Committee approves school building safety rules; members express concern about maintenance backlog and inspections

The House Business Committee approved docket 24-3960-2401, the rules governing uniform school building safety, while several legislators raised concerns about whether the division is exercising its inspection and enforcement authority in light of reported maintenance backlogs in public school facilities.

Justin Touchstone, trades program director for the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses, presented the package and said the chapter “is very brief and there continues to be consensus on the definition of Intimate Safety Hazard.” He said the changes were developed with the State Department of Education and the Office of the State Board of Education and that the rule chapter contains no substantive changes following the zero-based regulation review.

Representative Burch told the committee she would not support the motion, citing reported maintenance backlogs and a belief that the division has not exercised shutdown authority when necessary. “I’m not going to support the motion and only because we already know we have over from OP reports we have over $1,000,000,000 backlog just in school building maintenance,” Burch said. She asked whether the division has shut down entire schools or parts of schools for safety reasons; Touchstone said he was not aware of any recent full shutdowns by the division but that inspectors issue reports to school districts and that an “imminent safety hazard” is the statutory tool to close a site when warranted.

Committee members asked whether the rules reference other codes and which ones apply; Touchstone listed several codes by reference used in school inspections, including the Idaho Building Code, International Mechanical Code, International Fuel Code, International Energy Conservation Code, the accessible and usable buildings code, the Idaho Fire Code, National Electrical Code, and plumbing and backflow manuals. He said the division inspects schools and issues reports back to districts, but that only imminent life-safety hazards would warrant closing a school or portion of a building.

Chairman Clow moved approval of the docket. The committee approved the rules by voice vote; Representative Burch voted no on the record. Committee members requested that the division follow up with data on inspections, reports, and any instances where parts or whole buildings were closed due to safety concerns.