Bill Text: TX HB738 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to residential and commercial building requirements of municipalities, counties, and emergency services districts.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2021-06-07 - See remarks for effective date [HB738 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HB738-Enrolled.html

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H.B. No. 738

AN ACT
relating to residential and commercial building requirements of
municipalities, counties, and emergency services districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 214.212, Local Government Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a), (c), and (d) and adding
Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(a) To protect the public health, safety, and welfare, the
International Residential Code, as it existed on May 1, 2012
[2001], is adopted as a municipal residential building code in this
state.
(c) Subject to Subsection (e), a [A] municipality may
establish procedures:
(1) to adopt local amendments to the International
Residential Code that may add, modify, or remove requirements set
by the code; and
(2) for the administration and enforcement of the
International Residential Code.
(d) A municipality may review and consider amendments made
by the International Code Council to the International Residential
Code after May 1, 2012 [2001].
(e) A municipality may not adopt a local amendment under
Subsection (c) unless the municipality:
(1) holds a public hearing on the local amendment
before adopting the local amendment; and
(2) adopts the local amendment by ordinance.
SECTION 2. Section 214.216, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 214.216. INTERNATIONAL BUILDING CODE. (a) To protect
the public health, safety, and welfare, the International Building
Code, as it existed on May 1, 2012 [2003], is adopted as a municipal
commercial building code in this state.
(b) The International Building Code applies to all
commercial buildings in a municipality [for which construction
begins on or after January 1, 2006,] and to any alteration,
remodeling, enlargement, or repair of those commercial buildings.
(c) Subject to Subsection (f), a [A] municipality may
establish procedures:
(1) to adopt local amendments to the International
Building Code that may add, modify, or remove requirements set by
the code; and
(2) for the administration and enforcement of the
International Building Code.
(d) A municipality may review and consider amendments made
by the International Code Council to the International Building
Code after May 1, 2012 [2003].
(e) A municipality that has adopted a more stringent
commercial building code than a commercial building code required
by this section [before January 1, 2006,] is not required to repeal
that code and may adopt future editions of that code.
(f) A municipality may not adopt a local amendment under
Subsection (c) unless the municipality:
(1) holds a public hearing on the local amendment
before adopting the local amendment; and
(2) adopts the local amendment by ordinance.
SECTION 3. Section 214.217(e), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(e) On the written request from five or more persons or if
required by Section 214.212(e) or 214.216(f), the governing body of
the municipality shall hold a public hearing open to public comment
on the proposed adoption of or amendment to a national model code
under this section. The hearing must be held on or before the 14th
day before the date the governing body adopts the ordinance that
adopts or amends a national model code under this section.
SECTION 4. Chapter 250, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding Section 250.011 to read as follows:
Sec. 250.011. RESIDENTIAL FIRE PROTECTION SPRINKLER
SYSTEMS. (a) Notwithstanding any other law and except as provided
by Subsection (c), a municipality, county, or emergency services
district may not enact an ordinance, bylaw, order, building code,
or rule requiring the installation of a multipurpose residential
fire protection sprinkler system or any other fire protection
sprinkler system in a new or existing one- or two-family dwelling.
(b) A municipality, county, or emergency services district
may adopt an ordinance, bylaw, order, building code, or rule
allowing a multipurpose residential fire protection sprinkler
system specialist or other contractor to offer, for a fee, the
installation of a fire protection sprinkler system in a new one- or
two-family dwelling.
(c) Subsection (a) does not apply to:
(1) a municipality that has enacted an ordinance,
bylaw, order, building code, or rule requiring the installation of
a multipurpose residential fire protection sprinkler system or any
other fire protection sprinkler system in a new or existing one- or
two-family dwelling on or before January 1, 2009; or
(2) an emergency services district:
(A) that before February 1, 2013, has adopted a
fire code, fire code amendments, or other requirements in conflict
with Subsection (a); and
(B) whose territory is located:
(i) in or adjacent to a general law
municipality with a population of less than 4,000 that is served by
a water control and improvement district governed by Chapter 51,
Water Code; and
(ii) in a county that has a population of
more than one million and is adjacent to a county with a population
of more than 420,000.
SECTION 5. (a) Sections 214.212 and 214.216, Local
Government Code, as amended by this Act, apply only to residential
or commercial construction, remodeling, alteration, enlargement,
or repair that begins under an agreement made on or after January 1,
2022, or that begins, in the absence of an agreement, on or after
that date. Residential or commercial construction, remodeling,
alteration, enlargement, or repair that begins under an agreement
made before January 1, 2022, or that begins, in the absence of an
agreement, before that date is governed by the law in effect when
the agreement was made or the activity began, as appropriate, and
that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) Municipalities shall, before January 1, 2022, establish
rules and take other necessary actions to implement Sections
214.212 and 214.216, Local Government Code, as amended by this Act.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect January 1, 2022, except
that Section 5(b) of this Act and this section take effect September
1, 2021.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 738 was passed by the House on April
8, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 5, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 738 on May 23, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 134, Nays 10,
1 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 738 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 19, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor