Building official seeks board adoption of ICC square‑foot evaluation tool for permits

Keith, the county building official, asked the commission to adopt the ICC building‑evaluation table as a valuation tool for new construction permits. He said the table provides a square‑foot price tied to current construction costs and would be used only for new construction valuations — not remodels — and emphasized the request is a tool, not a fee schedule change.

Keith noted the ICC evaluation tables change periodically and that adopting the table would reduce the need to revisit the issue every six months. He proposed applying a local adjustment (for example, 90% of the ICC values) to better reflect regional construction costs. Commissioners asked for concrete examples showing how the table would affect typical local projects and sought assurance that permit fees would remain tied to actual contractor cost estimates when higher than the ICC valuation.

Keith agreed to prepare sample comparisons for the board; commissioners asked staff to return with examples before formal adoption. The item was informational and no adoption vote was taken at the meeting.