An Act To Repeal the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 1120
Committee: Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development
Sponsors: DAVIS, STANLEY, BRAKEY, DILL, GERZOFSKY, THIBODEAU, WHITTEMORE, BICKFORD, BLACK, MALABY
Amends: 5 MRSA §12004-G, 22 MRSA §776, 25 MRSA §2351-A, 25 MRSA §2353-A, 25 MRSA §2356, 25 MRSA §2357-A, 25 MRSA §2361, 25 MRSA §2448-A, 25 MRSA §2450, 25 MRSA §2450-A, 30-A MRSA §4215, 30-A MRSA §4451, 30-A MRSA §4452, 35-A MRSA §10104

Legislative Document 
No. 1120 
S.P. 392 
In Senate, March 26, 2015 
An Act To Repeal the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code 
Reference to the Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development 
suggested and ordered printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator DAVIS of Piscataquis. 
Cosponsored by Representative STANLEY of Medway and 
Senators: BRAKEY of Androscoggin, DILL of Penobscot, GERZOFSKY of Cumberland, 
President THIBODEAU of Waldo, WHITTEMORE of Somerset, Representatives: 
BICKFORD of Auburn, BLACK of Wilton, MALABY of Hancock. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA §12004-G, sub-§5-A, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 699, §1, is 
repealed. 
Sec. 2.  10 MRSA c. 1103, as amended, is repealed. 
Sec. 3.  22 MRSA §776, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2011, c. 144, §3, is repealed. 
Sec. 4.  25 MRSA §2351-A, as amended by PL 2011, c. 582, §3, is further 
amended to read: 
§2351-A.  Building official; compensation; deputy 
In every town and city of more than 2,000 inhabitants, and in every town of 2,000 
inhabitants or less, if such a town so votes at a town meeting, and in each village 
corporation, if such a corporation so votes at the annual meeting of the corporation, the 
municipal officers shall annually in the month of April appoint a building official and 
shall determine the building official's compensation.  If a building official is appointed by 
a municipality that has adopted or is enforcing the Maine Uniform Building and Energy 
Code or a portion of the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code pursuant to Title 10, 
section 9724, that building official must be certified in building standards pursuant to 
Title 30-A, section 4451, subsection 2-A, paragraph E.  Whenever the building official 
becomes incapacitated, the municipal officers may appoint or authorize the building 
official to appoint a deputy building official, who shall serve until removed by the 
municipal officers, but in no event beyond the term for which the building official was 
appointed.  The deputy building official shall perform such duties as may be required of 
the deputy building official by the building official.  The compensation of the deputy 
building official is determined by the municipal officers. 
Sec. 5.  25 MRSA §2353-A, as amended by PL 2011, c. 582, §4, is further 
amended to read: 
§2353-A.  Duty to inspect buildings under construction 
 The building official shall inspect each building during the process of construction so 
far as may be necessary to see that all proper safeguards against the catching or spreading 
of fire are used, that the chimneys and flues are made safe and that proper cutoffs are 
placed between the timbers in the walls and floorings where fire would be likely to 
spread, and may give such directions in writing to the owner or contractor as the building 
official considers necessary concerning the construction of the building so as to render 
the building safe from the catching and spreading of fire.  For a building official in a 
municipality that is enforcing the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code pursuant to 
Title 10, section 9724, unless the municipality is enforcing that code by means of 
3rd-party inspectors pursuant to section 2373, subsection 4, the building official shall 
inspect each building during the process of construction for compliance with the Maine 
Uniform Building and Energy Code adopted pursuant to Title 10, chapter 1103. 
Sec. 6.  25 MRSA §2356, as amended by PL 2011, c. 582, §5, is further amended 
to read: 
§2356.  Appeals 
 Unless an alternative appeal process has been established by ordinance pursuant to 
Title 10, section 9724, subsection 5, an An appeal in writing may be taken from any order 
or direction of the building official to the municipal officers, whose order thereon is final. 
