RESIDENTIAL BUILDING CODE

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HOUSE BILL NO. 80

IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA

THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - FIRST SESSION

BY THE HOUSE LABOR AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE

Introduced: 1/31/25
Referred: Labor and Commerce

A BILL

FOR AN ACT ENTITLED

"An Act relating to minimum standards for residential buildings ; relating to 1
construction contractors and residential contractor endorsement s; establishing the 2
Alaska State Residential Building Safety Council; and providing for an effective date." 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 4
* Section 1. AS 08.18.025 is amended to read: 5
Sec. 08.18.025. Residential contractors. ( a ) A g e n e r a l c o n t r a c t o r m a y n o t 6
undertake the construction or a lteration, or submit a bid to un dertake the construction 7
or alteration of a [PRIVATELY-OWNED] residential structure of o ne to four units 8
that is covered by the state residential building code or advertise or publicly 9
represent that the general contractor may undertake work of thi s type in the state 10
without a residential contractor endorsement issued under this section. In this 11
subsection, "alteration" means changes that have a value greate r than 25 percent of the 12
value of the structure being altered. 13
(b) The department shall issue a residential contractor endorsement to a person 14
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who 1
(1) has a certificate of registration as a general contractor; 2
(2) passes a residential contr actor examination, which shall b e offered 3
by the department at least once each year in each judicial dist rict; the examination, 4
which may be written or practical, must test the person's knowledge of the state 5
residential building code and may test competence in relation to arctic structural and 6
thermal construction techniques and other matters as determined by the department in 7
consultation with representatives of the construction industry; 8
(3) applies for an endorsement w ithin 12 months after passing the 9
examination required under (2) of this subsection; 10
(4) within the two years preceding the date of application for the 11
endorsement, has satisfa ctorily completed either the Alaska cra ftsman home program 12
sponsored by the department, or its equivalent, or a postsecond ary course in arctic 13
engineering, or its equivalent; 14
(5) within the seven years preceding the date of application, has not 15
been under a sentence for an offense related to forgery, theft i n t h e f i r s t o r s e c o n d 16
degree, extortion, or conspiracy to defraud creditors or for a felony involving 17
dishonesty; and 18
(6) pays the appropriate fees. 19
(c) The department may not renew an endorsement issued under t his section 20
unless the applicant submits proof of continued competency rela ting to residential 21
contracting and the state residential building code that satisfies the department. A 22
lapsed endorsement may be reinstated, within two years after th e lapse, upon proof of 23
continued competency relating to residential contracting and the state residential 24
building code, payment of a renewal fee for the intervening time period, and payment 25
of any penalty fee established under AS 08.01.100(b). If the en dorsement has been 26
lapsed for more than two years, the department may not reinstat e it until the person 27
also passes the residential contractor examination described in (b) of this section. 28
* Sec. 2. AS 08.18.025 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 29
(d) To maintain a residential contractor endorsement under thi s section, a 30
residential contractor shall comply with the state residential building code when 31
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providing residential contractor services to residential buildi ngs covered by the code, 1
except when the residential contractor is providing residential contractor services to a 2
building under another nationally recognized residential buildi ng code adopted by a 3
municipality under AS 18.60.860(b). 4
* Sec. 3. AS 08.18.171(16) is amended to read: 5
(16) "residential contractor" means a general contractor whose 6
business and operation involve unde rtaking the construction or alteration of a 7
[PRIVATELY-OWNED] residential structure of one to four units , including a 8
dwelling covered by the state residential building code, that is used or intended to 9
be used as a habitable [HUMAN] dwelling; 10
* Sec. 4. AS 08.18.171 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 11
(20) "state residential building code" means the state residen tial 12
building code adopted under AS 18.60.860(a). 13
* Sec. 5. AS 18.56.088(c) is amended to read: 14
(c) The board may adopt regulations to carry out the purposes of this chapter, 15
and shall adopt regulations necessary for the following purposes: 16
(1) determination of borrower eligibility , including [, BUT NOT 17
LIMITED TO,] income limitations and the determination of remote , underdeveloped, 18
or blighted areas of the state; 19
(2) loan guidelines and terms , including [BUT NOT LIMITED TO] 20
maximum loan amounts and required loan-to-value ratios, but exc luding mortgage 21
loan interest rates; 22
(3) characteristics of housing eligible for loans or purchase of loans, 23
including compliance with the requirements of AS 18.56.300; 24
