the

Standard
building codes and standards
Construction Codes and Licensing Division August 2006

Construction Codes and Licensing offers two fall seminars

1 Performing field inspections using the 2006

International Residential Code (IRC)
Oct. 3 - Nov. 21, 2006
The objective of this program is to provide the attendee with an analysis of typical
field inspections using the 2006 International Residential Code (IRC). This seminar
will cover residential dwellings. Upon completion of this program, the attendee will
be able to effectively perform field inspections using the adopted provisions of the
2006 IRC and its proposed Minnesota amendments.

2
Issues and answers within the Minnesota State
Building Code
Oct. 4 - Nov. 22, 2006
This seminar will cover a wide variety of subject matter that deals with the various
building codes as adopted by the State Building Code. It will address new and
controversial issues that are encountered on a daily basis. This seminar will include
the 2006 IRC, IBC and other miscellaneous codes and will incorporate Minnesota
amendments.

Registration forms and additional information regarding these seminars is online at

www.doli.state.mn.us/bc_education.html.

Residential brochures have been updated

Each year, the six residential brochures are updated and
distributed at the CCLD exhibit in the Education Building at
the Minnesota State Fair. The brochures include: emergency
escapes, decks, garages, porches, asphalt shingle roofing and
smoke alarms. This year the smoke alarm brochure has been
updated to include the recent carbon monoxide detector
regulations.

These brochures are available online at www.doli.state.

mn.us/bc_residential.html.

443 Lafayette Road

PageN.
 · •St.The
Paul,Standard
MN 55155-4341 • www.doli.state.mn.us
• August 2006 • Minnesota • Phone:Department
(651) 284-5068of
· Fax: (651)and
Labor 284-5749 · TTY: (651) 297-4198
Industry
 ? Construction codes questions and answers

Questions regarding exits in single family residential dwellings

Question: Will a single family residential dwelling Question: Does the previous question and answer
constructed under the provisions of the International address emergency escape and rescue openings required
Residential Code ever need more than one exit? in section R310?

Answer: No. 2000 International Residential Code (IRC), Answer: No. Section R310 is a separate section with
section R311, requires: “Not less than one exit door specific emergency escape and rescue requirements for
conforming to this chapter shall be provided from each basements with habitable space and sleeping rooms.
dwelling unit. The required
exit door shall provide for One additional note: When the 2006
direct access from the habitable IRC is adopted, the emergency escape
portions of the dwelling to and rescue requirement will state:
the exterior without traveling “Basements and every sleeping room shall
through a garage.” have at least one openable emergency
escape and rescue opening.” The word
This answer does not change “habitable” has been deleted in the 2006
due to number of stories, International Residential Code.
square footage of the dwelling
or travel distance, as was Question: Does the code require a 4-inch
required in previous code change in elevation between an attached
editions. garage and the dwelling that it serves?

“The required exit door shall Answer: No. There are no provisions in
be a side-hinged door not less that code that require any separation in
than 3 feet in width and 6 feet, 8 elevation. The garage floor and dwelling
inches in height. Other exterior floor can be at the same elevation.
hinged or sliding doors shall
not be required to comply with If you wish to submit a construction codes
these minimum dimensions.” question, please contact Peter Kulczyk
at peter.kulczyk@state.mn.us. He coordinates the
This answer will not change significantly with the submissions and responses in this column.
adoption of the 2006 International Residential Code, other
than the additional code language that states: “Access All are welcome to contact any of the CCLD technical
to habitable levels not having an exit in accordance with staff at DLI regarding code questions.
this section shall be by a ramp … or stairway.”

Sign up to receive rulemaking updates online

Each state agency is required to maintain a list of people who have registered with
the agency to receive notices of agency rule proceedings. To receive these notices
from the Department of Labor and Industry, sign up online at www.doli.state.mn.us
or print the Word document from the Web site, complete it and mail it as directed.

Page  • The Standard • August 2006 • Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry
Memorandum about disaster assistance Congratulations!
Date: August 10, 2006 Congratulations to the state’s
recently designated municipal
To: Municipal Managers and Building Officials Building Official:
From: Thomas R. Joachim, State Building Official • Bryan S. Stensland
Subject: Disaster Assistance City of Elmore
The Building Official list is
The Construction Codes and Licensing Division (CCLD) of the Department online at www.doli.state.mn.us/
of Labor and Industry, in cooperation with the Association of Minnesota buildingcodes.html.
Building Officials (AMBO), has developed a Disaster Preparedness Manual If a change is needed to the list,
for Building Departments. The manual is available on the DLI Web site at please contact Peggi White at
www.doli.state.mn.us. peggi.white@state.mn.us.

The purpose of the manual is to provide training and assistance to building BIT online courses
departments for initial disaster assessment and post disaster recovery. Additionally begin in August
the CCLD has staff and resources available to assist building departments in initial BIT 1300 -01
damage assessment. The assistance follows the Minnesota Incident Management Course ID # 000734
System routinely used by most state and municipal agencies to respond to a Building Inspection Plan Review,
disaster. It is important the building departments be included in municipal disaster Non-structural
(two credits)
plans to provide timely assistance to the public and identify which structures in
the municipality are safe to occupy or need repairs. BIT 2100 -01
Course ID # 000856
The CCLD and AMBO are updating their disaster assistance volunteer Concrete and Concrete
database. The purpose of the database is to develop a list of code officials and Inspections (two credits)
support staff that can assist municipalities after a disaster. Typically, the large Contact: Ron Sonnek
number of damaged buildings after a flood or tornado cannot be evaluated in a BIT Program Coordinator
timely manner without teams of qualified volunteers. Typically, volunteers are North Hennepin Community College
asked to sign up for one or more regions of the state they would be available Phone: (763) 488-0208
E-mail: ron.sonnek@nhcc.edu
to assist in, volunteers usually only assist for one or two days. The League of
Minnesota Cities has information concerning volunteer liability on their Web
site at www.lcit.lmnc.org. Building Official,
Building Official Limited
Volunteers typically work in teams of two and complete a report on each and Accessibility
structure, place a placard on each structure classifying the extent of damage Specialist classes
and suitability for occupancy, provide information to the property owner Sept. 26 - 29 and Dec. 19 - 22, 2006
on repairs and provide informational handouts the municipality may want Additional information and
distributed outlining other assistance available. registration forms are online
at www.doli.state.mn.us/bc_
Allowing municipal staff to assist neighboring communities in a time of certification.html.
disaster not only benefits the affected municipality but also provides valuable
training for the volunteers. The volunteers are then better able to develop a Come join us in the Education
disaster response plan for their municipality including the coordination of Building at the Minnesota State
Fair, Aug. 24 through Sept. 4,
volunteers that may be assisting. 2006. CCLD will again participate
The Disaster Preparedness Volunteer form is online at www.doli.state.mn.us/ in the Governor’s Fire Safety Day,
Friday, Aug. 25. Our booth will be
buildingcodes.html. Return it to: Attn: William Mesaros, Construction Codes
under the Grandstand.
and Licensing Division, Department of Labor and Industry, 443 Lafayette Road

Calendar
N., St. Paul, MN 55155-4341.
If you have any questions regarding disaster assistance contact: William
Mesaros, CCLD, (651) 284-5870; Jim Muyres, CCLD, (507) 931-7500, August • 2006
or Don Munson, AMBO, Building Officials Incident Response Committee
Chairman, at (651) 415-2120.
Page  • The Standard • August 2006 • Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry