35-9-121. Local enforcement.

(a) The state fire marshal shall delegate complete authority to municipalities and counties which apply to enforce and interpret local or state fire, building, existing building standards or electrical safety standards which meet the requirements of this section. The state fire marshal shall notify the governing body of the municipality or county of the minimum standards and requirements of this act and W.S. 16-6-501 and 16-6-502 and transfer jurisdiction and authority by letter. Except as provided in W.S. 35-9-119(a)(i) and subsection (b) of this section, nothing in this section affects the authority of the state fire marshal or chief electrical inspector regarding state owned or leased buildings. Local enforcement authority under this subsection shall be subject to the following requirements and certification of inspectors:

(i) Before a municipality or county without local enforcement authority is initially granted local enforcement authority for fire, building, existing building standards or electrical standards the state fire marshal shall determine that the local governing body has adopted minimum standards by ordinance or resolution that are equivalent to or more stringent than those applicable standards adopted by the department;

(ii) If a municipality or county that has been granted local enforcement authority under this subsection fails to adopt, within six (6) months following the adoption of new standards by the department, or maintain standards by ordinance or resolution that at least meet the statewide standards, enforcement authority shall immediately revert to the department. It shall be the responsibility of the municipality or county to notify the department of the repeal of minimum standards in their jurisdiction;

(iii) If code enforcement authority for fire and building codes is requested, certification of a fire inspector or building inspector by the International Code Council or the International Conference of Building Officials is required for any inspector employed or contracted after July 1, 2010 to enforce those codes for the municipality or county;

(iv) If code enforcement authority for the electrical code is requested, certification of an electrical inspector by the International Code Council or the International Association of Electrical Inspectors and licensing by the state as a journeyman or master electrician is required;

(v) If a municipality or county that has been granted local enforcement authority under this subsection fails to maintain employment of an inspector holding any certification required by this subsection, enforcement authority shall revert to the department one hundred twenty (120) days after the last day the properly certified inspector has left the employment of the municipality or county. It shall be the responsibility of the municipality or county to notify the department upon the termination of employment of any certified inspector required by this subsection.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section a local governmental entity is authorized to assume sole plan review authority, and, in accordance with W.S. 35-9-107(a)(iv), that entity has sole construction inspection authority on the approved plans and sole authority for periodic fire and life safety inspections on state owned or leased buildings. For the purpose of this section, school buildings shall be construed to be state buildings. If local code provisions are more stringent than adopted state codes, the local code prevails. The authority granted to local governmental entities under this subsection is subject to certification of local inspectors as follows:

(i) If sole plan review authority is requested, certification of a plan reviewer by the international conference of building officials or the International Code Council;

(ii) If code enforcement authority for fire and building codes is requested, certification of a fire inspector or building inspector by the International Code Council or the International Conference of Building Officials;

(iii) If code enforcement authority for the electrical code is requested, certification of an electrical inspector by the International Code Council or the International Association of Electrical Inspectors and licensing by the state as a master electrician.

(c) If a municipality or county has assumed enforcement authority for only one (1) or two (2) of the fire, building and electrical standards, the municipality or county shall deliver notice of any project plans submitted to the municipality or county for approval to the department. The notice of the project shall be delivered within ten (10) days of receiving plans from the applicant.

(d) A municipality or county which has enforcement authority under this section shall create its own appeals boards to determine the suitability of alternate materials and types of construction and to interpret and grant variances from adopted codes or standards. The boards shall be appointed and removed by the governing body of the municipality or county, but the person making the decision upon which the appeal is based shall not be a member of the appeal board.

(e) A decision rendered by the local municipal or county appeals board pursuant to subsection (d) of this section may be appealed to the council on fire prevention and electrical safety in buildings for a final decision. A decision of the council may be appealed to the appropriate district court.

(f) Any appeal to a local board under subsection (d) of this section or the council under subsection (e) of this section shall be heard within thirty (30) days of the request for appeal.

(g) Nothing in this section prohibits the state fire marshal from assisting, upon request, a municipality, county or other local governmental entity in exercising authority granted to that entity under this section.