Amendments to Glenview building codes on trustees' slate

After a series of meetings and open houses throughout 2019, Glenview's building commission recommended that village trustees adopt 2018 International Construction Codes with amendments.

That was on the agenda in Tuesday's board meeting, the fifth remote meeting and by far the swiftest - clocking in at about 22 minutes.

Glenview, since 1995, has used building codes released by the International Code Council, which releases updates on a three-year cycle, the most recent being in 2018. The last time the village updated its building codes was 2014, working off the ICC's 2012 International Codes, explained Community Development Director Jeff Brady.

"Code updates are important not just to stay current with the times," Brady said, "but also because it affects any property's insurance rating."

As detailed in the 388-page ordinance up for consideration Tuesday, which was passed and placed on the board's Aug. 18 consent agenda, were amendments to codes pertaining to building regulations, fire protection and pools.

Brady noted items such as the use of heat detectors rather than smoke alarms for attached garages, and updates for the size of elevators to accommodate fire department gurneys.

"Lastly," he said, "periodically the village has updated since 2005 the Engineering Standards Manual. We're proposing to do that again."