Pennsylvania's Uniform Construction Code Act 45-1999

The "opt-in, opt-out" period begins April 9 and ends July 8. During that period each municipality must notify the Department of Labor and Industry if the municipality intends to enforce the provisions of the UCC (opt-in) or if the municipality will not enforce the provisions of the UCC (opt-out). If the municipality opts out persons performing "construction" in the municipality will need to privately contract with third-party inspection agencies for inspections required of all "construction" under the UCC.

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After Opt-in, Opt-out Are You Done?

But, the job may not be complete after opting-in or opting-out of enforcing the UCC. The UCC requires that all construction follow International Code Council provisions (except for certain exceptions). This means that the municipality's ordinances regulating the same areas as the UCC are replaced by the provisions of the UCC unless the municipality's provisions were enacted prior to July 1, 1999, and are more strict that the provisions of the UCC.

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What To Do?

We recommend that each municipality conduct a review of its ordinances to determine which ordinances are replaced by the UCC and which ordinances the municipality believes survive the UCC and should be enforced because they are more strict that the provisions of the UCC.

If the municipality's ordinances have been codified, this review should encompass the entire code. Many times other ordinances, especially subdivision and land development and zoning ordinances, reference the municipality's "building code." We recommend that all references be corrected to the provisions which the municipality intends to be controlling, be it the UCC or a local ordinance with provisions more strict than the UCC. Of course, if the local building code or codes have been replaced by the UCC we recommend that they be removed from the code of ordinances to reduce confusion.

If the municipality has not codified its ordinances, now is a very appropriate time to investigate having that very important, time-saving, cost-saving task performed for the municipality.

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In consultation with the municipal solicitor and local officials we can help find all those provisions that may or may not be affected by the UCC, assist in preparing an ordinance to state the municipality's intent and either provide replacement pages for the existing code or a complete codification of the municipality's ordinances.

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