Fargo staff present local amendments to International Property Maintenance Code affecting rentals, day cares and smoke alarms

Lynn Olson, a rental housing inspector in Fargo's Building Inspections Department, presented proposed local amendments to the International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC) at the meeting under unfinished business.

Olson told the board the proposal includes new local designations, enforcement provisions, fee changes and new safety requirements aimed at rental properties and home day-care operations. "Both rental and code enforcement enforce the International Property Maintenance Code and this will change their fee from $75 to $150," Olson said.

Key elements Olson described include:

- Fee and enforcement changes: Code-enforcement fees for rental and code enforcement activities would increase from $75 to $150. Olson said the code now explicitly authorizes the inspections department to enforce the IPMC and to collect the higher fee; the proposal also adds a $150 fee to replace or remove a building placard.

- Secondary certificate of occupancy for rentals: A new secondary certificate of occupancy would be required when dwelling or sleeping units are occupied by tenants (any occupant other than the owner or family). The certificate would be issued after an inspection finds no violations; when a property title is transferred, an existing secondary certificate would be void and a new certificate required. The draft sets a 3-year open permit period tied to use as a rental and gives the building official authority to suspend or revoke a certificate in writing if issued in error or if violations are found.

- Right of entry and warrants: The proposed language adds an explicit right of entry for rental/code-enforcement inspections and a new subsection describing the department's ability to obtain a warrant when necessary for enforcement.

- Home day-care rules: The proposal adds a new Section 405 that applies to home day-care operations in dwellings. Olson said it requires two exits from a basement used for daycare, a minimum exit width of 36 inches (net clear 32 inches) and a minimum exit height of 6 feet 8 inches. Yards used by day cares must be fenced; the local amendment sets the minimum fence height to 4 feet (changed from a 6-foot draft) and limits chain-link mesh to a maximum 2-inch square opening with 9-gauge wire. Exit doors must open to the inside without a key or special knowledge.

- Pool barriers and insect screens: Olson said the pool-barrier language was pulled from pool and spa provisions in the model codes and modified for local use, and the city will continue the established insect-screen calendar of April 1 to Oct. 31.

- Smoke detectors: The IPMC amendments require smoke detectors in dwelling units used for day care and require detectors to be interconnected "per unit." The staff clarified that the requirement expects interconnected detectors (so detectors sound across the unit) but they need not be hardwired into the building's electrical system; Olson and Rednick said wireless interconnection options are acceptable where they meet manufacturer instructions. As Sean/Rednick put it, "We're looking for the easiest possible solution for them...there's interconnected smoke detector systems out there and that's what we'd be asking them to install in certain areas." (quote paraphrased from transcript).

- Exterminator licenses: The draft requires licensed contractors for extermination of insects and vermin in rental properties; Fargo's Environmental Health Department issues those licenses.

- Heating supply and an exception for older systems: The draft sets a heating-supply season from Sept. 15 to June 1 and includes a new exception for older structures whose original heating systems, operating at full capacity, cannot reach the minimum required temperature. Staff said they will add language explicitly permitting the building official to approve or deny such exceptions on a case-by-case basis.

Olson and Rednick answered questions from board members about how the rules would be applied in older homes, whether basement egress through a bedroom could be counted as a second exit, and about locking of doors during daycare hours. On interconnected detectors, Rednick said the department does not intend to require an electrician to hardwire units for interconnection and that per-unit interconnection is acceptable.

The meeting record does not show a formal vote to adopt the IPMC amendments at this session. Staff said they will return with adoption language if the board requests formal action.