You asked for general information on the fees levied on building permit applications, including the amount of money being collected and how it is used.

SUMMARY

By law, the revenue from fees currently assessed on building permit applications is used to fund training and education programs for building and fire code officials and professionals in the building design and construction industry.

The Department of Public Safety's (DPS) Office of Education and Data Management (OEDM) administers the programs with support from the offices of the State Building Inspector and State Fire Marshal. Among other training and education programs, OEDM develops and administers prelicensing and precertification programs for fire and building code officials, continuing education programs for already certified and licensed code officials, and training and education programs required whenever the state adopts a new building or fire safety code.

In FY 07, DPS received $ 1, 207,813 in code training and education fees. In the same period, it spent $ 1,248,143. Salaries and wages represented the largest expenditure ($ 950,074). (Attachments 1 through 3 provide more detailed revenue and expenditure reports. )

CODE TRAINING AND EDUCATION

Code Training and Education Fees

The state building inspector must levy a code training and education fee on state building permit applications, and local building officials must levy a fee on local applications (CGS §§ 29-252a & 29-263). The current fee is 16 cents per $ 1,000 of construction value declared on the permit application. For example, if the declared value is $ 10,000, the fee assessment is $ 16. Local officials must remit the fees, less administrative expenses, to DPS, in accordance with DPS regulations.

Purpose of the Fees

By law, the commissioner must develop one program to sponsor and another to provide (1) training and education in the mechanics and application of the state building and fire safety codes for local and state code officials and candidates for such positions and (2) continuing education in the mechanics and application of the codes for architects, engineers, landscape architects, interior designers, builders, contractors, or superintendents of construction doing business in the state (CGS § 29-251c(a) and 29-251c(c)).

The commissioner must use the fees to pay for the above programs, including direct expenses incurred to conduct them and to operate, maintain, and repair facilities, food services, and other auxiliary services; equipment costs; and other program-related activities (CGS § 29-251c(e)).

OEDM

OEDM is responsible for administering the code training and education programs. It works with the offices of the State Building Inspector and State Fire Marshal to carry out its responsibilities.

Prelicensure and Precertification Training

OEDM develops and administers a prelicensure training program for building officials and a precertification training program for fire officials. According to OEDM, the prelicensure program consists of 330 hours of annual training, and the precertification program consists of 258 hours. (For a breakdown of the number of officials completing various segments of the program in FY 07, see DPS letter attached. )

Training to Implement New Building and Fire Safety Codes

Whenever the state adopts a new building or fire safety code, OEDM must revise its training and education programs for the nine classes of building officials and six classes of fire officials responsible for implementing the new codes. The classes of building officials are as follows: building official, assistant building official, residential building inspector, plan review technician, mechanical inspector, electrical inspector, plumbing inspector, heating and cooling inspector, and construction inspector. The classes of fire officials are as follows: fire safety code inspector, hazardous material inspector, fire investigator, fire inspector, deputy fire marshal and fire marshal. The state adopts building and fire safety codes approximately every three years, according to OEDM.

Continuing Education Programs

Fire and building code officials must attend at least 90, 60, or 30 hours of continuing education programs over a three-year period, depending on their classification. According to OEDM, during FY 07, it provided 124 such classes. It also conducted two educational conferences for these officials and allied professionals. The office also reviewed and approved 450 non-OEDM training programs for continuing education credit during FY 07.

Quarterly Licensure Examinations

In addition to the certification and licensure examinations given under the precertification and pre-licensure training programs, OEDM administers quarterly licensure examinations for local building and fire code officials. In FY 07, it administered over 2,000 such examinations.

Attachment 1: Budget Expenditures for FY 07 — Code Official Training and Education Fund

Source: Division of Fire and Building Services, DPS

Attachment 2: Code Training and Education Fund Revenue Report (FY 99-07)

Source: Division of Fire and Building Services, DPS

Attachment 3: Code Training and Education Fund—FY 05-08

Source: Division of Fire and Building Services, DPS

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