ICC Board Approves New Code of Ethics

The updated code of ethics ensures that ICC Members continue to act with high integrity and that the association's code development process is conducted with no vested interests beyond public safety. With the launch of cdpACCESS, which includes online components to the code development process, the Board's action emphasizes that ICC voting Members will continue to act with professional integrity, competency and conduct.

Congressmen Advocate for Safe Building Code Incentive Act

Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) and Albio Sires (D-N.J.) wrote an Op-Ed in The Hill Newspaper on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy in support of the Safe Building Code Incentive Act. The Act is bipartisan legislation designed to encourage states to adopt and enforce strong building codes as a preventative measure against disaster.

The Op-Ed states: "Our legislation, the Safe Building Code Incentive Act, would provide qualifying states that enforce strong building codes which adhere to the International Code Council model standards with an additional four percent of post-disaster grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. This legislation would provide significant benefits to homeowners, small businesses, and taxpayers.

"Scientific research proves that when homes and office buildings are constructed by utilizing the best practices of modern building science, it is simply harder for Mother Nature to knock them down. We are confident that the Safe Building Code Incentive Act will help save lives, protect property, and ultimately reduce taxpayer exposure to natural disasters."

The Code Council is part of the BuildStrong Coalition that supports the Safe Building Code Incentive Act. Continue reading story

ICC Expands Member, Chapter Services in California, Western States;
Augments Resources for PMG Standards Development

Larry Brugger will join the International Code Council Government Relations staff in California as a Regional Manager, and Vicki Worden of Worden Associates will provide additional expertise for standard development projects in ICC's Plumbing, Mechanical and Fuel Gas (PMG) program.

Brugger, of Rossmoor, Calif., will be responsible for developing and coordinating programs in California and supporting other Government Relations staff in Western states serving ICC Members, Chapters and all stakeholders on matters related to the ICC mission: To provide the highest quality codes, standards, products and services for all concerned with the safety and performance of the built environment.

Worden Associates, Inc., will be working closely with ICC's Government Relations and PMG staffs. Worden has a successful track record in the area of standards development, having served as the secretariat for the ANSI/GBI 01-2010: Green Building Assessment Protocol for Commercial Buildings. Continue reading story

Standard Bearers in Energy Code Compliance Recognized in Atlantic City

During the Code Council's 2013 Annual Conference in Atlantic City, N.J., the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT) and the Global Buildings Performance Network (GBPN) recognized the winners of the Standard Bearers: Excellence in Energy Code Compliance Award. This award program, in its second year, honors state and local jurisdictions and individuals that have raised compliance with energy codes and achieved energy reduction in buildings using smart, cost-effective strategies.

The winners of the 2013 Standard Bearers Award are:

Georgia Department of Community Affairs
State-Level Winner

The City of Austin, Texas
Jurisdictional-Level Winner

Brent Ursenbach, Salt Lake County, Utah
Energy Code Champion

The smart strategies that this year's winners have used include leading classes, webinars, and presentations (Brent Ursenbach, Utah); bringing together diverse coalitions of stakeholders to establish a loan program for duct and envelope leakage testing equipment (Georgia Department of Community Affairs); implementing a third-party program for performance testing, and making sure all Development Review Department residential inspectors are certified to perform energy code inspections (Austin, Texas).

"This year's winners highlight the important role that states, local jurisdictions, and individuals play in cost-effectively improving compliance with building energy codes," said Ryan Meres, Senior Code Compliance Specialist for IMT. "By helping to improve compliance, the winners are not only reducing energy costs, but also ensuring buildings that are safer, healthier, and more resilient for their occupants." Continue reading story

Upcoming Changes to ICC Exam Appeals Process

On January 1, 2014, the candidate exam appeals process will be significantly changed, to allow Certification and Testing to focus resources on those candidates who have a justifiable concern.

The current policy can be found in the National Certification Exam Information Bulletin, and allows a three-step process at no charge, to be initiated within 90 days of failing an exam.

Starting January 1, a mandatory $100.00 fee will be required when filing a formal challenge of a failed exam, and this initial challenge must take place within 30 days of receipt of your exam results. ICC will continue to post updated forms and information about the process changes over the coming weeks.

