Problems have surfaced with a new statewide inspection code for rehabilitating old buildings.
The code, a consolidation of Rhode Island fire and building codes from around the state, was adopted in May after more than two years of work.
"I’m finding that most of the cities and towns just weren’t properly educated about the change," said Leonard Levoie, a real estate broker and property manager for Providence-based Rhode Island Commercial Industrial Realty.
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Levoie, who is bringing buildings up to code in Providence and Pawtucket, said he has worked to educate some municipal employees about the code.
Architect Arthur Salisbury, president of The Salisbury Group in Providence, said the real estate community needs to be patient.
"It’s a different code so it just takes time to get used to it," he said.
Ranne P. Warner, developer of the Riverfront Lofts Project in Pawtucket, said she is unsure if she will be using the old codes or the revised code on her current project.
"There are some excellent improvements to the code, but there are also some conflicting things that work against you," she said.
Contractors have the choice of using the old or revised code, but need to file a special request to use the new code with the city or town where they are working.
Although the new code is lenient with allowances like longer dead-end corridors, there are also more restrictive regulations like those that prohibit the farthest corner of a dwelling from being more than 75 feet away from the exit.
"Sometimes you get in a bind because you have to pick one code or the other to go by. It would be helpful if you could pick and choose from each," she said.
Virginia Hesse, principal historic architect for the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission, said she realized that there might be initial problems with the new code but it was important to get it off the desks and into the communities.
"We all realized that it was a work in progress and we had to stop somewhere and actually use it to see how we could fine tune it, and that’s where we are now," she said
Stephen Durkee, a Providence architect who was part of the 16-person committee chosen by the General Assembly to draft the code, agreed that it will take time before the new code is perfect.
"I imagine we will find things that may have been overlooked and things that could be improved," he said.
Some are having an easier time with the new code. Lloyd Eden, who owns the Wakefield bed and breakfast Eden Manner with his wife Bernadette, figures he is saving about $25,000 because of the new code.
The Eden Manner, a Victorian mansion built in the 1800s, can only use four of its 14 rooms until it undergoes renovations to bring the other rooms up to code. Under the old inspection codes renovation would have included installing a three-story covered staircase that would have stuck out 17 feet from the building.
"I think it’s great that now I can make it safe and also preserve the historic nature and the historic look of the building," he said.
One of the key elements of the new code is that older buildings no longer have to be held to the same stringent safety inspections of new buildings. This means that renovating a building is cheaper, which encourages more developers to re-use more of the old mill buildings that dot the landscape of Rhode Island.
