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1996 SESSION

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HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 243 Requesting the Department of Housing and Community Development to require mandatory education for building code officials on the issue of expansive soils.

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, March 7, 1996 Agreed to by the Senate, March 6, 1996

WHEREAS, the Uniform Statewide Building Code currently gives the local building officials authority to require testing of soils in areas likely to have expansive or other problem soils; and

WHEREAS, where expansive or other problem soils are identified, various methods for responding to them are permitted, including removal and replacement of soils, stabilization by dewatering or other means, or the construction of special footings, foundations, or slabs; and

WHEREAS, the Council of American Building Officials provides guidance on the type of construction techniques to be employed where problem soils are present, and the building codes provide for the use of appropriate construction techniques when needed, but do not directly prescribe when the need for such techniques should be determined; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Department of Housing and Community Development be requested to require mandatory education for Virginia building code officials on the issue of expansive soils. The mandatory education shall cover the presence of such soils throughout the Commonwealth and the fact that building officials should be able to utilize the subdivision process as a means of establishing that the existing soils are suitable for such minimum construction criteria as are set forth in the Uniform Statewide Building Code. Such education for building officials shall be contained in the curriculum of the Building Officials Code Academy which is convened several times annually by the Department of Housing and Community Development or local training academies accredited by the Department of Housing and Community Development; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates transmit a copy of this resolution to the Board of Housing and Community Development so that its members may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly in this matter.