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The state should collaborate with local <br />governments, construction industry <br />representatives, and other stakeholders to <br />review the building and energy codes and <br />consider modifications to encourage <br />sustainable building design, construction, <br />and operation. <br />Specifically: <br />a) For purposes of federal conformity, <br />the state should adopt the <br />International Energy Conservation <br />Code as part of the State Building <br />Code. <br />b) The state should include the <br />International Green Construction <br />Code as an optional appendix to the <br />State Building Code to allow cities to <br />utilize appropriate parts of those <br />guidelines in their communities. <br />c) The Legislature should authorize <br />cities to experiment with more <br />aggressive local standards for <br />sustainable development and <br />conservation that will help inform the <br />state code development process. <br />SD -28. Building Officials <br />Issue: There is a shortage of certified <br />building officials in Minnesota. This <br />shortage is particularly acute in Greater <br />Minnesota where some cities have trouble <br />finding certified building officials to <br />perform inspections required by state law. <br />Minnesota needs to hire a new generation of <br />certified building officials, and must ensure <br />that current officials have adequate training <br />and opportunity to inspect a wide range of <br />projects. <br />The Department of Labor and Industry <br />(DLI) has authority over state -licensed <br />facilities and public buildings. Pursuant to <br />Minn. Stat. § 326B.106, subd. 2, it must <br />delegate authority to inspect projects on <br />these buildings to a municipality if DLI <br />determines that the municipality has <br />adequate qualified local building officials to <br />perform plan review or inspection of the <br />projects. In 2014 the Legislature passed <br />legislation requested by the League of <br />Minnesota Cities and agreed to by DLI to <br />provide more transparency and clarity to the <br />delegation process. DLI, after consulting <br />local governments and the League, <br />implemented a new delegation procedure as <br />required by statute. Although the new <br />delegation process is a significant <br />improvement, it can still be difficult for <br />local building officials to achieve the <br />experience necessary to be delegated full <br />inspection authority. <br />Response: Minnesota's housing and <br />construction industries depend on the <br />work of local building officials, and cities <br />that enforce the State Building Code <br />endeavor to provide quality code <br />administration and enforcement. The <br />State must increase its efforts to train new <br />building officials, and must provide <br />sufficient education to help local officials <br />efficiently administer and enforce <br />construction regulations to protect the <br />health and safety of citizens. These <br />education efforts should include training <br />to assist local building officials gain the <br />requisite experience to qualify for <br />delegation of state -licensed facilities and <br />public buildings. <br />The League urges the state to make <br />surplus revenue from the building permit <br />surcharge available to local governments <br />to help defray the cost of complying with <br />code official training and education <br />requirements. <br />League of Minnesota Cities <br />2016 City Policies Page 18 <br />