Bill Text: IL HB1809 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Capital Development Board Act. Provides that the Capital Development Board shall establish uniform statewide minimum qualification requirements for code inspectors and shall maintain a statewide registry and certification program for qualified inspectors to demonstrate their compliance with the minimum qualification requirements. Provides that any municipal building code or county building code must ensure that all code inspectors meet at least the minimum certification requirements required by the Board for non-building code jurisdictions. Limits home rule powers. Amends the Public Community College Act. Provides that the Illinois Community College Board shall create a specific listing in its directory of programs for courses and programs that prepare students to become code inspectors. Provides that the State Board shall conduct a survey of all community colleges in the State to determine the current and historical enrollment in currently existing building code-related courses.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-28 - Referred to Rules Committee [HB1809 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2025-HB1809-Introduced.html

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104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 HB1809 Introduced , by Rep. Katie Stuart SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
20 ILCS 3105/10.09-1
20 ILCS 3105/10.18
20 ILCS 3105/10.20 new
110 ILCS 805/2-13 new
Amends the Capital Development Board Act. Provides that the Capital Development Board shall establish uniform statewide minimum qualification requirements for code inspectors and shall maintain a statewide registry and certification program for qualified inspectors to demonstrate their compliance with the minimum qualification requirements. Provides that any municipal building code or county building code must ensure that all code inspectors meet at least the minimum certification requirements required by the Board for non-building code jurisdictions. Limits home rule powers. Amends the Public Community College Act. Provides that the Illinois Community College Board shall create a specific listing in its directory of programs for courses and programs that prepare students to become code inspectors. Provides that the State Board shall conduct a survey of all community colleges in the State to determine the current and historical enrollment in currently existing building code-related courses.
LRB104 10472 HLH 20547 b
A BILL FOR
HB1809 LRB104 10472 HLH 20547 b
AN ACT concerning State government.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Capital Development Board Act is amended by
changing Sections 10.09-1 and 10.18 and by adding Section
10.20 as follows:
(20 ILCS 3105/10.09-1)
Sec. 10.09-1. Certification of inspection.
(a) No person may occupy a newly constructed commercial
building or a substantially improved commercial building in a
non-building code jurisdiction until:
(1) The property owner or property owner's agent has
first contracted for the inspection of the building by an
inspector who meets the qualifications established by the
Board; and
(2) The qualified inspector files a certification of
inspection with the municipality or county having such
jurisdiction over the property indicating that the
building complies with all of the following:
(A) to the extent they do not conflict with the
codes and rules listed in subparagraphs (C) through
(F), the current edition or most recent preceding
edition of the following codes published by the

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International Code Council:
(i) the International Building Code, including
Appendix G and excluding Chapters 11, 13, and 29;
(ii) the International Existing Building Code;
(B) to the extent it does not conflict with the
codes and rules listed in subparagraphs (C) through
(F), the current edition or most recent preceding
edition of the National Electrical Code published by
the National Fire Protection Association;
(C) either:
(i) The Energy Efficient Building Code adopted
under Section 15 of the Energy Efficient Building
Act; or
(ii) The Illinois Stretch Energy Code adopted
under Section 55 of the Energy Efficient Building
Act;
(D) the Illinois Accessibility Code adopted under
Section 4 of the Environmental Barriers Act;
(E) the Illinois Plumbing Code adopted under
Section 35 of the Illinois Plumbing License Law; and
(F) the rules adopted in accordance with Section 9
of the Fire Investigation Act.
(3) Once a building permit is issued, the applicable
requirements that are in effect on January 1 of the calendar
year when the building permit was applied for, or, where a
building permit is not required, on January 1 of the calendar

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year when construction begins, shall be the only requirements
that apply for the duration of the building permit or
construction.
(b) (Blank).
(c) Before January 1, 2027, the The qualification
requirements of this Section do not apply to building
enforcement personnel employed by a municipality or county who
are acting in their official capacity. On and after January 1,
2027, the qualification requirements of this Section shall
apply to building enforcement personnel employed by a
municipality or county who are acting in their official
capacity. This subsection is a limitation under subsection (i)
of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution on the
concurrent exercise by home rule units of powers and functions
exercised by the State.
(d) For purposes of this Section:
"Commercial building" means any building other than: (i) a
single-family home or a dwelling containing 2 or fewer
apartments, condominiums, or townhouses; or (ii) a farm
building as exempted from Section 3 of the Illinois
Architecture Practice Act of 1989.
"Newly constructed commercial building" means any
commercial building for which original construction has
commenced on or after July 1, 2011.
"Non-building code jurisdiction" means any area of the
State in a municipality or county having jurisdiction that:

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(i) has not adopted a building code; or (ii) is required to but
has not identified its adopted building code to the Board
under Section 10.18 of the Capital Development Board Act.
"Qualified inspector" means an individual certified as a
commercial building inspector by the International Code
Council or an equivalent nationally recognized building
inspector certification organization, qualified as a
construction and building inspector by successful completion
of an apprentice program certified by the United States
Department of Labor, or who has filed verification of
inspection experience according to rules adopted by the Board
for the purposes of conducting inspections in non-building
code jurisdictions.
"Substantial damage" means damage of any origin sustained
by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to
its before-damaged condition would equal or exceed 50% of the
market value of the structure before damage occurred.
"Substantially improved commercial building" means, for
work commenced on or after January 1, 2025, any commercial
building that has undergone any repair, reconstruction,
rehabilitation, alteration, addition, or other improvement,
the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of the market value of
the structure before the improvement or repair is started. If
a commercial building has sustained substantial damage, any
repairs are considered substantial improvement regardless of
the actual repair work performed. "Substantially improved

