Friendswood City Council voted 4-3 on the first reading to update its building and fire codes to the 2024 International Fire and Building Codes at its Dec. 1 meeting.
Council also voted 4-3 against postponing the first reading of the vote.
Why it matters
Updating the code allows Friendswood homeowners to achieve a good rating with an insurance service office’s grading schedule for building code effectiveness, according to city documents.
Falling more than two code cycles behind potentially triggers worse insurance ratings, City Manager Morad Kabiri said.
“Your homeowners' insurance will go up,” Kabiri said.
According to city documents, the changes include:
- Increased guidance of green building
- Updated standards for new products
- Accessibility revisions
- Guidance on occupiable roofs
- Updated weather standards
- Increased electrical safety standards
Those opposed
Dave Yelovich, a veteran homebuilder and International Code Council-certified code instructor, testified at the meeting about the 2024 codes and cautioned the city about adopting them.
Another point of view
“I read this, and alarm bells went off all over the place,” council member Robert Griffon said at the meeting. “This is not just adopting the new 2024 International Building Code. We've heard our building inspector say that they're going to rewrite all our local ordinances, and sometimes those local ordinances are superior to the international building laws.”
Griffon asked city staff to create a document that color-coded the changes that adopting the International Building Code would pose to the current ordinance. The document would also note local ordinances that are more comprehensive than the International Building Code.
Kabiri said city staff would provide a draft of the code with the changes marked before council has the second and final reading to vote on approving the newer code.
Looking ahead
City Council will hear the second and final reading of the ordinance at 5:30 p.m. at its Jan. 5 meeting.
If approved, the code will go into effect March 1, Director of Community Development Aubrey Harbin. She added that city staff wanted to be able to communicate any projected changes with contractors by January.
