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Belpre committee recommends moving plumbing plan approval and inspections to SEOBD; asks for fiscal impacts
Summary
A utilities committee recommended certifying Belpre to enforce Ohio building codes while shifting plumbing plan review and inspections to the Southeast Ohio Building Department; members requested data on permit fees and impacts to the Marietta/Belpre Health Department before formal adoption.
The Belpre Utilities Committee recommended that the city pursue certification to enforce Ohio State Building Codes while delegating plan approval and inspections — including plumbing — to the Southeast Ohio Building Department (SEOBD).
Committee leader John Ambrozy summarized an Oct. 20 meeting that reviewed current practice: the city issues zoning, floodplain and tap permits and expects builders to follow state codes, while SEOBD currently handles non-residential plan approval and inspections and the Marietta/Belpre Health Department has handled plumbing plan approval and inspections locally. The committee noted that moving plumbing review to SEOBD could create a "one-stop shop" for plan approvals and inspections and might improve email/plan-review capabilities.
Committee members and invited participants asked for additional information before formalizing the change: what permit fees would be charged under SEOBD, and how would the shift affect the Health Department's budget and revenue. Meeting materials reported that plumbing-permit revenue for the Health Department represented approximately 1% of its total revenue for 2020–2024; for commercial plumbing, plan-review and inspection fees were similar between SEOBD and the Health Department.
Council unanimously voted to add to the agenda an amendment to Section 939.04 (water-user rates) and to proceed with ordinance development to enable the code-adoption and SEOBD involvement. The committee recommended further study of fee impacts before any final transfer of responsibilities.
