Chair Reynolds, Vice Chair Timken, Ranking Member Craig, and members of the Senate Housing Committee, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to provide Proponent Testimony regarding Senate Bill 428.
My name is Jason Warner. I am the Director of Strategic Engagement at the Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC). GOPC is Ohio’s leading advocate for urban revitalization and sustainable growth, working to improve the communities of Ohio through smart growth strategies and research.
Nearly every community in Ohio struggles with an insufficient inventory of quality, affordably priced homes. This creates immense pressure on the entire housing market, driving up prices and keeping the dream of homeownership from thousands of Ohioans.
The state’s primary role in housing should be to remove legal barriers, modernize housing codes, and use limited public dollars where infrastructure bottlenecks or site preparation problems within existing communities prevent otherwise viable private development.
Just yesterday, GOPC’s board of directors approved our 2027-2028 Public Policy Agenda that outlines a bold agenda for housing among other issues. This blueprint provides all places with the tools and policy environment they need to build stronger communities and a thriving, prosperous future.
The very first plank of our housing agenda calls for modernizing the residential building code.
Ohio needs building codes to protect the health and safety of residents. But Ohio’s residential building codes have not kept up with innovations in the field. Texas, New Hampshire, Montana, and other states are modernizing their residential building codes to remove unnecessary mandates, lower development costs, and encourage new builds. Ohio should too.
Updates to Ohio’s residential building code should include: applying the residential code to 4-unit buildings and other small scale multi-family developments; allow apartment buildings with 3 stories or fewer to have single stairwells; establish codes specific for new types of housing, like ADUs; and other proven modernizations.
Rather serendipitously, and without any prior consultation with GOPC, Senate Bill 428 would add 4-family dwelling houses and any accessory structure incidental to that dwelling house as a “residential building” for purposes of the Building Standards Law. Additionally, it would require the Board of Building Standards to adopt rules to apply the Residential Building Code to a four-family dwelling and any accessory structures incidental to that dwelling house.
The bill also would require the Board of Building Standards to adopt rules to permit a building of group R-2 occupancy to have a single stairway serving as an exit for the dwelling units of the building so long as it meets certain requirements, including:
That the building has no more than 6 stories above grade plane;
There are not more than four dwelling units on each floor;
The building is equipped with an automatic sprinkler system, and;
Each dwelling unit has at least one window or other emergency exit provision.
Senate Bill 428 would further apply various provisions of the residential building code that currently only apply to three-family dwellings or less to also include four-family dwellings, including the household sewage treatment system definitions; County, municipal, or township building inspection certifications; and County electrical and HVAC licensing, just to name a few.
These are exactly the type of changes GOPC has flagged as needed updates to the state residential building code as we have been interacting with communities large and small around the state. Developers, advocates, and others who work in this space have flagged these changes as necessary updates which will help modernize our state standards while maintaining the high safety standards we have come to expect for residential construction.
Nor is Senate Bill 428 breaking new ground – 31 states have passed or are in the process of considering single stairwell legislation. States that have passed legislation include Tennessee, which permits single stairwells for up-to 6 stories, and Georgia, Maine, and New Hampshire, which all allows for up-to 4 stores.
Adjusting Ohio’s residential building code to apply to buildings with up to 4 units instead of 3 is not in our estimate a radical change. If a developer wishes to build a 4-unit building, they typically must install a commercial grade sprinkler system. The initial equipment cost is very expensive, and ongoing maintenance costs are expensive. And if there is a malfunction, it could destroy the entire 4-unit building.
Moving 4-unit buildings into the residential code gives developers the flexibility to use other proven fire suppression techniques.
There are a number of developers, especially nonprofit developers, that want to do small multi-family projects. But they aren’t doing these projects because they become cost prohibitive due to commercial code standards.
Enactment of Senate Bill 428 will enable these developers to step into this space.
Chair Reynolds, thank you for your leadership on this important issue, and for allowing me the opportunity to share our thoughts regarding Senate Bill 428. I am happy to address any questions you or the members of the committee may have.