The International Code Council and representatives from several Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs) met to discuss how revisions to the Council's Code Development Process have impacted the standards developing community, and how the future of code development and digital technology will impact the industry. The International Family of Codes references almost 1,400 industry standards, making the I-Codes the most effective method of delivering standards to the construction and real estate industry through state, local and federal adoptions. The combination of model codes and standardization lowers costs by reducing redundancy, minimizing errors and reducing time to market.

"Our goal was to come out of this meeting with solutions and a stronger sense of unity and common purpose," ICC CEO Richard P. Weiland told meeting participants. "I want to assure you that your concerns have not gone unnoticed and that I, the ICC Board and the International Code Council as a whole greatly value the relationship we have with the construction standards development community."

Standards Developing Organizations invited to participate in the meeting included the American Concrete Institute (ACI), American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), American Petroleum Institute (API), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), Gypsum Association (GA), Portland Cement Association (PCA), and the Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors (SMACNA).

The morning session, facilitated by ICC Chief Operating Officer Dominic Sims, focused on solutions to coordinate standards updates and changes with ICC's next code development cycle. Participants discussed developing schedules and tools for SDOs to assist with keeping standards development in synch with the I-Codes, and increased frequency of communication between the Code Council and the SDOs.

The Code Council discussed more than 30 recommendations developed by the Code Development Review Ad-Hoc Committee and approved by the ICC Board in May. The changes were aimed to increase participation and maintain the high level of confidence the ICC code change process is known for, and built on the basic principles of the Code Council's Governmental Consensus Process. The recommendations include the strategic long-term goal of remote/Internet voting.

The ICC Board asked staff to "present a work plan to the Board of Directors in 2011, to implement changes to the CDP that utilize new and emerging technologies that will increase member and stakeholder participation, consistent with ICC's mission. The work plan will provide for implementation of new processes by the start of the Code Development Cycle (2015) that will lead to the publication of the 2018 International Codes."

ICC also highlighted the work of the Code Council's Task Force on Hearings, which submitted its revisions to the ICC Board in 2008. The Board approved the Task Force recommendations and made additional revisions in support of the twin goals to reduce the hearing length and increasing participation. The plan called for maintaining the three-year publication cycle and divides the I-Codes into two groupings, with each grouping having Code Development and Final Action Hearings occurring in the spring and fall of the same year during the first two years of the publication cycle. Meeting participants discussed how changes to the process have impacted standards development schedules and then outlined potential short and long term solutions to address them.

The afternoon session focused on digital content delivery, which is changing the way codes and standards are delivered in the marketplace, and opportunities to partner to provide quality products.

"Engineering, technology, science and the work we do as standards developing organizations is increasingly driven by globalization, a weak economy, political concerns, and a future that is more complex, competitively intense, technology based and in which standards and standardization systems increasingly will play a more important role," Weiland said.