{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-198b.060","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 198B.060","heading":"Local enforcement of Uniform State Building Code -- Workers'","body":"compensation coverage requirement -- Informal hearing -- Appeal.\n(1) Each local government shall employ a building official or inspector and other code\nenforcement personnel as nec essary, or shall contract for inspection and code\nenforcement services in accordance with subsections (8) and (11) of this section to\nenforce the Uniform State Building Code within the boundaries of its jurisdiction,\nexcept that permits, inspections, and c ertificates of occupancy shall not be\nmandatory for single -family residences unless a local government passes an\nordinance requiring inspections of single-family residences.\n(2) (a) Local governments shall be responsible for the examination and approval or\ndisapproval of plans and specifications for churches having a capacity of four\nhundred (400) or less persons, and six thousand (6,000) or less square feet of\ntotal floor area, and buildings of no more than three (3) stories in height,\nexclusive of attic a nd basement, which do not contain more than twenty\nthousand (20,000) square feet of floor area, and are not intended for\neducational, institutional, or high hazard occupancy; or assembly, business, or\nindustrial occupancy in excess of one hundred (100) per sons, except churches\nas stated in this subsection, or for use as a frozen food locker plant as defined\nin KRS 221.010.\n(b) Local governments shall be responsible for the issuance and revocation of\nbuilding permits, licenses, certificates, and similar docu ments which cover\nactivities within their area of responsibility, and the inspection of all buildings\npursuant to this chapter and the Uniform State Building Code. Each local\ngovernment issuing a building or demolition permit or an initial certificate of\noccupancy on a new structure shall send a copy of the permit or certificate to\nthe commissioner for his or her use in maintaining an accurate housing\ninventory for Kentucky.\n(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection or the\nprovisions of KRS 162.060, local governments may have jurisdiction for plan\nreview, inspection, and enforcement responsibility over buildings intended for\neducational purposes, other than licensed day -care centers, but only when\nagreed to in writing by the loca l government and the department. Copies of\ndocumentation related to plan review, inspection, and enforcement shall be\nprovided to the Kentucky Department of Education at the time they are issued\nto the district. Any agreements relating to expanded jurisdic tion in effect on\nJuly 14, 2022, may be amended accordingly.\n(3) Urban-county governments may determine service districts within their boundaries\nwithin which farm dwellings and other farm buildings, not used in the business of\nretail trade or as a place of regular employment for ten (10) or more people, shall be\nexempt from the requirements of the Uniform State Building Code. The\ndetermination may be reviewed and altered by the department.\n(4) (a) With the exception of single -family dwellings, the departme nt shall be\nresponsible for the examination and approval or disapproval of plans and\nspecifications for all buildings which are not the responsibility of local\ngovernments. The department may issue and revoke permits, licenses,\ncertificates, and similar do cuments within its area of responsibility, and shall\nhave concurrent jurisdiction with local governments for the inspection of all\nbuildings pursuant to this chapter and the Uniform State Building Code.\n(b) If the commissioner determines that the local jur isdiction is not adequately\nperforming any portion of its program, the department may preempt that\nportion of a local program, except that the department shall not preempt or\nassert jurisdiction for the enforcement of the code on single -family dwellings.\nThe commissioner shall explain his or her reasons for preemption in writing\nand provide a copy to the local jurisdiction.\n(c) The local jurisdiction may appeal the preemption directly to the\ncommissioner, and the department shall review the appeal according  to the\nprocedures found in subsections (8) to (10) of KRS 198B.070. No preemption\nby the commissioner shall take place until a final decision has been issued in\nan appeal under this subsection.\n(d) If the department preempts any portion of a local program, it shall collect the\nfees applicable to that portion of the program.\n(5) (a) Any local government may petition the commissioner requesting that\nadditional plan review functions be allocated to that  local government. The\npetition shall include evidence of the local government's capability to perform\nadditional plan review functions.\n(b) The commissioner, after review of the petition and supporting evidence, may\ngrant or deny to the local government a ny part of a request for additional\nresponsibility. If the commissioner denies any part of a petition, he or she\nshall explain his or her reasons for denial in writing, and provide a copy to the\nlocal government.\n(c) A local government may appeal the denia l directly to the commissioner, and\nthe department shall review the appeal according to the procedures found in\nsubsections (8) to (10) of KRS 198B.070.\n(d) If the local government is granted additional responsibility by the\ncommissioner, the department sh all hold concurrent jurisdiction over the\nadditional responsibility, but the local government shall collect any fees for\nfunctions it performs pursuant to the additional responsibility.\n(6) Any local government may also petition the commissioner requesting that plans and\nspecifications inspection, building inspection, and approval responsibility relating\nto the application of local plumbing permits for local installations be allocated to\nthe local government. The petition shall not be granted unless the loc al government\nhas demonstrated to the commissioner that it can perform these functions in\naccordance with KRS 198B.050 to 198B.090.\n(7) The commissioner shall expedite the review of plans and specifications by\nassigning responsibilities and coordinating review activities among the department's\nvarious functional divisions so as to prevent unnecessary duplication in the review\nof plans and specifications.\n(8) No building shall be constructed in this state until a local building official and an\nofficial repre senting the department, if the department has jurisdiction, issue a\npermit for the construction. Nothing in this subsection shall require a single -family\ndwelling to be permitted or inspected unless a local government has established a\nbuilding inspection program as set out in this section.