Featured Resource: Ohio Board of Building Standards

As I’ve noted in prior posts, the State of Ohio has an incredible amount of information available online.  Today’s article covers the Ohio Board of Building Standards (the “BBS"), which is under the purview of the Department of Commerce.  The BBS is comprised of 15 members appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Ohio Senate.

 

As stated on its web site, the BBS has three main functions:

• The formulation, adoption and amendment of building, mechanical, plumbing, elevator, boiler and pressure piping codes;

• The certification of municipal, county and township building departments to exercise enforcement authority and to accept and approve plans and specifications, and make inspections and to inspect power, refrigerating, hydraulic, heating, oxygen and other gaseous piping, and liquefied petroleum gas piping systems; and

• Conducting hearings and investigations as deemed necessary or desirable in the discharge of its duties.

 

The BBS web site contains numerous resources, including the following:

 

Online Services, such as an Electrical Safety Inspector Lookup, a Fire Protection Designer Lookup and an Online Industrial Unit Plan Submission Program.

 

Codes, covering variety of information related to Ohio’s commercial and residential building codes, including online access to Ohio current building codes and rules and amendments.

 

Certifications, such as links to apply for various certifications, renewing certifications submitting assessment reports, obtaining continuing education and accessing certification rules. Also includes a link to Ohio’s current list of certified county, city and township building departments.

 

Resources, such as links to enforcement summaries, testing requirements, checklists, Attorney General opinions and court cases, BBS memos and interpretations, BBS publications, BBS newsletter and proposed rules.

 

Industrialized Units, including links to instructions for the electrical submittal process for IU plans, Ohio listed IU manufacturers, program news and updates, and electronic submittal of IU plans for BBS review.

 

There is a tremendous amount of information available on the BBS web site that would be useful for building departments, others working in the construction industry and anyone conducting research in this area.

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