Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 101 - Department of safety and professional services — regulation of industry, buildings and safety.
101.65 - Municipal authority.

101.65 Municipal authority. Except as provided by s. 101.651, cities, villages, towns and counties:
(1) May:
(a) Subject to sub. (1c), exercise jurisdiction over the construction and inspection of new dwellings by passage of ordinances. Except as provided by s. 101.651, a county ordinance shall apply in any city, village, or town that has not enacted those ordinances.
(b) Under s. 66.0301, jointly exercise the jurisdiction granted under par. (a).
(c) By ordinance establish and collect fees to defray the cost of jurisdiction exercised under par. (a) or (b).
(d) By ordinance provide remedies and penalties for violation of the jurisdiction exercised under par. (a) or (b).
(1c) May not make or enforce an ordinance under sub. (1) that is applied to a dwelling and that does not conform to this subchapter and the uniform dwelling code adopted by the department under this subchapter or is contrary to an order of the department under this subchapter. If any provision of a contract between a city, village, town, or county and an owner requires the owner to comply with an ordinance that does not conform to this subchapter or the uniform dwelling code adopted by the department under this subchapter or is contrary to an order of the department under this subchapter, the owner may waive the provision, and the provision, if waived, is void and unenforceable.
(1g) May not exercise jurisdiction over the construction or inspection of primitive rural hunting cabins.
(1m) May not issue a building permit to a person who is required to be certified under s. 101.654 unless that person, on applying for a building permit, produces a certificate issued by the department or other evidence satisfactory to the department showing that the person is in compliance with s. 101.654.
(1r) Shall require an owner who applies for a building permit to sign a statement advising the owner that if the owner hires a contractor to perform work under the building permit and the contractor is not bonded or insured as required under s. 101.654 (2) (a), the following consequences might occur:
(a) The owner may be held liable for any bodily injury to or death of others or for any damage to the property of others that arises out of the work performed under the building permit or that is caused by any negligence by the contractor that occurs in connection with the work performed under the building permit.
(b) The owner may not be able to collect from the contractor damages for any loss sustained by the owner because of a violation by the contractor of the one- and 2-family dwelling code or an ordinance enacted under sub. (1) (a), because of any bodily injury to or death of others or damage to the property of others that arises out of the work performed under the building permit or because of any bodily injury to or death of others or damage to the property of others that is caused by any negligence by the contractor that occurs in connection with the work performed under the building permit.
(2) Shall contract with the department for those inspection services which the municipality does not perform or contract for under sub. (1) (a) or (b) and reimburse the department for its reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of such services pursuant to s. 101.63 (9).
(3) Except as provided in par. (a), shall use the standard building permit form prescribed and furnished by the department or, if approved by the department under s. 101.63 (7m), a different building permit form. A city, village, town, or county may require an applicant to submit the form in paper or electronic form, but may not require that an applicant submit the form in both paper and electronic forms. If a city, village, town, or county requires submission of the form in paper form, both of the following apply:
(a) The applicant may submit any of the following:
1. A printed copy of the form that the city, village, town, or county makes available electronically.
2. A printed copy of the form that the department makes available electronically.
3. The form that the department makes available to the public in paper form.
(b) The city, village, town, or county shall submit electronically to the department the information on the form submitted by the applicant under par. (a).
(4) Not later than the 15th day of the first month beginning after issuance of each building permit, electronically file a copy of the permit with the department. If a city, village, town, or county fails to file with the department an electronic copy of an issued permit not later than the last day of the first month beginning after the issuance of the permit, the city, village, town, or county shall refund to the person to whom the building permit was issued an amount equal to the difference between the amount paid by that person to the respective city, village, town, or county for that permit and the portion of the permit fee remitted by the city, village, town, or county to the department, if any. This subsection first applies to a city, village, town, or county beginning on the date the city, village, town, or county begins implementation of the system required under s. 101.63 (7m).
History: 1975 c. 404; 1979 c. 221 s. 2025 (12); 1979 c. 355 s. 238; 1981 c. 20; 1993 a. 126; 1999 a. 150 s. 672; 2005 a. 200; 2009 a. 276; 2015 a. 211; 2017 a. 59, 243; 2019 a. 38.
Municipalities may contract with independent contractors to provide inspection services under this section. Giffin v. Poetzl, 2001 WI App 207, 247 Wis. 2d 906, 634 N.W.2d 901, 00-2633.

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