103.3.1 Building Owner's Responsibility

The owner shall have the responsibility of retaining and furnishing the services of a design professional, who shall be in responsible charge of preparing and coordinating a complete and comprehensive set of design documents and other services required to prepare reports and other documents in accordance with this code. If the services required by this section are not provided, the use of this code is prohibited.

When the project requires the services of multiple design professionals, a principal design professional shall be retained and furnished, who shall have the contractual responsibility and authority over all required design professional disciplines to prepare and coordinate a complete and comprehensive set of design documents for the project.

The owner shall be responsible for retaining and furnishing the services of a design professional or recognized expert, who will perform as a peer reviewer, when required and approved by the code official. See Section 103.3.6.3 of this code.

The costs of all special services, including contract review, when required by the code official, shall be borne by the owner.

The owner shall retain on the premises all documents and reports required by this code and make them available to the code official upon request.

The owner is responsible to operate and maintain a building, structure or facility designed and built under this code in accordance with the bounding conditions and the operations and maintenance manual.

The owner shall be responsible to ensure that any change to the facility, process or system does not increase the hazard level beyond that originally designed without approval and that all changes shall be documented in accordance with this code.

Where the scope of work is limited or focused in an area that does not require the services of a design professional or the special knowledge and skills associated with the practice of architecture or engineering, a special expert may be employed by the owner as the person in responsible charge of the limited or focused activity. It is the intent of this code that the individual shall possess the qualification characteristics required in Appendix D.

The owner is responsible and accountable to ensure that all occupants and employees who are required to take certain actions or perform certain functions in accordance with a performance-based design possess the required knowledge and skills and are empowered to perform those actions.