SF5153

Purpose

This bill would update Minnesota's State Building Code to create a process for allowing single-exit stairway apartment buildings in the code. It also makes a wide range of other building-safety and code-related changes, and it directs rulemaking to determine the final requirements for single-exit designs based on a 2025 study.

Main Provisions

• a. Parking for commuter vans: Future parking facilities built under the code must include spaces for commuter vans (7–16 passenger capacity) used to transport employees to work or to transit stops.
• b. Smoke detection: Dwellings, lodging houses, apartment houses, and hotels must meet smoke detection requirements established in another statute.
• c. Doors in nursing homes and hospitals: It may not require doors into sleeping or patient rooms to be self-closing if there is an approved, complete automatic fire-extinguishing system.
• d. Child care in churches: Licensed day care centers serving under 30 preschoolers located in basement or belowground church spaces may be exempt from a ground-level exit requirement if there are more than two stairs to the ground.
• e. Family and group family day care: Until new standards are set, family/group day care homes will follow the International Residential Code standards as adopted in the State Building Code.
• f. Enclosed stairways: Existing two-story-or-less apartment buildings cannot be required to enclose their stairways.
• g. Double cylinder dead bolt locks: The code cannot prohibit these locks in certain existing homes used as residences; if such locks are promoted, there must be a warning about fire danger and how to minimize risk.
• h. Relocated residential buildings: A residential building moved within the state may skip certain energy-code requirements if an energy audit is conducted where available.
• i. Automatic garage door openings: All residential buildings must comply with related rules for automatic garage door systems.
• j. Exterior wood decks, patios, and balconies: Decking surfaces may use heartwood woods or other woods with natural resistance to decay/termite use, or treated wood; the building official must be given wood species/grades before final construction approval.
• k. Bioprocess piping: No permit fee for bioprocess piping; permits handled by the Department of Labor and Industry; data about materials and processes remain nonpublic.
• l. Ungraded lumber: The code must allow the use of ungraded lumber in areas where the code did not apply as of a 2008 baseline, to the same extent as before.
• m. Window cleaning safety: The state must adopt rules via expedited rulemaking to require window-cleaning safety features that meet a national standard; these features apply to new windows and certain alterations where feasible.
• n. Adult-size changing facilities: Rules will require adult-size changing facilities as part of the State Building Code.
• o. Single-exit stairway apartment buildings: Beginning April 1, 2027, rulemaking is required to allow single-exit stairway apartment buildings in the State Building Code; the final rules must reflect the recommendations from the 2025 Minnesota Single-Exit Stairway Apartment Building Study.

Significant Changes to Existing Law

• Expands the scope of the State Building Code with multiple new or clarified requirements (smoke detectors, door requirements, accessibility and safety features, lumber use, energy-related provisions, etc.).
• Establishes a formal rulemaking pathway to permit single-exit stairway apartment buildings, tied to a specific 2025 study, with a targeted effective date of April 1, 2027.
• Creates exemptions and allowances in several areas (e.g., stairway enclosure, certain church-based child care provisions, and use of ungraded lumber) that modify how the code applies to specific building types or scenarios.

Important Context

• The bill ties long-term changes to rulemaking and a named study, indicating the final design of single-exit stairway apartment buildings will come after conclusive recommendations.
• It maintains several existing protections while introducing new flexibilities for construction and safety practices.

Relevant Terms - State Building Code - Minnesota Statutes 326B.106, subdivision 4 - single-exit stairway apartment buildings - rulemaking - 2025 Minnesota Single-Exit Stairway Apartment Building Study - commuter vans - smoke detection devices - nursing homes and hospitals - double cylinder dead bolt locks - energy code (326B.439) - 325F.82 and 325F.83 - International Residential Code - ungraded lumber - window cleaning safety - adult-size changing facilities - bioprocess piping - expedited rulemaking (section 14.389)