Public Housing Authorities to Use 2009 IECC for New and Renovated
Housing Projects under Newly Issued HUD Regulation

In a Final Rule published on October 24, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has referenced the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) as a means for Public Housing Authorities (PHA's) across the U.S. and Indian Housing agencies, to meet energy efficiency goals in new and renovated buildings that they own or manage. The reference to the 2009 IECC comes as a direct result of comments filed by ICC Government Relations in 2011 during the public comment period for the proposed regulation. The Final Rule contains a brief discussion of the issue raised by ICC during the public comment period:

Issue: One commenter endorsed incorporating the IECC in various subsections of the proposed rule related to what types of projects are eligible for Capital Funds. The commenter suggested that HUD reference the 2009 IECC to promote energy efficiency over the life of those projects. One commenter stated that because the section specifies the required design and construction requirements for affected building projects, the International Building Code (IBC) and the IECC will also provide compliance with several other requirements listed in this section, including compliance with ASHRAE standard 90.1-2010, "Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings," an accepted alternative means of compliance with chapter 5 of the IECC.

HUD Response: This final rule references the 2009 edition of the IECC, in 905.200 and 905.312, rather than the 2006 IECC, and references the ASHRAE standard.

ICC encourages its members to reach out to local Public Housing Authorities and offer assistance in obtaining information about the 2009 IECC, and in understanding when renovation projects would be subject to the IECC, and in obtaining support for the use of the IECC in their housing projects. PHA's may not be familiar with the provisions and benefits of the IECC, including its coordination with the IBC and International Residential Code, and the extensive support offered for code interpretation and compliance by ICC.

Such outreach and collaboration may also be valuable in obtaining local support for code administration grants under the HUD CDBG program.

Share Your Chapter News with Us

Have a recent meeting you'd like to share with your fellow Chapters? Did you start a new program, elect new officers, have a successful training session or recognize a fellow Chapter member? Let's show our Chapter pride by sharing all the great things chapters do throughout the year in the name of public safety. Send your photos, captions and Chapter news items to chapters@iccsafe.org. We'll see that they are published in an upcoming edition of ICC eNews.

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New Labeling Adopted for Preservative-Treated Sawn Wood

The treated wood industry has adopted stock labeling for ease in identifying preservative-treated sawn wood lumber products that are in compliance with the International Building Code (IBC) and International Residential Code (IRC). The end tags will have easily identifiable markings for both American Wood Protection Association (AWPA) Standard U1 and ICC Evaluation Service, LLC (ICC-ES) preservative-treated wood products. The AWPA Standard U1 product will include the check mark symbol and the mark of the American Lumber Standard Committee (ALSC) accredited inspection agency. The ICC-ES code complying product will include the ICC-ES Trade Mark and the mark of the IAS accredited inspection agency. Continue reading story

CertainTeed Ceilings Takes Advantage of ICC-ES'
Expedited Service for Its Latest Evaluation Report

ICC Evaluation Service (ICC-ES), through its Expedited Service, has issued ESR-3336 to CertainTeed Ceilings, a subsidiary of Saint-Gobain. ICC-ES developed the Expedited Service to meet manufacturers' growing market entry needs. ICC-ES clients that qualify for this program can expect turnaround times of no more than six months for new report applications and no more than three months for revisions. Reports evaluated under this service are designated as priority projects and include the same thorough technical evaluation in a condensed amount of time with one main point of contact. Continue reading story

Highlighting Innovation within Accredited Building Departments

For the second year, IAS delivered a training program entitled Best Practices: Lessons Learned from Accredited Building Department. The class was delivered in conjunction with the ICC Major Jurisdictions Committee (MJC) during the ICC Annual Conference.

IAS launched the Building Department/Code Enforcement Agency Accreditation Program in 2004 through the development of Accreditation Criteria 251 (AC251). Aimed at assisting building departments detect their strengths and weaknesses and establish plans for improvement, it has also served to identify best practices in code enforcement and administration. Over the last eight years, IAS has been assembling an inventory of best practices in the areas of plan review, permitting, inspection, management/administration, legal, customer service, and information technology.

The membership of MJC is comprised of building officials representing the largest and most politically influential municipalities in the U.S. MJC members often have responsibility for the oversight of several oversee large and complex, construction projects and, as a result, have refined and implemented innovations in their operations. In an effort to give back to the code enforcement community, the MJC Steering Committee embarked on a Best Practices project. The MJC encourages its members to submit their best practices in order to maximize the benefit of shared resources, concepts, and programs and to learn from successes and failures. The overarching goal is to better enable state and local jurisdictions to function in a more efficient and cost-effective manner while maximizing life safety in the built environment. The 2013 session was delivered on October 2, 2013, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.