; and 
  4.36     (3) the expenses associated with the municipal activities 
  5.1   for which fees were collected. 
  5.2      Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 326.90, 
  5.3   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  5.4      Subdivision 1.  [LOCAL LICENSE PROHIBITED.] Except as 
  5.5   provided in sections 326.991 and 326.90, subdivision 2, and 
  5.6   326.991, a political subdivision may not require a person 
  5.7   licensed under sections 326.83 to 326.991 to also be licensed or 
  5.8   pay a registration or other fee related to licensure under any 
  5.9   ordinance, law, rule, or regulation of the political 
  5.10  subdivision.  This section does not prohibit charges for 
  5.11  building permits or other charges not directly related to 
  5.12  licensure. 
  5.13     Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 462.353, 
  5.14  subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  5.15     Subd. 4.  [FEES.] A municipality may prescribe fees 
  5.16  sufficient to defray the costs incurred by it in reviewing, 
  5.17  investigating, and administering an application for an amendment 
  5.18  to an official control established pursuant to sections 462.351 
  5.19  to 462.364 or an application for a permit or other approval 
  5.20  required under an official control established pursuant to those 
  5.21  sections.  Fees as prescribed shall must be by ordinance and 
  5.22  must be fair, reasonable, and proportionate to the actual cost 
  5.23  of the service for which the fee is imposed.  A municipality 
  5.24  shall adopt management and accounting procedures to ensure that 
  5.25  fees are maintained and used only for the purpose for which they 
  5.26  are collected. 
  5.27     If a dispute arises over a specific fee imposed by a 
  5.28  municipality related to a specific application, the amount of 
  5.29  the fee must be deposited and held in escrow, and the person 
  5.30  aggrieved by the fee may appeal under section 462.361.  An 
  5.31  approved application may proceed as if the fee had been paid, 
  5.32  pending a decision on the appeal.  
  5.33     Sec. 7.  [462.3531] [WAIVER OF RIGHTS; PROHIBITION.] 
  5.34     A local government unit must not require a contractor, 
  5.35  builder, or developer of property to waive a right possessed by 
  5.36  the contractor, builder, or developer as a condition of 
  6.1   receiving any approval for the development or construction of a 
  6.2   property.