FAIRMONT– On Monday afternoon, an informational meeting was held with Scott Wheeler of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Construction Codes and Licensing Division and members of the Fairmont City Council.

City Administrator Cathy Reynolds said that Wheeler was in Fairmont to talk about state building codes and the administration, enforcement and application of it.

The meeting was set up to provide information to the community to try to fight the negative perception surrounding building code and the administration of it.

“Code administration in rural areas is very difficult. Fairmont like many rural cities in out-state Minnesota, essentially work as an island related to code enforcement,” Wheeler said.

He said it’s not unusual for the code official to be managing problems more than the building code. He said one of the key things a code official has to be able to do is describe the why’s and what-for’s when requiring someone to do something.

Wheeler shared the hierarchies of statutes and rules, saying that federal statutes trump federal rules, federal rules trump state statutes, state statutes trump state rules and state rules and statutes trump municipal ordinances or “official controls.”

“If you intend to enforce the building code, you have to also designate, hire and appoint a designated building official,” Wheeler said.

He shared that in the state of Minnesota there are 462 certified building officials. There are 357 limited building officials, who just do residential buildings.

Council member Randy Lubenow referred to a map and asked whether or not all counties in the state enforce state building codes.

Wheeler said in the seven county metro area, all counties are required to adopt and enforce the building code. He said most of the counties are covered by municipalities that also enforce building code.

Lubenow asked if Fairmont has a building code and Martin County doesn’t, is it possible to go backward.

“There’s a statutory obligation for cities enforcing the code in the year 2007 where if you were enforcing at that time, you could not rescind it unless you have a population of under 2,500,” Wheeler said.

Mayor Deb Foster asked City Administrator Cathy Reynolds if she knows when Fairmont adopted the building codes. Reynolds said it may have been in the 80s.

Wheeler shared that it was in 1971 when research on a state building code began and it was around 1975 when there was first a state building code.

Switching gears, Wheeler shared that he had received a number of calls from constituents in Fairmont regarding costs of building code enforcement in Fairmont.

“When we talk about the cost of building code related to building construction, we have to make sure that we look at the global picture, especially in rural Minnesota this becomes a focal point of the conversation,” Wheeler said.

He said there’s a difference between code compliance and code administration. Every residential building contractor who performs work for others is required to be licensed in the state and needs to build their product to code whether there’s a building official involved or not.

“The actual cost of code compliance should be a net zero whether it’s in the city of Fairmont or outside in Martin County, there should be no difference in cost for code compliance,” Wheeler said.

He said the differences come in administering the code because the city has adopted the code and hired the building official and there are various costs involved.

Wheeler said he asked Fairmont’s building code official, Doug Harstad , to draw some numbers regarding the cost of a $300,000 three building house, both in the city and in the county. Harstad shared the different costs associated.

“The statement that it’s more expensive to build a home in Fairmont is not true. Is it more expensive to administer the code in Fairmont? Yeah, it is because Doug’s building department costs you money to the contractor on record,” Wheeler said.

Council member Britney Kawecki said she doesn’t think the issue is the cost of the permit, but the problem people in town have is that there are more engineering and construction costs in the efforts that are made, such as accessible routes and door handles.

Foster asked who sets the code and Wheeler said the state of Minnesota adopts the model codes that the International Code Council develops and amends certain parts for climatic issues.

Lubenow asked why a contractor would say that they can do certain things in other area cities, but not in Fairmont.

“I want Fairmont to be on equal footing with other communities our size,” Lubenow said.

He asked why he’s continuing to hear that it’s cheaper to build in other cities than in Fairmont.

Wheeler said there can be code official differences, based on experience and knowledge.

“That’s the age-old comment that every building inspector hears,” Wheeler said.

He said if he was in the council member’s position and hearing that complaint, he would ask for written examples.

Wheeler then said if the council would like, he could send a few people down to do an administrative review and look at the city’s policies, records and what it has for submittal document requirements.

“We’ll go out in the field with them and monitor or observe how they conduct their field activities and we’ll provide a written report of whether the building official is properly regulating and administering the code,” Wheeler said.

Council member Michele Miller said that they are issues and to say that if it’s not written, it’s not happening, is an unfair statement. Miller said that some people are afraid of contacting city officials because they don’t want retaliation.

Foster said that after working with three city administrators and still hearing the same thing, that has been the approach.

“If there are concerns, I need details so that I can make sure, if we’re doing something wrong here, we need to correct it,” Foster said.

She said contractors should get together and say what they’re dealing with in Fairmont that they don’t deal with anywhere else.

Wheeler said that it shouldn’t mater who’s saying what if it’s a requirement. He also said he thinks it’s a good idea to compare with other cities.

Foster said she thinks Wheeler’s offer of bringing someone from the state to Fairmont is a good idea to see what’s going on.

Foster asked Wheeler what should be done if a contractor here truly feels like the building inspector is wrong.

He said the building code has provisions for an appeals process that a municipality can have if it chooses. He said most cities since the mid 90s do not have an appeals board in place though there is one at the state level and he said they probably hear six to 10 a year.

“I would hope that the applicant would hold the state’s employees in high enough regard that I would offer to mediate code compliance in almost any situation, regardless of city,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler again offered to send someone down from the state or to mediate any issue.

“It’s all fair game to me. The building code’s the building code. That’s the most unbiased document you can get in my mind,” Wheeler said.