The Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) and six of its members filed a lawsuit against the Washington State Building Code Council (Council) in Thurston County Superior Court over a decision the Council made concerning the newly enacted International Building Code (I-Codes). The new I-Codes were adopted by the state legislature in 2003 and went into effect July 1, replacing the outdated Uniform Building Code (UBC) that has been in place for the past 30 years.

The lawsuit alleges the Council failed to follow proper procedures at a public meeting in March when the Council – without taking a vote as required by law – sent a notice to all city and county governments informing them that existing amendments to the previous UBC did not need to be re-approved by the Council when the newly enacted I-Codes went into effect. The Council has the final authority to update statewide building codes, but local governments responsible for enforcing the codes may adopt amendments to them if approved by the Council.

The complaint also alleges the Council never gave public notice that the matter would be discussed at the public meeting, and did not allow public comment before the Council made its decision to send the notice.

“The bottom line is a few members of the Council shouldn’t be allowed to shove aside the procedures required by law and ram through their decision without any public notice or comment on the matter,” said BIAW Legal Counsel Andy Cook.

The lawsuit further argues against the Council’s opinion that existing amendments do not need to be re-approved. All existing local building code amendments were approved and based upon the old UBC. The law now references the I-Codes that went into effect on July 1 of this year. In essence, all local building code amendments should be considered new amendments because the statute has been changed to reflect a new statewide building code. Therefore, the lawsuit argues all existing amendments should be either re-approved or denied by the Council.

“Many of the amendments previously adopted to the UBC are no longer in compliance with the newly enacted I-Codes and will unnecessarily add to the cost of new residential homes,” said Cook. “Furthermore, many of the existing local government amendments were not properly submitted for approval by the Council as required by law in the first place”

BIAW previously wrote a letter to the Council requesting that it reconsider the issue and follow the proper procedures. However, the Council, represented by Attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Christine Gregoire’s office, responded that it believed it complied with the law, and the existing amendments do not need to be re-approved.

BIAW filed the lawsuit in the Thurston County Superior Court requesting the Court rule the Council violated the required voting procedures and to require the Council to deny or re-approve the existing local government amendments.