Opinion ID: 1917391
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Bathroom Ventilation

Text: We look next at the ordinance provision pertaining to bathroom ventilation. The Rental Licensing Ordinance requires ventilation in a bathroom from either openable exterior openingsi.e., windowsor a mechanical ventilation system connected directly to the outside. Morris, Minn., Rental Licensing Ordinance § 4.32, subd. 21(f) (Section 4.02). [4] This provision thus requires the incorporation of either a window or a mechanical ventilation system into the structure itself. The State Building Code requires that bathrooms contain either a window that opens or artificial light and a mechanical ventilation system that exhausts air directly to the outside. 2000 International Residential Code § R303.3; see Minn. R. 1309.0010, subp. 1 (2005) (generally incorporating the 2000 edition of the International Residential Code into the Minnesota State Building Code by reference, with certain exceptions). A bathroom ventilation system, however, is not a requirement for existing residential buildings. See Minn. R. 1300.0220, subp. 2. We conclude that the Rental Licensing Ordinance provision requiring ventilation in bathrooms meets all three elements of the prohibition on municipal ordinances in the State Building Code, Minn.Stat. § 16B.62, subd. 1. Because bathroom ventilation is covered by the State Building Code, this provision of the ordinance is a building code provision. Moreover, by requiring the creation of an opening in the exterior shell of a building and the installation of a window or mechanical ventilation system in a bathroom, the provision regulates the components of a residential structure. And finally, like the ordinance's regulation of ground fault interrupter receptacles, this provision differs from the State Building Code because the Code allows the continued nonconforming use of a residential building without a bathroom ventilation system. Therefore, this provision of the municipal ordinance is invalid under the State Building Code.