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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 6639
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A PILOT PROGRAM REGARDING
BUILDING OFFICIALS AND RESOURCES RELATED TO THE
ADMINISTRATION OF THE STATE BUILDING CODE.
SUMMARY
The bill requires the Department of Administrative Services (DAS)
commissioner to (1) establish a pilot program by January 1, 2022,
related to municipalities’ administration of the State Building Code
(i.e., the code) and (2) select between two and five municipalities in
each of the state’s planning regions (see BACKGROUND) to
participate in the program based on certain criteria. A municipality
participating in the pilot program must enter into one or more
interlocal agreements with other participating municipalities in its
planning region. Lastly, the bill establishes program reporting
requirements for participating municipalities and DAS.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2021
APPLICATIONS AND ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
The bill requires the commissioner to establish criteria for selecting
program participants, including a municipality’s: (1) staffing,
information technology, and other resources; and (2) potential to
expand its procedures or services related to administering the code to
other participating municipalities in the same planning region. Under
the bill, municipalities must apply to the pilot program in the manner
the DAS commissioner prescribes.
INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT S
The bill requires a municipality participating in the pilot program to
enter into one or more interlocal agreements with other participating
municipalities in its planning region within 60 days after the date the
DAS commissioner selects the pilot program participants. Under the 2021HB-06639-R000545-BA.DOCX
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agreement, participating municipalities:
1. share resources and best practices related to administering the
code,
2. identify efficiencies and related potential cost savings, and
3. generally further the pilot program’s purposes.
The bill prohibits interlocal agreements from exceeding the pilot
program’s duration.
PROGRAM COMPONENTS A ND STANDARDS
Under the bill, the purposes of the pilot program are for
participating municipalities to:
1. standardize procedures, forms, and other materials related to
municipal building officials’ administration of the code;
2. scan or otherwise digitize related records into searchable
electronic records located in a public online database; and
3. share building officials’ services and staff with other
municipalities in the same planning region.
The bill requires the DAS commissioner to, notwithstanding an
interlocal agreement, specify the minimum standards for (1) digitizing
building code-related records and developing a searchable database, as
described above and (2) making information technology resources
interoperable among participating municipalities in an interlocal
agreement.
REPORTING
The bill requires participating municipalities to begin submitting an
annual report to the DAS commissioner and OPM secretary by January
1, 2023. This report must include (1) measures the participating
municipality took under the program during the most recent calendar
year, either alone or with other participating municipalities as part of
an interlocal agreement, and (2) additional measures planned for the 2021HB-06639-R000545-BA.DOCX
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current calendar year.
The bill also requires the DAS commissioner, in consultation with
the OPM secretary, to annually report starting by February 1, 2023, to
the Public Safety and Security and Planning and Development
committees on (1) the pilot program’s status and (2) any related
legislative recommendations.
BACKGROUND
Planning Regions
By law, the OPM secretary designates the state’s planning regions,
of which there are nine. The planning regions have the same
boundaries as the regional councils of governments.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Planning and Development Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 25 Nay 1 (03/31/2021)