HBA-ALS H.B. 2007 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2007 By: Reyna, Arthur Licensing & Administrative Procedures 4/13/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law specifies the Uniform Mechanical Code and the Standard Mechanical Code as the model codes to be used by air conditioning and refrigeration contractors. In order to achieve national uniformity, the three major model code organizations, Building Officials and Code Administrators, International Conference of Building Officials, and Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc., have united with municipal officials to develop and publish a single set of model codes, which has resulted in the publication of the International Mechanical Code and the International Fuel Gas Code. H.B. 2007 adds the International Mechanical and Fuel Gas Codes to the current list of model codes that may be adopted by governmental jurisdictions. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority previously delegated to the Commissioner of Licensing and Regulation is modified in SECTION 2 (Section 3, Article 8861, V.T.C.S. (Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractor License Law)) of this bill. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Article 8861, Section 2(10), V.T.C.S. (Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractor License Law) to redefine "mechanical integrity." SECTION 2. Amends Section 3(a), Article 8861, V.T.C.S., (Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractor License Law), as follows: (a) Requires the Commissioner of Licensing and Regulation to adopt rules for the practice of air conditioning and refrigeration contracting which must be at least as strict as the standards set forth in the Uniform Mechanical Code published by the International Conference of Building Officials or the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, the Standard Mechanical Code published by the Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc., or the International Mechanical Code published by the International Code Council, rather than at least as strict as the standards set forth in the Uniform Mechanical Code published by the International Conference of Building Officials or the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, or the Standard Mechanical Code published by the Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc., as those codes exist at the time the rules are adopted. SECTION 3.Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 4.Emergency clause.