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Building Codes Division pitches tools for housing production and training in budget hearing
Summary
The Building Codes Division told the subcommittee it is using digital tools, mutual‑aid agreements and training investments to remove barriers to housing production while sustaining statewide building‑safety standards.
Alana Cox, administrator of the Oregon Building Codes Division (BCD), told the Transportation and Economic Development Subcommittee that BCD is focused on safety, predictability and removing barriers to housing production while maintaining a statewide code standard.
Why it matters: BCD writes and administers Oregon’s statewide building code and helps supply inspection capacity in parts of the state that do not operate local building departments. Its initiatives affect construction timeliness, housing affordability and local permit revenues.
BCD highlights and requests: Cox described tools and program changes intended to increase housing capacity and administrative efficiency: - Oregon Design Criteria Hub: an interactive site (developed with Oregon State University) that provides site‑specific design values such as snow and wind loads to speed plan review and reduce research time for designers and inspectors. - Building evaluation support agreement: a new multilateral mutual‑aid agreement that allows jurisdictions to access inspection capacity without negotiating separate intergovernmental agreements for each partner. - ePermitting expansion: an online permitting system used by 86 cities and counties, with features including electronic plan review, inspector mobile apps and live video inspections. - Housing Accountability and Production Office (HAPA): BCD is partnering with the Department of Land Conservation and Development to stand up a one‑stop office (authorized by legislation) to help customers navigate development, resolve disputes and coordinate agency actions; the office begins operations July 2025.
Staffing and POPs: Cox said BCD has 33 FTE and receives roughly 12,500 policy and technical contacts annually; she reported 96% of those contacts were answered within one business day. The division seeks authority for a new learning management system, continued support for ePermitting contracts, billing software for elevator and boiler programs, and four additional plans examiners phased in as revenue and demand allow.
Workforce and housing lens: Cox explained a statewide code and inspection system keeps standards uniform and supports a mobile, trained workforce. She emphasized the division’s efforts to expand prefabrication (off‑site modular construction) and manufactured housing programs, adopt code changes to allow stacked townhome types, and expand permit‑ready plans to help reduce development time and cost.
Committee reaction: Committee members took no votes and asked few questions during Cox’s presentation; BCD staff will return with additional detail as part of the continuation of DCBS testimony.
