An International Code Council Appeals Board at a public hearing unanimously disapproved three appeals related to the 2010 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) Final Action Hearings held October 28–30, 2010 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The appeals alleged irregularities at the hearings unfairly influenced code changes to the IECC. The Appeals Board's decision will go to the ICC Board of Directors for a final decision.

Appeals Board members said they found no substantive evidence of fundraising irregularities or that any Council policies were violated and that ICC's commitment to providing a fair and open code development process was demonstrated. The Committee noted that policies and procedures put into effect after the 2008 Final Action Hearings did what they were intended to do. The Committee also said that participation by the federal government, which has the authority to preempt anything ICC does, is a significant validation of the ICC Code Development Process.

To smooth the progress of the appeals process, the appellants—BOMA International, the National Multi Housing Council/National Apartment Association, Pilkington North America, AGC Flat Glass North America, the Aluminum Extruders Council and the International Window Film Association—prepared an "Appellants' Joint Statement of Issues" to identify issues related to the three appeals. The statement alleged:

• Adequate safeguards (policies and procedures) were either not employed or were not uniformly applied during the hearings to ensure that voting was limited to designated Governmental Member Voting Representatives meeting the requirements established in the Code Council's Bylaws.
• The governmental consensus process was subverted by vote stacking in favor of outcomes and violated when representatives of an energy coalition with financial and proprietary interests were allowed to vote, unfairly influencing the outcome.
• Funding by a federal agency and others allowed proprietary interests to unfairly influence voting.
• ICC's commitment to an unbiased, fair and open code development process was undermined by the proprietary or pecuniary interests of some designated Governmental Member Voting Representatives.

In addition to the appellants, testimony was presented by the ICC and several individuals representing ICC Chapters, energy groups, manufacturers and associations.

"The appeal is not an appeal of technical merits or any value judgment on any of the code provisions that relate to the appeal," said Board Appeals Committee Chair and ICC Board Vice President Bill Dupler, who is a nonvoting member of the Appeals Board. "I think the appellants did a very good job of properly noting that the appeal is about the application and conformity to our established procedures and policies, and that there should no request or attempt by any of us to make value judgments regarding the merits of the code provisions."

Voting members of the Appeals Board are Fulton Cochran, ICC Fire Code Council; Jud Collins, ICC Plumbing Mechanical and Fuel Gas Council; and John Terry, ICC Building Code Council.