Roofing in Helena, Montana

Required

A FLOATING ADOPTION OF THE STATE'S CURRENT EDITION, WHICH THE CITY'S OWN BUILDING DIVISION SAYS IN TERMS IT ENFORCES ON ONE- AND TWO-FAMILY DWELLINGS. Ordinance No. 3301 (first passed August 22, 2022; finally passed September 26, 2022, signed by the Mayor and attested by the Clerk of the Commission) amends City Code 3-2-1 and 3-2-2 to read: "The City of Helena hereby adopts and by this reference incorporates into this title as if set forth in full, except any regulations which are not applicable to local government jurisdictions, the current edition of the International Residential Code ("IRC") as adopted by the State of Montana, together with Appendix Q - Tiny Houses and Appendix S - Strawbale Construction, including amendments, and modifications, as set forth in Title 24, Chapter 301, of the Administrative Rules of Montana, as adopted by the State of Montana, Department of Labor and Industry." That is a floating, not a dated, reference, and it is a general code adoption -- it does not itself contain language making the code "specifically applicable" to residential buildings containing fewer than five dwelling units, which is the standard Montana's own statute and rule set for a local government to bring a house under the state building code at all: MCA 50-60-102(1)(a) excludes "residential buildings containing less than five dwelling units ... unless the local legislative body by ordinance or resolution makes the state building code applicable to these structures," and ARM 24.301.201(1) requires that this be done by ordinance or resolution making the code "specifically applicable to those structures." This record does not resolve whether Ordinance 3301's general language satisfies that standard; that is a legal conclusion outside its scope. Independently of that question, the Building Division's own first-party handout, "Roofing and Re-Roofing Code Requirements" (November 2022), states as a matter of the Division's own practice: "The Building Division of the City of Helena, pursuant to the adoption of the 2021 IRC is the authority having jurisdiction and according to Chapter 8 and 9, will enforce the provisions required for the installation of new roofing materials and the replacement of roofing materials (re-roof) on One- and Two-Family Dwellings." The City's Community Development Department's "Codes & Design Requirements" page independently confirms the current edition in force is the 2021 IRC, 2021 IBC, and companion 2021/2020 codes, effective October 26, 2022. Helena is one of the Building Codes Bureau's 42 certified local building-code jurisdictions (Building, Plumbing, Electrical, Mechanical), so it may lawfully enforce these codes.