Chapter 4 · Buildings and Construction

Article 3. International Building Code

Sections 4-301 to 4-310 · 10 sections

4-301 Commercial building standards.

No person, firm or corporation shall hereafter design, construct, erect, remodel, alter, demolish, locate, relocate or remove any building or structure, or place or install service equipment therein in the city except in accordance with this Article relating to such buildings or structures and without a permit authorizing the same.

4-302 Inspection and enforcement.

Sedgwick County, through the Metropolitan Area Building and Construction Department (MABCD) shall provide code inspection and enforcement services to the City, based upon the current Wichita-Sedgwick County unified building, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical codes, as adopted by the City and agreed to by separate interlocal agreement.

4-303 Adoption of the International Building Code, 2008 edition, as the commercial building code, with certain additions and deletions.

There is hereby adopted by reference by the City of Colwich, Kansas, for the purpose of establishing standards for the safety, health, and public welfare, the International Building Code, 2008 Edition, as the Commercial Building Code, as published by the International Code Council, 5203 Leesburg Pike, Suite 708 Falls Church, Virginia, 22041, and such amendments as set forth in Resolution 263-07 of the Sedgwick County Board of Commissioners adopted on December 5, 2007.

4-304 Amendments.

The International Building Code is hereby amended by adopting those changes, deletions, and additions contained in Resolution No. 263-07 of the Board of County Commissioners of Sedgwick County, Kansas, adopted by that body on December 5, 2007, including all fee schedules, and such document is incorporated by reference herein, as was previously published in the official newspaper of the City of Colwich.

4-305 Availability of copies.

One (1) copy of the Code designated with 4-303, along with the amendments described in 4-304, have been and are now filed in the office of the City Clerk and the said code is hereby adopted and incorporated as if fully set out herein at length as authorized in the manner provided by K.S.A. 12-3009, et seq.

4-306 Violations and penalties.

Any person who shall violate the provision of this code or shall fail to comply with any of the requirements thereof, or who shall act in violation of the approved plan or directive of an official or of a permit or certificate issued under the provisions of this code shall be prosecuted as set forth in Section 113.4 et seq. of the International Building Code as amended. Each day of violation shall be a separate violation. Furthermore, such person may be required to repair or correct any violation and pay all costs associated therewith.

4-307 Penalty clause not exclusive.

The imposition of the penalties herein prescribed shall not preclude the City from instituting an appropriate action to restrain, correct, or abate a violation of this ordinance, and specific authority for such is hereby granted to take any action or imposing any penalty allowed by State law, the Code of this City, or this Article.

4-308 Enforcement.

Enforcement of this code within the boundaries of the City shall be by the Code Enforcement Official(s) designated by the City, which may be through Sedgwick County Court through separate interlocal agreement, and such citations shall rely on the citation numbers set forth within the Wichita-Sedgwick County Code. If Sedgwick County and the City of Colwich choose not to be bound by such interlocal agreement, prosecution of any violations of this code shall be in the Colwich Municipal Court.

4-309 Liability.

Requirements of this code and ordinance shall not be construed as imposing on the City, its officers, agents, or employees, any liability or responsibility for any damages to any property or any injury to any person due to defective installation or any other reason.

4-310 Procedure for granting a variance from the Colwich commercial building code.

(a)An application for a variance from the Colwich Commercial Building Code (“CBC”) shall be made in writing to the code enforcement official. The application for a variance shall be evaluated by the code enforcement official to ensure the proposed design, use, or operation satisfactorily complies with the intent of the CBC as adopted by the City. Additionally, the alternative means, method, or operation that is being proposed will be evaluated to determine whether it is equivalent to that prescribed in the CBC in quality, strength, effectiveness, durability and safety. The property owner or property owner’s representative making the request for variance shall have the burden of proving such equivalency. Upon the consideration of each application, the code enforcement official shall make a recommendation to the City Council stating whether the application should be approved or denied.

(b)Submittal Requirements. All applications for a variance from a requirement in the CBC shall contain the following information:

(1)The application shall be made in writing, with complete and adequate copies of the appropriate plans & documents necessary to clearly evaluate the project:

(A)Identify relevant project information:

(i)The project name, project number, contact person and phone number;

(ii)The relevant persons’ names and phone numbers.

(iii)Other specific information identifying the project will be required (e.g., specific location, floor number, room number, plan page with gridlines, copies of applicable drawings and construction documents, copies of inspection reports, etc.)

(B)Identify the code section numbers or reference the specific requirement for which the modification or installation is requested.

(C)Provide a background statement to identify, explain or otherwise detail the situation causing the request for a variance.

(D)Detail the alternative measures as part of the variance proposal and how they establish equivalency to those prescribed in the code.

(2)Engineering Evaluation. If the code enforcement official determines that an engineering evaluation is necessary, it shall be performed and reported by a licensed professional engineer certifying that the variance requested from the CBC constitutes an alternative or modification from CBC standards that is equivalent to that prescribed in the CBC in quality, strength, effectiveness, durability and safety. All submittals prepared by a professional engineer shall be stamped, signed and shall include their appropriate license number(s).

(c)Evaluation of Application. Each application for a variance will be evaluated by the City Council, upon the recommendation of the code enforcement official, together with any other application materials. All such requests are evaluated on a case by case basis. Approval of the request is based upon several factors, including, but not limited to:

(1)The level of equivalency achieved, that is, whether granting the requested variance will result in additional threats to public safety, extraordinary public expense, or create nuisances.

(2)The effect of the variance and other related conditions or issues that will be beneficial or not beneficial in the best interests of the City.

(3)All evaluations will be performed in the context of the specific project being reviewed.

If the variance proposal provides an equivalent level of protection considering all related conditions and issues pertaining to the project, the City Council will issue a response letter granting approval. Such approval may be conditional upon implementation of additional requirements listed in the variance response letter that were not part of the original variance proposal. Approval is granted only for the specific project under review and the conditions for approval shall not be construed as applicable to any other project nor should any approval be considered to establish any precedent for future variance approvals.

(d)Costs and Expenses of Application. The applicant is responsible for all costs and expenses associated with the preparation and submittal of the variance application and any evaluation, research or other outside consultation, whether requested by the applicant or the city.