\n(9) The local building official or the representative of the department shall issue a\npermit if the proposed building satisfies the requirements of the Uniform State\nBuilding Code and if the party desiring to construct t he building has complied with\nall other legal requirements concerning the location and construction of the\nbuilding. The applicant for a building permit, by the act of applying for the permit,\nshall be deemed to have consented to inspection by the local go vernment or the\ndepartment, of the building during construction and upon the completion of\nconstruction for the purpose of determining that the building is constructed in\ncompliance with the Uniform State Building Code.\n(10) (a) No permit for building, con struction, reconstruction, renovation, demolition,\nor maintenance or for any activity related to building, construction,\nreconstruction, renovation, demolition, or maintenance shall be issued by any\nbuilding department or by any political subdivision of th e Commonwealth of\nKentucky to any person seeking the permit unless the person shall assure, by\naffidavit, that all contractors and subcontractors employed, or that will be\nemployed, on activity covered by the permit shall be in compliance with\nKentucky req uirements for workers' compensation insurance according to\nKRS Chapter 342 and unemployment insurance according to KRS Chapter\n341.\n(b) Any person who fails to comply with the assurances required under paragraph\n(a) of this subsection upon such finding by a court of competent jurisdiction,\nshall be fined an amount not to exceed four thousand dollars ($4,000) or an\namount equal to the sum of all uninsured and unsatisfied claims brought under\nthe provisions of KRS Chapter 342 and unemployment insurance claims  for\nwhich no wages were reported as required by KRS Chapter 341, whichever is\ngreater.\n(c) The penalty imposed in paragraph (b) of this subsection shall be enforced by\nthe county attorney for the county in which the violation occurred.\n(11) A certified el ectrical inspector shall be employed by, or contracted for, or\ncontracted with a local government having responsibility over buildings described\nin this section as part of its building inspection program. After a certified electrical\ninspector has been pro vided for by the local government or the department, no\nutility shall initiate permanent electrical service to any new building, or any\nbuilding which has been moved, until a final certificate of approval has been issued\nby a certified electrical inspector . Unless the department shall notify the utility in\nwriting as to which buildings are subject to department approval, it shall be\npresumed by the utility that the building is subject to the jurisdiction of the local\ngovernment. However, nothing in this sec tion shall prohibit the supply or use of\nnecessary electrical services during the construction and testing process.\n(12) This section shall apply to industrialized building systems, but destructive\ndisassembly of industrialized building systems which carry  a seal of approval\npursuant to a manufactured building law in the state in which they were\nmanufactured, which seal of approval is accepted by the department, shall not be\nperformed in order to conduct the tests or inspections.\n(13) No building on which c onstruction was begun nor any industrialized building\nsystem on which site preparation and assembly were begun after the Uniform State\nBuilding Code became effective shall be occupied until the local building official or\na representative of the department issues a certificate of occupancy certifying that\nthe building was constructed in conformance with the standards of the Uniform\nState Building Code, or assembled or installed in conformance with applicable\ninstructions. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require a certificate of\noccupancy to be issued for any single -family dwelling unless a local government\nhas established jurisdiction for the enforcement of the Uniform State Building Code\nunder this section.\n(14) A local government may associ ate with other local governments, and may seek the\ntechnical assistance of other agencies or area development districts in order to\nprovide for the local enforcement of the Uniform State Building Code.\n(15) Local governments or associations of local govern ments may contract with a\nperson, firm, or company to perform the plans and specifications inspection or\nbuilding inspection functions required of the local government by the provisions of\nthis section if:\n(a) The person performing the plans and specificat ions inspection is certified by\nthe department as having successfully completed the test requirements\nprovided by KRS 198B.090 to practice as a certified plans and specifications\ninspector;\n(b) The person performing the building inspection is certified by the department\nas having successfully completed the test requirements provided in KRS\n198B.090 to practice as a certified building inspector;\n(c) The person, firm, or company does not have a conflict of interest between its\nplan review or inspection functi ons and any other employment or business\nactivities;\n(d) The person performing the plumbing inspection is certified by the department\nas having successfully completed the requirements provided in KRS 318.140\nto practice as a certified plumbing inspector; and\n(e) The person, firm, or company does not have a conflict of interest between its\nplan review or inspection functions and any other employment or business\nactivities.\n(16) If the department has reason to believe that an inspector is not enforcing, or is\nimproperly enforcing, the provisions of the Kentucky building codes, it shall\nconduct an informal hearing to review the inspector's procedures and return in\nwritten form the required corrections resulting from the hearing to the inspector, or\nmay take action to suspend or revoke the inspector's certificate.\n(17) If the inspector fails to comply within sixty (60) days of a written notification from\nthe department that specifies the required corrections, the department shall suspend\nthe inspector's certifica tion until the inspector complies. Any action to suspend or\nrevoke an inspector's certificate may be appealed to the department, and upon\nappeal an administrative hearing shall be conducted in accordance with KRS\nChapter 13B.\n(18) Each local government and  the department may establish a schedule of fees for the\nfunctions performed under this chapter. The fees shall be designed to fully cover,\nbut shall not exceed, the cost of the service performed. Fees payable to the\ndepartment shall be paid into the State  Treasury and credited to a trust and agency\nfund to be used by the department in carrying out this chapter. No part of this fund\nshall revert to the general fund of the Commonwealth.","path":["KRS Chapter 198B"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=52659","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:51Z","sha256":"44bc22b1233ae48fabd6b843a5d8b29ea7cb9fbb1f8d2a28ff53fce526eed28a","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-198b.055","next":"us-ky/krs-198b.062"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}