After meeting with the HBA I&E committee several times, the County is now providing a uniform engineered design requirement for roof covered single level decks. The goal was to prevent builders/homeowners from having to incur the additional cost of getting an engineered design for this each time they chose to build a roof-covered deck of this type. The two page hand-out the County shared at the meeting with the design specifications can be downloaded by clicking here and here. This requirement is now officially in place. Appropriate standard footing trench should also be acceptable—for additional details on that alternative you can contact HBA Codes Chairman Scott Kisling by clicking here or call Dave O’Dell at the County, 868-4015. The county is also considering adopting Landscaping and Bufferyard Regulations for use between commercial and residential property. These regulations would be similar to those currently used by the City of Springfield. The county would like input and information from the residential building community so please review the attached draft by clicking here. You can comment on this blog (Click below where it says “Post a Comment”) or email comments to HBA staff by clicking here.
The HBA members also discussed challenges in scheduling inspections with the County staff. A number of members have experienced waiting periods of up to four days. County staff explained that while inspections for residential constructions are not numerous currently, there are many school and commercial projects requiring inspection. They did assure the group that they will work internally to improve this situation.
Finally, the County asked the HBA to submit a more formal proposal for consideration regarding a county policy requiring proof of work comp (or compliance with state law) and general liability insurance before issuing a residential building permit. The HBA is convening a group of member financial institutions in the coming weeks to educate them about the value of this requirement, as well.