§ 12-506

(a) The Department shall maintain a central automated database in accordance with this section.

(b) (1) At a minimum, the Department shall include in the database:

(i) the Standards;

(ii) local amendments to the Standards;

(iii) the State Fire Prevention Code adopted by the State Fire Prevention Commission under Title 6 of this article;

(iv) fire prevention codes adopted by local jurisdictions;

(v) the Electrical Code required under Subtitle 6 of this title;

(vi) local amendments to the Electrical Code;

(vii) the Energy Code defined under the Energy Conservation Building Standards Act, Title 7, Subtitle 4 of the Public Utilities Article;

(viii) local code provisions that are more restrictive than the Energy Code defined under the Energy Conservation Building Standards Act;

(ix) information compiled by the Department under paragraph (2) of this subsection;

(x) the Maryland Building Rehabilitation Code;

(xi) local amendments to the Maryland Building Rehabilitation Code; and

(xii) proposed federal or State legislation of which the Department is aware and that directly affects the construction industry.

(2) The Department may compile and include in the database:

(i) any information provided by a local jurisdiction on the implementation and interpretation of the Standards by the local jurisdiction; and

(ii) interim amendments to the International Building Code including subsequent printings of the most recent edition.

(c) The Department shall:

(1) make information from the database available to a local jurisdiction, State unit, or other interested party;

(2) provide each local jurisdiction with the necessary hardware or software to enable the local jurisdiction to access the information in the database; and

(3) coordinate with local building officials, the State Fire Marshal, and local fire officials in compiling information for the database.

(d) (1) (i) Except as provided in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, the Department may charge a fee for information provided from the database.

(ii) The Department may not charge a fee to a State unit or local jurisdiction.

(2) The Department may not charge a fee to a local jurisdiction for the ongoing maintenance of the database.

(3) Fees collected in accordance with this subsection unexpended at the end of the fiscal year do not revert to the General Fund, but shall be kept in a special fund available to the Department to carry out this subtitle.

(e) (1) A local jurisdiction shall provide to the Department a copy of each amendment to the local jurisdiction’s fire prevention code or Electrical Code within 15 days after the effective date of the amendment.

(2) A local jurisdiction shall provide to the Department a copy of each amendment to the local jurisdiction’s energy code that is more restrictive than the Energy Code defined under the Energy Conservation Building Standards Act within 15 days after the effective date of the amendment.