HARRISBURG – Effective April 9, all municipal officials and representatives of certified third-party agencies engaged in code enforcement under the Uniform Construction Code, or UCC, in Pennsylvania must have UCC certification for each category of work they perform.
When the UCC took effect statewide on April 9, 2004, officials enforcing previously-adopted local building codes for residential and commercial construction were temporarily relieved of certification requirements if they registered with the Department of Labor & Industry. The “grandfathering” period was intended to give individuals performing code work sufficient time to become certified under the new law while continuing to work.
The grandfathering period for residential code enforcement officials ended in April 2007.
The Department of Labor & Industry, in conjunction with the Department of Community & Economic Development, has worked extensively at the state and local level to assist municipalities and code enforcement officials prepare for full UCC compliance.
Certification now will be required in order to legally perform work in the six commercial inspection categories and the six commercial plan review categories, or to serve as a building code official for commercial construction. Certified officials are those who have provided the department with documentation that they have passed the required certification examinations.
There are no provisions in the law that would allow the department to extend the grandfathering period or grant any exceptions to the certification requirements.
The department’s UCC Certification Booklet is available online, keyword: building codes. To request a copy by mail, call (717) 772-3396. The Web site also contains a list of certified code enforcement officials and third-party agencies.
More than 90 percent of Pennsylvania’s 2,562 municipalities have chosen to enforce the UCC locally, either through municipal officials or third-party agencies.
The Department of Labor & Industry enforces the UCC for commercial construction in the remaining municipalities and for all state-owned facilities.