South Carolina § 6-9-40 - Building code adoption procedure; notice, comments and public meetings; effective date; promulgation and readoption of modifications.

§ 6-9-40. Building code adoption procedure; notice, comments and public meetings; effective date; promulgation and readoption of modifications.

(A) The council is authorized to review, adopt, modify, and promulgate the building codes referenced in Section 6-9-50, provided that:

(1) a notice of intention to adopt a code, adopt a new edition of a code, or modify an existing code must be published in the State Register as a Notice of General Interest, on websites published by the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, and must be provided to each local building department with instructions for its prominent display;

(2) the notice must include:

(a) the address to which interested persons may submit written comments; and

(b) a period of not less than one hundred eighty days during which comments may be received;

(3) comments must be assigned to a study committee appointed by the council which shall publish Notice of General Interest in the same manner as provided in item (1) setting out the committee's scope of review. The notice must give instructions for filing an intention to appear before or provide evidence or comments to the committee, or both. The committee must be comprised of at least three people with different technical backgrounds; and

(4) the committee shall hold at least one public meeting, accept evidence and comments, and make a written recommendation to the council. Within one hundred eighty days from the end of the comment period, the council shall adopt, modify, or deny the recommendations from the committee. The council may modify or amend the code after a finding on the record that the modifications provide a reasonable degree of public health, safety, and welfare.

Any amended or modified code shall be codified as provided for in Section 1-23-90. The council shall determine whether the amended or modified code becomes effective on the first day of January or July.

(B)(1) If it is discovered at any time between building code cycles that an existing building code requirement constitutes a new threat to the life or safety of building occupants that was unknown when the building code was last approved, an emergency building code modification may be made by the council. An emergency building code modification shall take effect on a date established by the council.

(2) The council must provide notice of a request for an emergency building code modification in the same manner as required for a regular council meeting.

(3) The council must conduct a hearing to consider an emergency building code modification at an open council meeting, and all proponents and opponents must be given ample time to state their positions.

(C) Modifications promulgated pursuant to this section do not require readoption by the council for subsequent editions of the building codes. Upon submission of a formal request, existing modifications shall be reconsidered each time a new edition of the building code is considered for adoption by the council.

HISTORY: 1962 Code SECTION 14-400.584; 1972 (57) 2607; 1984 Act No. 481, SECTION 2; 1997 Act No. 123, SECTION 1; 2003 Act No. 83, SECTION 1, eff July 2, 2003; 2005 Act No. 28, SECTION 1, eff March 22, 2005; 2007 Act No. 54, SECTION 1, eff June 6, 2007.

Editor's Note

Under the provisions of Chapter 34, Title 1, an agency is required to adopt the latest edition of a nationally recognized code which it is charged by statute or regulation with enforcing by giving notice in the State Register.

2005 Act No. 28, SECTION 2, provides as follows:

"This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor and affects modifications authorized from the 2000 code cycle forward."

Effect of Amendment

The 2003 amendment rewrote this section.

The 2005 amendment designated subsection (A) and added subsection (B) relating to readoption of previously promulgated modifications.

The 2007 amendment, in subsection (A), in paragraph (1) substituted ", adopt" for "or" and added ", or modify an existing code", deleted paragraphs (5) and (6), and added the undesignated paragraph at the end; added subsection (B) relating to emergency modifications; and redesignated subsection (B) as subsection (C).