(4) the qualifications of loan originators and servicers and t he method 25
of allocating amounts available for the purchase of loans; 26
( 5 ) e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f a p r o c e d u re, including a fee schedule, fo r the 27
commitment for one year or less of money for the purchase of an individual mortgage 28
loan at a specific interest rate; [AND] 29
(6) establishment of the progr am of housing assistance authori zed by 30
AS 18.56.090(b), including program regulations that, at minimum, 31
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(A) establish priorities and criteria for providing money and 1
other forms of authorized assist ance in response to housing ass istance 2
proposals; 3
(B) define the forms of housing assistance authorized under 4
AS 18.56.090(b); 5
(C) set out procedures to evaluate housing assistance proposals; 6
(D) set out procedures to approve the award of housing 7
assistance; and 8
(E) prescribe methods of monitoring the use of money paid out 9
under AS 18.56.090(b) and the progress of activity under the approved housing 10
assistance program; and 11
(7) adoption and administration of the state residential build ing 12
code under AS 18.60.860(a). 13
* Sec. 6. AS 18.56.300(a) is amended to read: 14
(a) The corporation may not make or purchase a housing loan fo r residential 15
housing the construction of which begins after June 30, 1992, u nless the seller of the 16
mortgage loan complies with the provisions of this section and unless 17
(1) the unit is in compliance with the construction codes of t he 18
municipality, if the unit is located within a municipality that has adopted and enforces 19
construction codes and each of those codes meets or exceeds the comparable standards 20
for similar housing established by the state residential building standards [CODE]; 21
or 22
(2) the unit is in compliance with the comparable standards fo r similar 23
housing established by the state residential building standards [CODE] 24
(A) if the unit is located 25
(i) within a municipality w hose construction codes do 26
not meet the standards for similar housing established by the s tate 27
residential building standards [CODE]; 28
(ii) within a municipality that does not enforce 29
construction codes; or 30
(iii) outside a municipality; or 31
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(B) as to each specific code within the construction codes of 1
the municipality that has adopted and enforces construction cod es if the 2
specific code does not meet or exceed the comparable standard f or similar 3
housing established by the state residential building standards [CODE]. 4
* Sec. 7. AS 18.56.300(b) is amended to read: 5
(b) As a condition of a commitment to purchase or approve a lo an under this 6
section for residential housing the construction of which begin s after June 30, 1992, 7
the corporation shall require inspection of the unit of residen tial housing that is the 8
subject of the loan. The inspection must be performed by a muni cipal building 9
inspector, by an individual who is registered under AS 08.18 to perform home 10
inspections for new construction, by an architect registered un der AS 08.48, by an 11
engineer registered under AS 08.48, or by another person approved by the corporation. 12
When the unit of residential housing is located in a rural area , the person who makes 13
the inspection may use methods other than a personal physical i nspection to make the 14
inspection if the method is appr oved by the corporation, and va riations from the 15
applicable code may be accepted at the corporation's discretion , if the person 16
authorized to inspect the unit under this subsection satisfies the corporation that the 17
variation does not adversely aff ect the structural integrity of the unit or the health and 18
safety of the occupants [RESIDENTS]. The person who makes the inspection shall 19
determine whether the constructi on conforms to relevant provisi ons of the 20
construction codes of the municipality or of the state residential building standards 21
[CODE], as applicable, at each of the following stages of construction: 22
(1) plan approval; 23
(2) completion of footings and foundations; 24
(3) completion of electrical installation, plumbing, and framing; 25
(4) completion of installation of insulation; 26
(5) final approval. 27
* Sec. 8. AS 18.56.300(e)(3) is amended to read: 28
(3) "state residential building standards [CODE]" means 29
(A) for building standards, t he standards set out in the state 30
residential building code [VERSION OF THE UNIFORM BUILDING 31
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CODE] adopted by the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation 1
[DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY] under AS 18.60.860(a) 2
[AS 18.70.080, INCLUDING THE PROVISIONS OF THAT CODE 3
APPLICABLE TO BUILDINGS USED FOR RESIDENTIAL PURPOSES 4
CONTAINING FEWER THAN FOUR DWELLING UNITS, 5
NOTWITHSTANDING THE EXCLUSION OF THOSE BUILDINGS FROM 6
THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY'S JURISDICTION MADE BY 7
AS 18.70.080(a)(2)]; 8
(B) for mechanical standards, the standards set out in the 9
version of the Uniform Mechanical Code adopted by the Departmen t of Public 10
Safety under AS 18.70.080, including the provisions of that cod e applicable to 11
buildings used for residential purposes containing fewer than f our dwelling 12
