By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
The Hays city commission knew there would need to be some tweaking of the residential and electrical code updates adopted by the city in July 2017.
Three concerns in relation to upgrades and remodels of existing homes requiring a city permit were brought to their attention during the commission work session last week.
“Almost all rooms except bathrooms and garages now require AFCIs (Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter),” explained Jesse Rohr, public works director. An AFCI protects against electrical- related arcs from an electrical circuit or a device, which commonly lead to fires. If an arc is detected, the AFCI is tripped and kills the power to that individual circuit.
“AFCIs and the wiring are easy to install in new homes. However, in existing houses, that’s where we have an issue.”
AFCI receptacles are much more expensive – $22 to $75 – as compared to $1.20 for a regular non-AFCI receptacle.
Some existing electric panels are not configured to work with AFCI breakers and older wiring methods may not be conducive to new devices and codes.
“Homes that were wired 30 to 80 years ago just weren’t wired the way you would wire homes today,” he added, “making it very difficult to protect an electric circuit with an AFCI.” The labor costs to do so are quite high, according to Rohr, “thousands of dollars extra.”
Similar issues affect placement and interconnection of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in remodel/addition situations. Current code requires the alarms to be installed throughout the house and to be connected to each other, the same as required for new construction.
“You can see why this is problematic, having to fish wires through walls and ceilings. … the labor is probably $1,500 to $2,000 and that’s probably on the cheap side if you have to do an entire house.”
Local contractors recently brought the concerns to the attention of Rohr who agreed with them.
“We kind of liken this to bringing your 1950 Ford to the mechanic for a fuel pump and the mechanic says you now have to put seatbelts in it. You have to bring it up to current code. Again, this is may be an overstep of bounds that we’re seeing as we’ve started enforcing this code.”
Rohr is proposing amendments to the 2014 National Electric Code (NEC) and 2015 International Residential Code (IRC) which were adopted in an update by the city of Hays in July 2017. The suggested changes remove many AFCI and smoke alarm requirements for remodel projects in existing dwellings.
One proposal is to allow modified or extended electrical circuits in existing dwellings to not be AFCI-protected due to the high cost and impracticability of doing so. Rohr also suggests that changing a receptacle should not require the new receptacle to be an AFCI-type receptacle.
A third suggestion is “a change to the code that would not require a placement of smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms unless a sleeping room is remodeled or added.”
Rohr noted that’s how the code has been enforced the past several years.
City commissioners will consider the proposed residential and electrical code amendments at their Aug. 8 meeting.
In other business, commissioners set Aug. 8 as the public hearing date for the proposed 2020 budget.
Speaking via phone, Mayor Henry Schwaller asked the commissioners if the proposed $12,000 in funding to the Ellis County Historical Society (ECHS) should be reconsidered.
The ECHS Board of Trustees announced last week the closure of the gallery and stone church to the public due to mold growth. Offices, photo collections and archive materials are being relocated to to 1111 E. 30th.
“Our funding was originally intended to help them with building maintenance,” Schwaller noted.