Notes

Outline

Second National Forum on Building Smarter in the Digital Age October 21, 2002 Louisville, Kentucky Streamlining Best Practices The Industrialized Buildings Commission An Interstate Compact

Industrialized/Modular Buildings Are: Built in one state or community under a factory quality control system and then transported and sited elsewhere, often in another state Providing increasing numbers of the nation’s:  classrooms, specialized medical structures (for MRI and other diagnostic equipment), telecommunications structures, prisons, small commercial buildings, residential units, and hotels

The industrialized/modular industry has been functioning over 50 years. Growth and savings from its economies of scale and quality control Year round construction and speed of assembly

Yet Barriers to its Further Expansion/Growth 36 states regulate design and construction statewide/rest regulate locally Conflicting, duplicative, overlapping regulations often force manufacturers to overbuild all their units to the most stringent code they ship their buildings to Industry subjected to multiple inspections of units States and in some cases local governments must hire and maintain regulatory staffs who must travel nationwide to conduct such duplicative oversight inspections

To address these unnecessary costs to industry, government and consumers - States and industry held series of meetings at NCSBCS in the late 1980s discussing ways to streamline the regulatory process and enable the growth of interstate reciprocity system for such structures.

Out of those discussions at NCSBCS NCSBCS worked together with: Council of State Governments, National Governors Association, and National Association of Attorneys General Developed model enabling legislation to establish an interstate compact to help states develop and adopt common administrative rules, regulations, processes and procedures governing the design and construction of industrialized buildings and a formal interstate reciprocity system

The Industrialized Buildings Commission - An Interstate Compact - was founded in 1992, to: Help states and this industry to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness while reducing the cost of the oversight system for such buildings by: adopting streamlined and uniform administrative processes and procedures regarding the design and construction of such buildings facilitating their more rapid movement across the boundaries of participating states.

Compact Member States are: Minnesota, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.

States accepting IBC labeled units under limited reciprocity agreements but not currently in the compact are: Kentucky and Wisconsin.

In 1992-93, IBC Developed through a consensus based “Rules Development Committee” model rules, regulations, and uniform administrative procedures which each Compact member state agreed to adopt Eliminating the need for manufacturers shipping into their states to run their programs through multiple diverse administrative requirements Model rules were adopted by the Commission and its member states in 1994 and the compact became fully operational.

By 2001: Over 60,000 industrialized/modular buildings, produced in over 30 states and Canada, had received IBC labels.  Over 50,000 had been sited in one of the Commission’s five participating states. The IBC and its programs are totally supported through the sale of the Commission’s certification labels for such products.

How the Compact Functions  — Three Basic Components The Commissioners The Rules Development Committee Interstate reciprocity and coordinated oversight system

As a Coordinating Compact: The IBC does not preempt state laws. Member states agree to adopt and administer within their states the administrative rules, regulations and procedures developed by the IBC’s consensus based Rules Development Committee. This enables member states to improve their efficiency and reduce their costs by consolidating similar services while continuing to operate, staff, and enforce their industrialized buildings program.

Improved Compliance at Lower Costs Comes not only through uniform rules, regulations and procedures but also through sharing information and findings. The member states also reduce their operation costs and eliminate redundant reviews and field inspections by working together to share a common uniform plans review and monitoring program for modular buildings.

Commissioners — The Policy Setting Body of the IBC Each member state in the compact has: State governor appointed Commissioner who also is the chief building regulatory official of the state Each of the three states in the compact and the nation’s industrialized/modular building industry appoints one representative to the Commission

Commissioners: Adopt and update the Model Rules, Regulations and Procedures proposed by the Rules Development Committee Designate third-party agencies that oversee production design and review the findings of the monitoring system and where necessary, take coordinated action on approved third party agencies

Rules Development Committee (RDC) IBC wanted industry input to its program through their participating on a consensus based Rules Development Committee: Drafted, proposed, and now maintains the model administrative rules, regulations, processes and procedures under which the IBC and its member states run their industrialized/modular building programs

RDC is Comprised of: Four representatives each from state government, modular builders (two commercial and two residential) Two private evaluation and inspection agencies Two consumer members

Reciprocity System The outcome of the Commission’s work is the interstate reciprocity system Use of the Commission’s rules, regulations, processes and procedures, and common coordinated oversight system, member states grant each other full interstate reciprocity

Under this system, a modular building in one compact member state can ship their IBC labeled unit into another IBC member state without any further inspections other than that performed by the state in which the unit was produced.

Besides Minnesota, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, IBC has an agreement with the Commonwealth of Kentucky whereby Kentucky accepts industrialized (modular) buildings bearing IBC certification labels. Also, the State of Wisconsin has an agreement with the State of Minnesota that allows industrialized/modular buildings manufactured in Minnesota and bearing an IBC certification label to be sited in Wisconsin. National Conference of States on Building Codes and Standards (NCSBCS) has served as the IBC’s secretariat providing administrative and oversight support.

IBC Mission Statement The Industrialized Buildings Commission supports and enhances productivity, innovation, affordability, and international competitiveness in the American construction industry through nationwide uniformity in codes, rules, regulations, and procedures and the elimination of duplication in reviews, inspections and fees while assuring quality, durability and safety in the built environment.

Benefits of IBC Membership - Minnesota’s Perspective 727 of units shipped into the state in FY ‘02 141 units built in the state in FY ‘02

Before the IBC program, Minnesota had its own modular program. Minnesota staff was required to visit out-of-state modular plants to perform building code required inspections.  Staff schedules were subject to frequent change due to modular inspections out of state. Minnesota staff was required to perform plan reviews of out-of-state modular manufacturers.

Joining the IBC program has allowed Minnesota staff to concentrate on other activities: Currently, Minnesota staff acts as third party for all in-state modular manufacturers. Minnesota staff, as a third party, audits compliance with the approved in-plant quality assurance program Minnesota staff performs plan reviews and quality assurance program approvals as the third party for Minnesota manufacturers. (If we were not a third party, plan reviews, plant audits and quality assurance program approvals would be done by an IBC approved third party.) Education of municipal building officials regarding modular buildings Scheduling of other required staff activities is more efficient.

For more information: Industrialized Buildings Commission 505 Huntmar Park Drive, Suite 210 Herndon, Virginia 20170 (703) 481-2022 www.interstateibc.org