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commercial building" does not include: (i) any project for
improvement of a structure to correct existing violations of
State or local health, sanitary, or safety code specifications
which have been identified by the local code enforcement
official and which are the minimum necessary to assure safe
living conditions or (ii) any alteration of a historic
structure, provided that the alteration will not preclude the
structure's continued designation as a historic structure.
(e) Except as provided in Section 15 of the Illinois
Residential Building Code Act, new residential construction is
exempt from this Section and is defined as any original
construction of a single-family home or a dwelling containing
2 or fewer apartments, condominiums, or townhouses.
(f) Local governments may establish agreements with other
governmental entities within the State to issue permits and
enforce building codes and may hire third-party providers that
are qualified in accordance with this Section to provide
inspection services.
(g) This Section does not limit the applicability of any
other statutorily authorized code or regulation administered
by State agencies. These include, without limitation, the
codes and regulations listed in subparagraphs (C) through (F)
of paragraph (2) of subsection (a).
(h) The changes to this Section made by Public Act 103-510
this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly shall apply
beginning on January 1, 2025.

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(Source: P.A. 102-558, eff. 8-20-21; 103-510, eff. 1-1-24;
revised 7-24-24.)
(20 ILCS 3105/10.18)
Sec. 10.18. Identification of local building codes.
(a) Any municipality or county adopting a new building
code edition must, at least 30 days before the effective date
of the building code, identify the model code being adopted,
by title and edition, and any local amendments to the Board in
writing.
(b) No later than 180 days after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly, any municipality
or county that has adopted and is enforcing a building code
must identify the adopted model code, by title and edition,
and any local amendments, to the Board in writing.
(c) For each municipality and county subject to this
Section, the Board must identify the adopted model code or
codes, by title and edition, note if any local amendments were
adopted, and identify the date when this information was
reported to the Board on the Board's public website.
(d) For the purposes of this Section, "building code"
means a model code adopted with or without local amendments to
regulate the construction or rehabilitation of structures
within the municipality or county. "Building code" does not
include any zoning ordinance adopted under Division 13 of
Article 11 of the Illinois Municipal Code or Division 5-12 of

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Article 5 of the Counties Code.
(e) Beginning January 1, 2025, any municipal building code
or county building code must:
(1) regulate the structural design of new buildings,
other than residential buildings, in a manner that is at
least as stringent as the baseline building code;
(2) regulate the structural design of rehabilitation
work in existing buildings, other than residential
buildings, in a manner that is at least as stringent as the
baseline existing building code; and
(3) regulate the structural design of residential
buildings in a manner that is at least as stringent as the
baseline residential code.
On and after January 1, 2027, any municipal building code
or county building code must ensure that all code inspectors
meet at least the minimum certification requirements required
by the Board for non-building code jurisdictions.
In this subsection:
"Baseline building code" means the edition of the
International Building Code, including Appendix G, first
published by the International Code Council during the current
year or preceding 9 calendar years with the least restrictive
provisions for structural design.
"Baseline existing building code" means the edition of the
International Existing Building Code first published by the
International Code Council during the current year or

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preceding 9 calendar years with the least restrictive
provisions for structural design.
"Baseline residential code" means the edition of the
International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family
Dwellings first published by the International Code Council
during the current year or preceding 9 calendar years with the
least restrictive provisions for structural design.
"Residential building" means a single-family home or a
dwelling containing 2 or fewer apartments, condominiums, or
townhouses.
"Structural design" means the capacity of a newly
constructed structure or altered or repaired existing
structure, including its foundation, to withstand forces,
including, but not limited to, dead loads, live loads, snow
loads, wind loads, soil loads and hydrostatic pressure, rain
loads, and earthquake loads, and to resist flood damage.
This subsection is a limitation under subsection (i) of
Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution on the
concurrent exercise by home rule units of powers and functions
exercised by the State.
(f) On an annual basis, the Board shall send written
notification to the corporate authorities of each municipality
and county subject to this Section of their obligations under
this Section.
(Source: P.A. 103-510, eff. 1-1-24.)

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(20 ILCS 3105/10.20 new)
Sec. 10.20. Minimum qualifications; code inspectors.
(a) The Board shall establish uniform statewide minimum
qualification requirements for code inspectors and shall
maintain a statewide registry and certification program for
qualified inspectors to demonstrate their compliance with the
minimum qualification requirements.
(b) The qualification requirements shall, at a minimum,
require an inspector to (i) be certified as a commercial
building inspector by the International Code Council or an
equivalent nationally recognized building inspector
certification organization, (ii) be qualified as a
construction and building inspector by successful completion
of an apprentice program certified by the United States
Department of Labor, or (iii) file a verification of
inspection experience according to rules adopted by the Board
for the purposes of conducting inspections.
(c) The Board shall adopt rules to implement this Section
no later than January 1, 2027.
Section 10. The Public Community College Act is amended by
adding Section 2-13 as follows:
(110 ILCS 805/2-13 new)
Sec. 2-13. Code inspectors.
(a) The State Board shall create a specific listing in its

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directory of programs for courses and programs that prepare
students to become code inspectors.
(b) The State Board shall conduct a survey of all
community colleges in the State to determine the current and
historical enrollment in currently existing building
code-related courses, the potential enrollment in those
courses in community college districts that do not have those
programs, the cost of the program to each community college
that conducts such a program, and the anticipated cost of
starting such a program for community colleges that do not
have such a program. This survey must be completed no later
than January 1, 2027.
(c) The State Board shall use the data collected in
subsection (b) to identify areas where new or expanded course
offerings for building code inspection and enforcement would
be most advantageous, prioritizing areas of the State where is
there is no such course offered by a community college within
100 miles. The State Board shall work with community college
districts in those areas to create course offerings that
prepare students to become code inspectors.