PA. BUILDING CODE Lawmakers weigh wider exemptions

The code calls for inspections and permits for minor jobs such as moving a door.
HARRISBURG (AP) -- Awash in complaints from constituents, state lawmakers may broaden exemptions in the new statewide building code so homeowners can do more repairs or renovations without having to get permits and inspections.
The House approved such a bill last week by a 192-4 margin, and the Senate is expected to vote on a similar bill this week.
"There is significant interest in amending the Uniform Construction Code," said Erik Arneson, the chief of staff for the Senate Republican leader, David J. Brightbill of Lebanon County.
But public safety officials and lobbyists for building companies, which have pushed for the code since about 1990, bitterly complained about the House's bill.
The proposed revisions are based on "misinformation" from a vocal minority and threaten the health and safety of residents and emergency responders who have to enter homes, they said.
The revisions are not intended to affect public, industrial, or commercial structures, or new home construction.
Same standards
Originally, the code was promoted as a way for Pennsylvania to join 47 other states in establishing the same standards in each municipality for all new construction, building additions and many remodeling projects, with exceptions for smaller, cosmetic tasks.
The code was approved by the Legislature in 1999, after which the state Department of Labor and Industry took a few years to work out the details. Since April, each of the state's 2,566 municipalities has been weighing whether to administer the code or let the state do it.
About one-third of the municipalities already had varying local building codes in force before April, and the new code should be in force everywhere by August, department spokesman Troy Thompson said.
With groups circulating petitions and holding meetings to undo the code, lawmakers are reconsidering parts.
Some lawmakers now say they would like to change provisions that could force homeowners to pay for inspections and permits in order to do such things as reframing a window, moving a doorway, or replacing a roof.
New code needed
Rep. Robert E. Belfanti Jr., the Northumberland County Democrat whose bill to revise the code passed the House on Wednesday, said the state needs a residential code "that would not be overly costly to homeowners, especially homeowners who do their own work."
If the codes go into force as written now, many people will simply ignore them, he predicted.
"But then, when they go to sell their house, the bank would say ... 'We're not going to sell the house for you,' or 'We're not going to let you borrow money toward this house'" because it does not meet codes, Belfanti said.
The House Republican leader, Sam Smith of Jefferson County, called the code's provisions "just too complex to be practical."
A spokeswoman for Gov. Ed Rendell said the governor would review any building codes legislation passed by both houses with an eye toward health and safety.
Debra Tingley, a spokeswoman for the state builders' association, said revising the code will not help flush out "fly-by-night" builders. Homeowners will still be victimized by shoddy construction work and emergency responders will still have to navigate poorly constructed or renovated buildings when they enter them, said builders and the Pennsylvania Fire and Emergency Services Institute, which lobbies on behalf of firefighters.
Petition
A group based in Westmoreland County that opposes the code, Citizens Across Pennsylvania, has drawn hundreds of people to its meetings and presented lawmakers with a petition bearing 10,000 signatures.
A supporter, Bryan Gordon, a tavern owner from Greensburg, said that people would be unable to pay for inspections and permits and unwilling to let inspectors into their home.
"All you're going to see is more blight and deterioration," Gordon said.