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86 Additional Recommendations 1. When considering the sample fee schedule, individual cities need to evaluate the cost of administering the state building code in their community. Minnesota Statute 16B.685 re- quires all cities that collect more than$5,000 in construction and development-related fees a year to annually report all fees collected from developers, builders, and subcontractors and the corresponding expenses for which fees were collected. 2. Cities should also consider the impact of valuation increases when setting fees. Before ad- justing fee schedules, cities should consider how much additional revenue will be generated as a result of their existing fee schedule being applied to projects of increasing valuation. 3. Cities not currently using the 1997 UBC schedule should consider phasing in the sample 2003 fee schedule. 4. Cities should plan on adjusting the fee schedule every three years in conjunction with the state's 3-year building code adoption cycle. Therefore, the fee schedule should be adjusted again with the adoption of the new State Building Code in 2006. Minor Label Program The state of Minnesota should work with cities to establish a"Minor Label Program,"modeled after the one currently operated in Oregon, which allows licensed contractors to purchase "labels" from the state and apply them to certain minor installations such as water heaters or water softeners. The contractor then submits a record of where the labels have been used, the state notifies local govern- ments of the installation locations, and the local government conducts spot checks on randomly selected installations performed by that contractor. The program has numerous potential benefits. The contractor pays a lower fee for the labels than he or she would for a conventional permit,and stakes his or her continued participation in the program on the quality of work performed. The local building official spends less time inspecting minor installations, therefore leaving more time for new construction and major remodels. Finally, Or- egon has found that the number of labels sold and recorded annually has greatly exceeded the num- ber of permits taken out for similar installations prior to implementation of the minor label program. Participation in the minor label program should be voluntary for cities. The program should begin by focusing on the installation of water heaters and water softeners, with the idea that it could be extended to other installations at a later date.