Chapters recognized for extraordinary service at 2016 Annual Conference.

SHARE

The 2016 Chapter of the Year Award was awarded to the Association of Minnesota Building Officials.

The Association of Minnesota Building Officials (AMBO) was named 2016 Chapter of the Year during the ICC Annual Conference. The Missouri Association of Building Officials and Inspectors (MABOI), the New Jersey Building Officials Association (NJBOA), and the Virginia Building and Code Officials Association (VBCOA) were presented with Chapter Merit Awards. The Chapter of the Year Award is bestowed upon the Chapter that demonstrates exemplary performance in promoting the goals and mission of the International Code Council. The 2016 Chapter of the Year Award was presented to the Association of Minnesota Building Officials. The Chapter presently has 182 members, increasing its membership by approximately 70 from last year with over 80 percent of its members ICC Certified. This percentage will continue to grow with the expansion of testing available to the members. AMBO serves the regional building official Chapters in Minnesota by annually underwriting and organizing the five-state Upper Great Plains Region III Educational Institute. They also conduct regional seminars to make sure the members throughout Minnesota get the best ICC training they need. In addition, they have an ambitious education program that provides 18-20 days of training during the months of January, February and March. AMBO is a statewide umbrella Chapter to regional building official Chapters. They have always made a strong effort to supplement Code of Honor Scholarship resources with financial assistance, to maximize attendance at the ICC Annual Conferences and the Code Development Hearings. AMBO schedules and recruits ICC Preferred Providers, and encourages members to become immersed in ICC, from its peerless education program to participating in code development at the local, state and national levels. While education and professional development are the major focus of AMBO, they are also the primary lobbying entity for all ICC building official Members in Minnesota. Members regularly serve on code review and adoption committees for all of the ICC codes used in Minnesota. AMBO has annually recruited ICC Members to participate in the national and state code development processes, including the completion in 2015 of the state code updates and publication of the state ICC custom codes set. They are also leading the effort to reform the state radon inspections program by working with the Minnesota Department of Health, state code leaders, and state legislative leaders. AMBO continues to work with state officials to resolve problems and by recruiting leading code officials to testify on behalf of the Minnesota communities and adhere to the ICC's cases and mission. Chapter Merit Awards are presented to Chapters that distinguish themselves through activities that demonstrate the goals and objectives of the International Code Council. The Missouri Association of Building Officials and Inspectors — founded in 1952, celebrates 64 years as an association and currently has 376 members. This is an increase of 25 new members in the past year with 85 percent of its members ICC Certified. The Chapter works to advance the education of its members to develop consistent code adoptions and level enforcement. It encourages the member participation in the ICC Code Development Program by conducting various events; such as, hosting a training day where over 100 members attended to learn how to use cdpACCESS. MABOI also was host to six seminars in the past year that totaled 4.2 CEUs of preferred provider training. The Chapter also is involved in efforts with state legislators to adopt a statewide building code. In addition, members have provided valuable feedback on several bills, including Missouri SB572, which mandates a competent plan review process for certain jurisdictions, and adjusts property maintenance fees and abatements. The 2016 Chapter Merit Award was also presented to the New Jersey Building Officials Association, which consists of 250 members with 50 percent of its members ICC Certified. To assist with higher education for its members, NJBOA has nine Chapters around the state that host meetings and arrange guest speakers that help provide members with CEU credits for attending. They also provide scholarships for students attending trade schools and higher education in engineering, architecture or related fields. The third 2016 Chapter Merit Award was presented to the Virginia Building and Code Officials Association. The Chapter has an impressive member base of 1,053, an increase of 100 members within the last year, with approximately 90 percent of the members ICC certified and it is an ICC Preferred Provider. VBCOA encourages members to earn their ICC certification by obtaining Preferred Provider status by offering sessions at its conferences that enable attendees to work towards certification. They have conducted extensive training on cdpACCESS to ensure that its members are comfortable with the process and are encouraged to participate. A scholarship program is also available to assist members to participate in the process. Funding was provided for members to attend the ICC Energy Conference and eight $1,000 scholarships were awarded to members to attend the ICC Annual Conference in Long Beach, California last year. VBCOA has developed a model code update training program for educating contractors, homebuilders, architects and other professionals in the private sector, and training modules, such as aAccessibility, underground storage tanks, re-roofing requirements for commercial buildings, Virginia cdpACCESS, ADA-compliant egress components, property maintenance, and 2012 code updating training.