Sec. 7.  25 MRSA §2357-A, as amended by PL 2011, c. 582, §6, is further 
amended to read: 
§2357-A.  No occupancy without certificate; appeal 
 A building in a municipality of more than 2,000 inhabitants may not be occupied 
until the building official has given a certificate of occupancy for compliance with the 
inspections required by section 2353-A.  A building in a municipality of more than 2,000 
inhabitants that has adopted or is enforcing the Maine Uniform Building and Energy 
Code pursuant to Title 10, section 9724 may not be occupied until the building official 
has given a certificate of occupancy for compliance with the Maine Uniform Building 
and Energy Code adopted pursuant to Title 10, chapter 1103, and in accordance with the 
required enforcement and inspection options provided in section 2373.  The building 
official may issue the certificate of occupancy upon receipt of an inspection report by a 
certified 3rd-party inspector pursuant to section 2373, subsection 4.  The municipality has 
no obligation to review a report from a 3rd-party inspector for accuracy prior to issuing 
the certificate of occupancy.  If the owner permits it to be so occupied without such 
certificate, the owner must be penalized in accordance with Title 30-A, section 4452.  In 
case the building official for any cause declines to give that certificate and the builder has 
in the builder's own judgment complied with section 2353-A, an appeal may be taken 
pursuant to Title 30-A, section 4103, subsection 5 or through an alternative appeal 
process that has been established by ordinance pursuant to Title 10, section 9724, 
subsection 5. If on such appeal it is decided that section 2353-A has been complied with, 
the owner of the building is not liable to a fine for want of the certificate of the building 
official. 
Sec. 8.  25 MRSA §2361, as amended by PL 2011, c. 365, §8, is further amended 
to read: 
§2361.  Proceedings by municipality 
1-A.  Municipal enforcement.  Effective December 1, 2010, duly Duly appointed 
fire chiefs or their designees, municipal building officials and code enforcement officers, 
when authorized by their respective municipal employer, may bring a civil action in the 
name of the municipality to enforce any of the state laws, duly adopted state rules or local 
ordinances enacted pursuant to this Part and Title 10, chapter 1103; and 
2.  Notice.  In any proceeding brought by or against the State that involves the 
validity of a municipal ordinance, the municipality must be given notice of the 
proceeding and is entitled to be made a party to the proceeding and to be heard.  In any 
proceeding brought by or against the municipality that involves the validity of statute, 
ordinance or regulation, the Attorney General must be served and made a party to the 
proceeding and is entitled to be heard. This section applies to enforcement of statutes, 
rules or ordinances enacted pursuant to this Part and Title 10, chapter 1103. 
Sec. 9.  25 MRSA c. 314, as amended, is repealed. 
Sec. 10.  25 MRSA §2448-A, sub-§2, ¶H, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 364, §2, is 
repealed. 
Sec. 11.  25 MRSA §2450, first ¶, as amended by PL 2009, c. 364, §3, is further 
amended to read: 
The Commissioner of Public Safety shall adopt, in accordance with requirements of 
the Maine Administrative Procedure Act, a schedule of fees for the examination of all 
plans for construction, reconstruction or repairs submitted to the Department of Public 
Safety. The fee schedule for new construction or new use is 5¢ per square foot for 
occupied spaces and 2¢ per square foot for bulk storage occupancies, except that a fee for 
review of a plan for new construction by a public school may not exceed $450.  The fee 
schedule for reconstruction, repairs or renovations is based on the cost of the project and 
may not exceed $450, except as provided in section 2450-A.  Except for projects 
reviewed by a municipality pursuant to section 2448-A, the fees must be credited to a 
special revenue account to defray expenses in carrying out this section.  Any balance of 
the fees may not lapse, but must be carried forward as a continuing account to be 
expended for the same purpose in the following fiscal years.  For projects reviewed by a 
municipality that include occupied spaces, a 1¢ fee per square foot must be remitted to 
the Department of Public Safety and a 4¢ fee per square foot must be paid to the 
municipality. 
Sec. 12.  25 MRSA §2450-A, as repealed and replaced by PL 2013, c. 424, Pt. A, 
§13, is repealed. 
