Ohio Building Officials Association urges changes to Senate Bill 6, warns it could eliminate local appeals

Charles Huber, representing the Ohio Building Officials Association, told the House Development Committee that Senate Bill 6 in its current form "would have the unintended consequence of removing the convenience of local non residential boards of building appeals in some jurisdictions." Huber spoke during the bill's third hearing and provided written testimony and a letter dated 04/03/2025 attached to his submission.

Huber described a draft amendment OBOA transmitted with its letter. Under that draft, a local nonresidential board could opt out of offering expedited appeals procedures; if the local board had opted out and an appellant sought expedited review, the appellant could go directly to the State of Ohio Board of Building Appeals for an expedited hearing. "With the amendment, senate bill 6 will require the State of Ohio Board of Building Appeals to offer, upon request of the appellant, expedited appeals procedures where they can get a decision," Huber said.

Huber said several jurisdictions, including the city of Dayton, Hamilton County and Stark County, told OBOA that if expedited procedures become law in the bill's current form they would have to dissolve their local boards of building appeals; if that occurred, "all non residential building code appeals" would shift to the State Board of Building Appeals, he said.

In response to questions from Representative Lorenz, Huber said a jurisdiction certified by the State of Ohio Board of Building Standards does not automatically have a local nonresidential board of building appeals and that there are "approximately a dozen" local nonresidential boards certified to hear appeals. He also outlined three common bases on which a board of building appeals may grant relief: (1) the adjudication order cites no code section, (2) the cited code section was an unreasonable interpretation or application, or (3) strict compliance would create an unnecessary hardship and a variance is warranted under Ohio Revised Code 37 81.19 (as cited in his testimony).

Huber noted that if an appellant does not prevail locally, the appellant may pursue a de novo hearing with the State Board of Building Appeals or appeal to county court. During a clarifying exchange about in-field inspector findings, Huber explained that contractors facing an inspector's on-site direction have options: demolish and rebuild, revise drawings and resubmit them, or accept an adjudication order and appeal.

The committee did not take a vote on Senate Bill 6; the chair closed the third hearing and adjourned the Development Committee.