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Minutes of the Brookings Board of Appeals
Brookings, SD 57006
December 11, 2019
The City of Brookings Board of Appeals was called to order by Cha irperson Houtman on
Wednesday, December 11, 2019 at 2:00PM in Conference Room #142 on the first floor of the
City & County Government Center at 520 3 rd Street. Members present were Paul Sahr, Dave
Ekern, and Houtman. Also present were Building Services Administrator Jared Thomas and
Building Inspector TJ Chandler.
Quorum was not met.
Item #4 - Discussion on Adoption of 2018 I-Codes and Amendments.
Thomas referred to the discussion about Chapter 11 from the previous meeting. Sioux Falls is
allowing an R-19 and they are trying to calculate the rating to get to the R-20. Sahr and
Thomas both feel this isn’t an accurate way for insulating, so maybe the thing that needs to be
done is that they start focusing on the furnace size.
City of Sioux Falls amended out the requirement for the blower door test with the idea that they
will put in an air exchange system for the furnace systems instead of the blower door. Thomas
feels that this could be a good option for the City of Brookings also. This would only be an
expense of approximately $400.00.
If we adopt the 2018 IRC Chapter 11 and amend it to match Sioux Falls , Thomas doesn’t feel
that it would be too detrimental to builders/homeowners. The labeling of rafters is a
requirement in the IRC, currently the City doesn’t inspect insulation for ratings. Houtman
stated that marking the rafters could be done, but everyone knows that the insulation settles
significantly in the first few years. Thomas explained that the intent of the markings is to help
the inspectors to verify the amount of insulation is accurate. Sahr feels that an amendment to
this code is necessary but isn’t sure if an energy efficiency certificate would be necessary.
Thomas wondered how to handle houses being built with unfinished basements. Ekern stated
that if you require a large enough furnace to take care of an unfinished/uninsulated basement ,
the furnace will definitely suffice once the basement is finished. To require framing, insulation
and plastic an additional $2,500.00 could be added on to the cost of the build.
Chandler wondered what the thoughts are on requiring fire poly on a crawl space.
Item #5 - Discussion on Code Change Procedure and Schedule
Houtman feels that if amendments are going to be made, they should be done before Spring.
Submitted by:
TJ Chandler