Panel considering mandating inspections of renovation projects

A bill before state lawmakers would require that certain remodeling projects undergo the same inspections as newly built structures, supporters testified on Thursday.

Brad Boycks of the Wisconsin Builders Association, who helped draft Assembly Bill 111, told members of the state Assembly’s Committee on Housing and Real Estate on Thursday that the proposal would make the biggest difference in smaller communities where there are little or no standards set for inspections. Milwaukee, Madison and many other large cities now have local ordinances calling for inspections for large renovations, he said.

But nothing in state statutes requires them to take that step. For one- and two-family homes that were put up after 1978, state law now calls for inspections only during the initial construction phase. Remodeling work, as a result, is not always done to code.

One of the authors of AB 111, state Rep. Bob Kulp, R-Stratford, said the bill protects homeowners from unsafe work. The legislation would change state statutes to require inspections not only of new construction, but also of renovation or remodeling projects that cost more than 20 percent of the assessed value of the home that is being worked on.

Also testifying before the Assembly’s housing committee on Thursday was Jim Reif, owner of Manitowoc-based Jim Reif Builders Inc., and a member of the Wisconsin Builders Association’s Remodeling Council. He said that when his crews find themselves working on homes that had been remodeled at an earlier date, they often discover that the previous modifications were not done to code.

Reif displayed photographs showing what he deemed to be some of the bad remodeling work he has seen during the 24 years he has run his business. The changes contained in AB 111, Reif said, would eliminate a “glitch” in state statutes that now lets homeowners pull remodeling permits on their own and then hire someone who is not certified to do the work.

Still, Boycks said, not all members of the Wisconsin Builders Association are comfortable with the 20 percent threshold. He conceded the number is a bit arbitrary.

“I have no distinct reason for that 20 percent,” Boycks said. “We had to pick something to trigger the inspection.”

He said the number can be changed, and that some members had floated the idea of a 10 percent threshold instead. Boycks also said the 20 percent figure would not override any rules that municipalities may have adopted to require inspections at a lower threshold.

Another part of the bill, one that excludes repair work from the inspections requirements, raised questions as well.

Boycks said his members asked what would happen, for instance, when a tornado hits a house. The resulting work could technically be deemed repairs, he said, and could easily cost more than 20 percent of the house’s assessed value.

Boycks said he and the bill’s authors are not completely wedded to everything in the proposal and that it could be modified. Follow @erikastrebel