Explanation
BACKGROUND:
Title 41, also known as the Building Code, provides minimum standards to safeguard life or limb, health, property and public welfare by regulating and controlling the design, construction, quality of materials, use and occupancy, location and maintenance of all buildings and structures within the city as well as certain equipment.
The Columbus Department of Building and Zoning Services is certified by the Ohio Board of Building Standards as a certified building department. The building official, also referred to as the chief building official, has been designated by the Director as the authorized representative who is charged with the administration and enforcement of the Building Code. Per City Code, the chief building official shall examine and approve all plans and specifications before a permit may be issued and shall sign and issue all permits, certificates and notices required by the Building Code. Furthermore, the chief building official is charged with the keeping of proper records showing the location, value and character of every building, structure or other work for which a certificate or permit is issued.
It is necessary to clarify how the City’s site plan review and building permit process will work in conjunction with the changes currently being undertaken to fully incorporate the 2024 Zoning Code into the existing administrative framework of current City Codes. Therefore, various sections of Title 41 must be amended to make the minor technical changes necessary to accomplish the effective and efficient implementation of the 2024 Zoning Code.
FISCAL IMPACT:
No funding is required for this legislation.
Title
To amend various sections of Title 41, the Building Code, to make minor technical changes necessary for the effective and efficient implementation of the 2024 Zoning Code.
Body
WHEREAS, Title 41, also known as the Building Code, provides minimum standards to safeguard life or limb, health, property and public welfare by regulating and controlling the design, construction, quality of materials, use and occupancy, location and maintenance of all buildings and structures within the city as well as certain equipment; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Building and Zoning Services is certified by the Ohio Board of Building Standards as a certified building department; and
WHEREAS, the building official, also referred to as the chief building official, has been designated by the director as the authorized representative who is charged with the administration and enforcement of the Building Code. Per the City Codes, the chief building official shall examine and approve all plans and specifications before a permit may be issued and shall sign and issue all permits, certificates and notices required by this Building Code; and
WHEREAS, the chief building official keeps proper records showing the location, value and character of every building, structure or other work for which a certificate or permit is issued; and
WHEREAS, it is necessary to clarify how the City’s site plan review and building permit process will work in conjunction with the changes currently being undertaken to fully incorporate the 2024 Zoning Code into the existing administrative framework of current City Codes, and
WHEREAS, it is necessary to amend various sections of Title 41 to make these minor technical changes necessary for the effective and efficient implementation of the 2024 Zoning Code; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
SECTION 1. That City Code Section 4101.03 shall be amended as follows:
4101.03 - Letter C.
"Canopy" means a projection from a building, cantilevered, suspended or supported on columns intended only for shelter or ornamentation. For definition of "marquee," see Section 4101.13.
"Cast stone" means a building stone manufactured from precast concrete and used as a trim, veneer or facing on or in buildings or structures.
"Ceiling height" means the height from the finished floor to the finished ceiling, or when there is no finished ceiling, the height from the finished floor to the underside of the exposed secondary framing next above the floor.
“Chief Plans Official” means the officer so designated by the Director. The chief plans official may also be known as the “plans official” in this code. The chief plans official, or designee, is the authorized representative charged with administration and enforcement of all site plans submitted to the department, including engineering and utility plans, and manages the site plan review process.
"Condominium" means a multi-unit building in which the units are owned individually and the structure is owned jointly; regulated under OBC for use and occupancy on the basis of the jointly owned structure with the individually owned units treated as tenant spaces.
"Conflagration hazard" means the fire risk involved through the spread of fire by exposure to and from adjoining buildings, building contents, and materials stored adjacent thereto.
SECTION 2. That City Code Section 4113.29 shall be amended as follows:
4113.29 - Issuance of permit, plans and specifications.
(A) The application, plans and specifications for the construction, alteration, or use of any building, structure or premises filed by an applicant for a permit shall be examined by the chief building official. Such plans shall be forwarded to other departments of the city for review through a site plan review process, if deemed necessary by the chief building official, to determine compliance with the laws and ordinances under their the jurisdiction of the individual departments. These reviews include, but are not limited to, utility and stormwater management by the Department of Public Utilities; parking, traffic, and street encroachments by the Department of Public Service; and fire code compliance by the Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire. If Once the chief building official is satisfied that the site plan has been approved by the chief plans official and that the work described in the application for a permit and the plans filed therewith conform to the requirements of this Building Code and other pertinent laws and ordinances, the chief building official shall issue a permit therefor to the applicant.
(B) The department chief building official shall in no case grant any permit for the construction, alteration, or use of any building, structure or premises in the flood plain, as determined by the Department of Public Utilities under Chapter 1150 flood profile and flood boundary and floodway map on file in the department without a copy of the appropriate decision certificate of zoning clearance issued to the applicant, stating that said building, structure or premises, as proposed to be constructed, altered, or used, would not be in violation of any regulation established by Chapter 3385 1150 or any rule or regulation established by the Department of Public Utilities to enforce Chapter 1150.of the Zoning Code.
(C) The department chief building official shall in no case grant any permit for the construction, alteration, or use of any building, structure or premises without first receiving a certificate of zoning clearance stating that the said building, structure, or premises as proposed to be constructed, altered, or used, would not be in violation of any zoning code provision or zoning regulation established by the department.
(D) When the chief building official issues the a permit, the chief building official shall endorse in writing or stamp the plans and specifications "APPROVED." Such approved plans and specifications from the chief building official shall be kept on the job during the time work is being carried on and all work shall be done in accordance with the approved plans, which shall not be changed without written authorization of the chief building official.
SECTION 3. That the previous City Code Sections 4101.03 and 4113.29 are hereby repealed.
SECTION 4. That this ordinance shall take effect and be in force 30 days from and after its approval by the Mayor.