Virginia Law

Replace Chapter 5 of the IEBC with the following:

1. Section 501 General.

501.1 Scope. Repairs, including the patching, restoration, or replacement of damaged materials, elements, equipment, or fixtures shall comply with the requirements of this chapter. Repairs to historic buildings need only comply with Chapter 9. Portions of the existing building or structure not being repaired shall not be required to comply with the requirements of this code applicable to newly constructed buildings or structures. Work on nondamaged components that is necessary for the required repair of damaged components shall be considered part of the repair and shall not be subject to the provisions of Chapter 6. Routine maintenance required by Section 302, ordinary repairs exempt from permit in accordance with Section 108.2 of the VCC, and abatement of wear due to normal service conditions shall not be subject to the requirements for repairs in this section.

501.2 Conformance. The work shall not make the building less conforming than it was before the repair was undertaken. Repairs shall be done in a manner that maintains the following:

1. Level of fire protection that is existing.

2. Level of protection that is existing for the means of egress.

3. Level of accessibility that is existing.

2. Section 502 Structural.

502.1 General. Structural repairs shall be in compliance with this section and Section 501.2. Regardless of the scope of repair, new structural members and connections used for repair or rehabilitation shall comply with the detailing provisions of the VCC for new buildings of similar structure, purpose, and location.

502.1.1 Structural concrete. Assessment, design, and repairs to structural concrete shall be in accordance with ACI CODE 562. Assessment and design of repairs of seismic force-resisting concrete elements that result in changes of strength, stiffness, or ductility from predamage conditions shall be in accordance with Section 305.

502.2 Less than substantial structural damage. For damage less than substantial structural damage, repairs shall be allowed that restore the building to its predamage state.

502.3 Substantial structural damage to vertical elements of the lateral force-resisting system. A building that has sustained substantial structural damage to the vertical elements of its lateral force-resisting system shall be evaluated in accordance with Section 502.3.1 and either repaired in accordance with Section 502.3.2 or repaired and rehabilitated in accordance with Section 502.3.3, depending on the results of the evaluation.

Exceptions:

1. Buildings assigned to Seismic Design Category A, B, or C whose substantial structural damage was not caused by earthquake need not be evaluated or rehabilitated for load combinations that include earthquake effects.

2. One-family and two-family dwellings need not be evaluated or rehabilitated for load combinations that include earthquake effects.

502.3.1 Evaluation. The building shall be evaluated by a registered design professional, and the evaluation findings shall be submitted to the building official. The evaluation shall establish whether the damaged building would comply with the provisions of the VCC for load combinations that include wind or earthquake effects if repaired to its predamage state, except that the seismic forces shall be the reduced VCC-level seismic forces.

Wind loads for this evaluation shall be those prescribed in Section 1609 of the VCC. Earthquake loads for this evaluation, if required, shall be permitted to be 75% of those prescribed in Section 1613 of the VCC. Alternatively, compliance with ASCE 41, using the performance objective in Table 305.2.2 for the applicable risk category, shall be deemed to meet the earthquake evaluation requirement.

502.3.2 Extent of repair for compliant buildings. If the evaluation establishes that the building in its predamage condition complies with the provisions of Section 502.3.1, then repairs shall be permitted that restore the building to its predamage state.

502.3.3 Extent of repair for noncompliant buildings. If the evaluation does not establish that the building in its predamage condition complies with the provisions of Section 502.3.1, then the building shall be rehabilitated to comply with the provisions of this section. The wind loads for the repair shall be as required by the building code in effect at the time of original construction, unless the damage was caused by wind, in which case the wind loads shall be in accordance with the VCC. The earthquake loads for this rehabilitation design shall be those required by the building code in effect at the time of original construction, but not less than the reduced VCC-level seismic forces. New structural members and connections required by this rehabilitation design shall comply with the detailing provisions of the VCC for new buildings of similar structure, purpose, and location. Alternatively, compliance with ASCE 41, using the performance objective in Table 305.2.2 for the applicable risk category shall be deemed to meet the earthquake rehabilitation requirement.

502.4 Substantial structural damage to gravity load-carrying components. Gravity load-carrying components that have sustained substantial structural damage shall be rehabilitated to comply with the applicable provisions for dead and live loads in the VCC. Snow loads shall be considered if the substantial structural damage was caused by or related to snow load effects. Existing gravity load carrying structural elements shall be permitted to be designed for live loads approved prior to the damage. If the approved live load is less than that required by Section 1607 of the VCC, the area designed for the nonconforming live load shall be posted with placards of approved design indicating the approved live load. Nondamaged gravity load-carrying components that receive dead, live, or snow loads from rehabilitated components shall also be rehabilitated if required to comply with the design loads of the rehabilitation design or shown to have the capacity to carry the design loads of the rehabilitation design. New structural members and connections required by this rehabilitation design shall comply with the detailing provisions of the VCC for new buildings of similar structure purpose and location.

