To say that Valarie Loper was excited at the prospect of attending the International Code Council’s Annual Conference this year in Phoenix was an understatement. Especially if you consider stalking a computer icon as a starving man would the light on a waffle maker not so much of an exaggeration.

Loper, Combination Inspector for the City of North Las Vegas and soon-to-be first vice president of the ICC’s Southern Nevada Chapter, noticed the Code Council Foundation again was offering Code of Honor Scholarships. This year, more than 90 lucky, and eminently qualified, Members would be chosen to attend the 2011 Annual Conference in Phoenix in October/November. And with a Match Scholarship, the ICC would split the cost of travel and lodging and other expenses.

That was important to Loper. As badly as she wanted to attend the Annual Conference, she didn’t want to impose on her Chapter, suffering like most through several years of a harsh economy. Also important to her was the fact that the Code Council decided to open the Match Scholarships to more Members by eliminating the first-time attendee requirement. Loper had attended in Baltimore in 2009 to present her first successful code change and in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2010 when her Chapter won Chapter of the Year honors.

Loper prepared for the scholarship application as if it were a master certification test. She researched the detailed information on her city and Chapter, and had all of it ready as she sat poised in front of her computer when the application period was to begin at 7 a.m. Pacific Monday, August 8.

Time passed like kidney stones as Loper waited for the application button to pop up on the site. When it did, she pounced. “It actually opened at 6:30 (a.m.) But I’m pretty sure I was one of the first,” she said.

Once at the Conference, the energetic and outgoing Loper made it her duty to look for attendees with “first-timer” badges and introduce herself. She didn’t stop there. Loper then introduced the first-timers to other attendees who shared a specialty or other interests.

Loper remembers the kindness shown by former ICC Board President Jimmy Brothers. Her Chapter hosted one of his visits, and she said she received a nice note from him thanking her for the hospitality. She said Brothers was surprised when Loper in turn thanked him for the kind note. At the 2011 conference, she didn’t hesitate to introduce herself to newly elected ICC Board President Bill Dupler.

That kind of interpersonal relationship skill carries over to the workplace where Loper describes herself as “very customer friendly.” With only five inspectors (down from 44 in 2009) remaining in North Las Vegas, she said contractors know they’ll have to wait a day or two extra for inspections. “But I talk to them, and they understand,” she said. “I have a great relationship with contractors.”

That solid relationship often seems to be the case when a person was a contractor before moving over into code review and enforcement. A San Diego-area native, Loper said she started working for a construction firm when she was 18, just doing odd jobs around sites. When that job slowed down, she remembered a job offer from an electrical contractor. As an unofficial apprentice, she began learning the do’s and don’ts of wiring.

Not wanting to be a go-fer forever, Loper got her journeyman certification and, with time, certifications in building, plumbing and mechanical, and electric. Those certifications served her well during the past 11 years as Combination Inspector for North Las Vegas. She stays pretty busy as one of the aforementioned five inspectors, especially given that the city has a decent amount of construction going on, including some subdivision construction, a solar farm and even a shrimp farm. “It’s like a big tent with really large aquariums,” Loper says of the latter development. “We have a little of everything here.”

And her ICC Chapter is willing to share it. Southern Nevada sponsors the EduCode program, Loper says, which offers highly specialized courses for working professionals and more than $10,000 in scholarships annually for high school students going on to study one of the trades in college.

In April 2009, Loper was asked to participate on the fire life safety committee to formulate the 2009 Southern Nevada Local Amendments. Through this effort, she suggested a local change that would add a bit more restriction to the code by regulating the lettering, size, and spacing. She then took the change to the national level, presenting it at the ICC’s Annual Conference in Baltimore. As a result of her effort, 703.7 in the 2012 IBC states that walls required to have protective openings be identified with signs or stenciling.

Loper got another great opportunity in early 2010 from the ICC when she was hired to put together PowerPoint photos for the National Electric Code. She tackled that project as she does everything else: as if the ball carrier were between her and the goal line. “I always do the best I can,” she said, “and I always work very hard.”

Nearing her four-month deadline, she noticed she had 1,599 photos. “So I found one more good one so I could say there were 1,600,” she said proudly.

Still buzzing from that project, Loper decided she should take her Electrical Plans exam. She passed that, and then decided she was never going to “have more electricity and math in my head,” and took and passed the Master Electrician exam.

“If it weren’t for the ICC asking me to do those photos, I would never have taken those exams,” Loper said. “I encourage Members that there is so much more out there for them. And my ‘so much more’ has been an amazing experience.”