Sec. 13.  30-A MRSA §4215, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2011, c. 655, Pt. FF, §5 
and affected by §16, is further amended to read: 
4.  Fees.  The plumbing inspector shall issue any permit under this section upon 
receipt and approval of a completed application form as prescribed by the commissioner 
and payment by the applicant of the fee established by the municipality.  The fee must be 
at least the minimum amount determined by rule of the department.  One-quarter of the 
amount of the minimum fee must be paid through the department to the Treasurer of State 
to be maintained as a permanent fund and used by the department to implement its 
subsurface wastewater disposal rules, to administer the receipt and collation of completed 
permits and to issue plumbing permit labels to the municipality and by the Department of 
Economic and Community Development, Office of Community Development for training 
and certification of local plumbing inspectors.  The department and the Department of 
Economic and Community Development, Office of Community Development shall 
together determine an amount to be transferred annually by the Treasurer of State for 
training and certification of local plumbing inspectors to the Maine Code Enforcement 
Training and Certification Fund established in section 4451, subsection 3-B.  The 
remainder of the fee must be paid to the treasurer of the municipality. 
Sec. 14.  30-A MRSA §4451, sub-§1, ¶D, as amended by PL 2011, c. 655, Pt. 
FF, §8 and affected by §16, is further amended to read: 
D.  An individual whose certification has expired or is about to expire may be 
temporarily authorized in writing by the Department of Economic and Community 
Development, Office of Community Development to extend that individual's 
certification for a period not to exceed 12 months in cases where the necessary 
training or examination is suspended under subsection 3-B, paragraph E. 
Sec. 15.  30-A MRSA §4451, sub-§2-A, ¶E, as amended by PL 2011, c. 613, 
§27 and affected by §29, is further amended to read: 
E.  Building standards under chapter 141; chapter 185, subchapter 1; and Title 5, 
sections 4582-B, 4582-C and 4594-F; beginning June 1, 2010, Title 10, chapter 1103; 
and Title 25, chapter 313. 
Sec. 16.  30-A MRSA §4451, sub-§§3-A and 3-B, as amended by PL 2011, c. 
655, Pt. FF, §8 and affected by §16, are repealed. 
Sec. 17.  30-A MRSA §4452, sub-§5, ¶¶H and I, as repealed by PL 2007, c. 
699, §18, are reenacted to read: 
H.  Local building codes adopted pursuant to sections 3001 and 3007; 
I.  Local housing codes adopted pursuant to sections 3001 and 3007; 
Sec. 18.  30-A MRSA §4452, sub-§5, ¶T, as corrected by RR 2007, c. 2, §16, is 
amended to read: 
T.  Laws pertaining to limitations on construction and excavation near burial sites and 
established cemeteries in Title 13, section 1371-A and local ordinances and 
regulations adopted by municipalities in accordance with this section and section 
3001 regarding those limitations; and 
Sec. 19.  30-A MRSA §4452, sub-§5, ¶U, as corrected by RR 2007, c. 2, §17, is 
amended to read: 
U.  Standards under a wind energy development certification issued by the 
Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to Title 35-A, section 3456 if the 
municipality chooses to enforce those standards; and. 
Sec. 20.  30-A MRSA §4452, sub-§5, ¶V, as reallocated by RR 2007, c. 2, §18, 
is repealed. 
Sec. 21.  35-A MRSA §10104, sub-§9, as amended by PL 2011, c. 627, §5, is 
further amended to read: 
9.  Coordination with other entities.  Consistent with the requirements of this 
chapter and other applicable laws, the board shall coordinate with the activities and 
programs of state agencies and authorities that relate to the purposes of this chapter in 
order to align such activities and programs with the plans and programs of the trust.  For 
purposes of this subsection, activities and programs of state agencies and authorities that 
relate to the purposes of this chapter include but are not limited to energy efficiency 
programs relating to state facilities administered by the Department of Administrative and 
Financial Services, Bureau of General Services, the adoption, amendment and 
maintenance of the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code by the Technical Building 
Codes and Standards Board, established in Title 5, section 12004-G, subsection 5-A 
within the Department of Public Safety, energy efficiency or green energy workforce 
development activities of the Department of Labor or the State Workforce Investment 
Board and energy efficiency and weatherization programs administrated by the Maine 
State Housing Authority. 
Sec. 22.  PL 2007, c. 699, §27, as amended by PL 2009, c. 261, Pt. A, §17, is 
repealed. 
SUMMARY 
This bill repeals the laws establishing the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code 
and makes adjustments to certain other laws to make them consistent with law that 
existed prior to the enactment of Public Law 2007, chapter 699, which created the 
uniform code.  This bill does not reenact the Maine Model Building Code or the energy 
efficiency building standards that were repealed by Public Law 2007, chapter 699 and 
replaced by the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code.