502.4.1 Lateral force-resisting elements. Regardless of the level of damage to gravity elements of the lateral force-resisting system, if substantial structural damage to gravity load-carrying components was caused primarily by wind or earthquake effects, then the building shall be evaluated in accordance with Section 502.3.1 and, if noncompliant, rehabilitated in accordance with Section 502.3.3.

Exceptions:

1. Buildings assigned to Seismic Design Category A, B, or C whose substantial structural damage was not caused by earthquake need not be evaluated or rehabilitated for load combinations that include earthquake effects.

2. One-family and two-family dwellings need not be evaluated or rehabilitated for load combinations that include earthquake effects.

3. Section 503 Flood Hazard Areas.

503.1 Flood hazard areas. For buildings and structures in flood hazard areas established in Section 1612.3 of the VCC or Section R322 of the International Residential Code, as applicable, any repair that constitutes substantial improvement or repair of substantial damage of the existing building or structure shall comply with the flood design requirements for new construction and all aspects of the existing building or structure shall be brought into compliance with the requirements for new construction for flood design.

For buildings and structures in flood hazard areas established in Section 1612.3 of the VCC or Section R322 of the International Residential Code, as applicable, any repairs that do not constitute substantial improvement or repair of substantial damage of the existing building or structure are not required to comply with the flood design requirements for new construction.

4. Section 504 Electrical.

504.1 Material. Existing electrical wiring and equipment undergoing repair shall be allowed to be repaired or replaced with like material.

504.1.1 Receptacles. Replacement of electrical receptacles shall comply with the applicable requirements of Section 406.4(D) of NFPA 70.

504.1.2 Plug fuses. Plug fuses of the Edison-base type shall be used for replacements only where there is no evidence of over fusing or tampering per applicable requirements of Section 240.51(B) of NFPA 70.

504.1.3 Nongrounding-type receptacles. For replacement of nongrounding-type receptacles with grounding-type receptacles and for branch circuits that do not have an equipment grounding conductor in the branch circuitry, the grounding conductor of a grounding-type receptacle outlet shall be permitted to be grounded to any accessible point on the grounding electrode system or to any accessible point on the grounding electrode conductor in accordance with Section 250.130(C) of NFPA 70.

504.1.4 Group I-2 receptacles. Non-"hospital grade" receptacles in patient bed locations of Group I-2 shall be replaced with "hospital grade" receptacles, as required by NFPA 99 and Article 517 of NFPA 70.

504.1.5 Grounding of appliances. Frames of electric ranges, wall-mounted ovens, counter-mounted cooking units, clothes dryers, and outlet or junction boxes that are part of the existing branch circuit for these appliances shall be permitted to be grounded to the grounded circuit conductor in accordance with Section 250.140 of NFPA 70.

5. Section 505 Mechanical.

505.1 General. Existing mechanical systems undergoing repair shall not make the building less conforming than it was before the repair was undertaken.

505.2 Mechanical draft systems for manually fired appliances and fireplaces. A mechanical draft system shall be permitted to be used with manually fired appliances and fireplaces where such a system complies with all of the following requirements:

1. The mechanical draft device shall be listed and installed in accordance with the manufacturer's installation instructions.

2. A device shall be installed that produces visible and audible warning upon failure of the mechanical draft device or loss of electrical power at any time that the mechanical draft device is turned on. This device shall be equipped with a battery backup if it receives power from the building wiring.

3. A smoke detector shall be installed in the room with the appliance or fireplace. This device shall be equipped with a battery backup if it receives power from the building wiring.

6. Section 506 Plumbing.

506.1 Materials. Plumbing materials and supplies shall not be used for repairs that are prohibited in the International Plumbing Code.

506.2 Water closet replacement. The maximum water consumption flow rates and quantities for all replaced water closets shall be 1.6 gallons (6 L) per flushing cycle.

Exception: Blowout-design water closets 3.5 gallons (13 L) per flushing cycle.

7. Section 507 Energy Conservation.

507.1 General. Except as permitted by Sections 302.1 and 501.1, repairs shall comply with the VECC.

Exception: Where a building was constructed to comply with the requirements of the building code under which the building or structure or the affected portion thereof was built or as previously approved by the building official, repairs need not comply with the VECC, provided the repairs, as documented, do not result in reduced energy efficiency.

507.2 Application. For the purposes of this section, the following shall be considered repairs:

1. Glass-only replacements in an existing sash and frame.

2. Replacement of existing doors that separate conditioned space from the exterior shall not require the installation of a vestibule or revolving door, provided that an existing vestibule that separates a conditioned space from the exterior shall not be removed.

3. Repairs where only the bulb, the ballast, or both within the existing luminaires in a space are replaced, provided that the replacement does not increase the installed interior lighting power.