Effective immediately, the City is eliminating some sections of the Seattle Building Code (SBC) and Seattle Residential Code (SRC) that affect small residential buildings. One other SBC regulation will be applied only to buildings beyond the scope of Washington state review.

In August 2004, the City adopted the International Building and Residential Codes (IBC and IRC) with Seattle amendments to comprise the SBC and SRC, which replaced the 1997 Uniform Code (see related article). On Oct. 14, 2005, the State Building Code Council disapproved several of Seattle’s amendments.

The State Building Code Council has authority to review only amendments that affect small residential buildings, including all single-family buildings, and multifamily buildings that have four or fewer dwellings, that are less than 5,000 square feet in area, and that have only one or two stories.

The City will no longer enforce the following disapproved amendments affecting small residential buildings:

• Lighting—SBC Section 1205 amendment requiring natural light in residences.
• Room sizes, amenities and access to bathrooms—Amendments to SBC 1208.3, 1208.5 and 1210.5, and SRC R304.1, R306.2 and R306.5.

The City will continue to enforce the following disapproved amendment for buildings beyond the scope of Washington state review:

• Live loads for decks and balconies—SBC Table 1607.1. The live loads for decks and balconies in single-family residences and in small multifamily buildings are now required to be designed for the live loads specified in the IBC—100 psf for balconies, 40 psf for private decks, and 100 psf for public decks. On all other buildings, there will be no distinction between decks and balconies. Both should be designed for 40 psf for private decks accessory to a dwelling, 60 psf for common-use decks not open to the public, and 100 psf for all others.