units, notwithstanding the exclusion of those buildings from th e Department of 13
Public Safety's jurisdiction made by AS 18.70.080(a)(2); 14
(C) for plumbing standards, the minimum plumbing code 15
adopted for the state under AS 18.60.705; and 16
(D) for electrical standards, the minimum electrical standards 17
prescribed by AS 18.60.580. 18
* Sec. 9. AS 18.60 is amended by adding new sections to read: 19
Article 12A. State Residential Building Code. 20
Sec. 18.60.860. State residential building code. (a) Except as provided in (b) 21
of this section, the Alaska Housin g Finance Corporation shall a dopt by regulation as 22
the state residential building code the 2018 International Resi dential Code published 23
by the International Code Council, or a later version of the In ternational Residential 24
Code published by the Internati onal Code Council if the corpora tion determines that 25
adoption of the later version is necessary to promote the best interests of the state. The 26
corporation may modify the state residential building code as n ecessary. The state 27
residential building code must a llow for use of load-bearing di mensional lumber that 28
is graded and certified unde r AS 41.17.630 for one-, two-, and three-family dwellings 29
in this state. The state residential building code is the minim um standard of 30
construction in the state for residential structures of one to four units. The corporation 31
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shall administer the state residential building code. 1
(b) A municipality may adopt a nationally recognized residenti al building 2
code to use in place of the state residential building code if the municipality 3
determines that adoption of the nationally recognized residenti al building code is 4
necessary to promote the best int erests of the municipality. Th e municipality may 5
modify the nationally recognized residential building code as necessary. 6
(c) If another statute conflicts with this section by requirin g the application of 7
a code other than the state re sidential building code adopted u nder this section, that 8
statute governs to the extent of the conflict. 9
(d) A building is exempt from the state residential building c ode if the 10
building is 11
(1) an owner-built home that is not subject to a residential b uilding 12
code other than the state residential building code; or 13
(2) a recreational cabin. 14
(e) In this section, 15
(1) "owner-built home" means a single-family home that is constructed 16
by the owner acting as the owner's own contractor under AS 08.18.161(11); 17
(2) "recreational cabin" means a building that 18
(A) is inhabited only occasiona lly for noncommercial hunting, 19
fishing, or other recreational purposes; 20
(B) lacks available public utility services; 21
(C) is two or fewer stories high; 22
(D) is not used by a person as a mailing address; and 23
(E) is not listed as a place of residence on a person's tax re turn, 24
driver's license, vehicle registration, or voter registration. 25
Sec. 18.60.865. Alaska State Residen tial Building Safety Counci l. ( a ) T h e 26
Alaska State Residential Building Safety Council is established as an advisory council 27
in the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation. 28
(b) The purpose of the council is to increase residential buil ding safety by 29
providing independent analysis, objective advice, and recommend ations to the board 30
of directors of the Alaska Housin g Finance Corporation during t he process of 31
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formulating, adopting, and periodically updating the state residential building code. 1
(c) The council consists of 11 public members appointed by the board of 2
directors of the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation. The board may remove 3
members and fill vacancies. The board shall appoint to the council 4
(1) six general contractors with a residential contractor endo rsement 5
from the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Develo pment, each 6
from a different geographic region of the state; and 7
(2) five members with building code experience or statewide bu siness 8
or economic development experience. 9
(d) The council shall elect a chair and vice-chair from among its membership. 10
(e) The council shall meet on an as-needed basis at the reques t of the board of 11
directors of the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation or by a call of the chair. 12
(f) Members of the council serve without compensation, but are entitled to per 13
diem and travel expenses authorized for boards and commissions under AS 39.20.180. 14
(g) Alaska Housing Finance Cor poration staff shall provide adm inistrative 15
support to the council. 16
* Sec. 10. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 17
read: 18
APPLICABILITY. (a) AS 08.18.025, as amended by sec. 1 of this A ct, and 19
AS 08.18.025(d), added by sec. 2 of this Act, apply to a reside ntial contractor who is issued a 20
residential contractor endor sement under AS 08.18.025(a), as am ended by sec. 1 of this Act, 21
on or after the effective date of this Act. In this subsection, "residential contractor" has the 22
meaning given in AS 08.18.171, as amended by sec. 3 of this Act. 23
(b) AS 18.60.860, added by sec. 9 of this Act, applies to new buildings that are built 24
on or after the effective date of this Act. 25
* Sec. 11. This Act takes effect January 1, 2026. 26