ORS 455.020: Purpose; scope of application; exceptions; scope of rules; fees by rule.

(1) This chapter is enacted to enable the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services to promulgate a state building code to govern the construction, reconstruction, alteration and repair of buildings and other structures and the installation of mechanical devices and equipment therein, and to require the correction of unsafe conditions caused by earthquakes in existing buildings. The state building code shall establish uniform performance standards providing reasonable safeguards for health, safety, welfare, comfort and security of the residents of this state who are occupants and users of buildings, and will provide for the use of modern methods, devices, materials, techniques and practicable maximum energy conservation. (2) The rules adopted pursuant to this chapter shall include structural standards; standards for the installation and use of mechanical, heating and ventilating devices and equipment; and standards for prefabricated structures; and shall, subject to ORS 455.210, prescribe reasonable fees for the issuance of building permits and similar documents, inspections and plan review services by the Department of Consumer and Business Services. The department may also establish, by rule, the amount of any fee pertaining to the state building code or any specialty code that is authorized by statute, but for which an amount is not specified by statute. (3) This chapter does not affect the statutory jurisdiction and authority of the Workers’ Compensation Board, under ORS chapter 654, to promulgate occupational safety and health standards relating to places of employment, and to administer and enforce all state laws, regulations, rules, standards and lawful orders requiring places of employment to be safe and healthful. (4) This chapter and any specialty code does not limit the authority of a municipality to enact regulations providing for local administration of the state building code; local appeal boards; fees and other charges; abatement of nuisances and dangerous buildings; enforcement through penalties, stop-work orders or other means; or minimum health, sanitation and safety standards for governing the use of structures for housing, except where the power of municipalities to enact any such regulations is expressly withheld or otherwise provided for by statute. Pursuant to the regulation of dangerous buildings, a municipality may adopt seismic rehabilitation plans that provide for phased completion of repairs that are designed to provide improved life safety but that may be less than the standards for new buildings. [Formerly 456.755; 1991 c.227 §2; 1991 c.310 §2; 1995 c.304 §1; 1995 c.400 §5; 1999 c.1045 §13; 1999 c.1082 §11; 2001 c.710 §8]