Legal Affairs
BIAW, AGC fight back alleging governor broke law on building code appointments by Jackson Maynard General Counsel
requires the governor to appoint only people who have been nominated by the industry. This ensures that groups impacted by the code have a role in changes made to the code and the timing of their implementation. “The language in this statute was carefully negotiated during the 2018 legislative session to ensure that all impacted industries and parties had representation on the Building Code Council,” said BIAW Government Affairs Director Jan Himebaugh. “The governor’s office was a part of those discussions and he never disagreed with the result. This council does important work and the law is designed to protect the council from political manipulation in votes or process.” The state’s two largest construction trade associations, BIAW and the Association of General Contractors of Washington (AGC) are taking aggressive action to block two appointments made recently by Gov. Jay Inslee to fill general contractor positions on the Washington State Building Code Council (SBCC). State statute dictates who serves on the SBCC, which is responsible for creating and amending the Washington State Building Code. It’s also clear how they are to be appointed. The law requires one of the two general contracting positions be reserved for residential construction and another for commercial construction. It also
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building insight
Violation of state law Unfortunately, Gov. Inslee is attempting to manipulate the makeup of the SBCC to advance his climate change agenda. Earlier this year, the SBCC clashed with the governor over whether costly changes to the code authorized by the legislature in 2019 should be delayed due to the COVID pandemic. The council voted to delay implementation, but the governor overrode their vote and concerns. Shortly after the governor reversed the SBCC’s vote, his office contacted existing members of the Council to inform them they would not be reappointed. This included BIAW member and SBCC Chair Diane Glenn and AGC member Doug Orth.
