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| Former ICC Board Member Named to NIBS Board A certified building official, Cindy Davis previously served on the boards of the International Code Council and the International Accreditation Service.  International Code Council Member and former ICC Board member Cindy Davis (left), C.B.O., is one of the newest members of the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) Board of Directors. She will serve a three-year term, representing state agency officials in the public interest category.Davis is the state building code administrator in the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. She is responsible for managing the building and fire code regulations for the Commonwealth of Virginia, providing oversight of the industrialized and manufactured housing, as well as the regulatory process of adopting the Uniform Statewide Building Code for the Commonwealth. A certified building official, Davis previously served on the boards of the International Code Council and the International Accreditation Service. As a member of the Code Council Board, Davis helped oversee the complex process of creating building and fire safety codes that protect life and property in Virginia and jurisdictions across America and around the world. "We must continue to cultivate relationships with local, state and federal government to raise the profile of our profession," Davis said. "Because you cannot quantify what doesn't happen, the importance of codes as proactive measures is often overlooked." She also served as chair of the Code Development Review Ad Hoc Committee whose work set the stage for the cdp ACCESS initiative, the code development process of the future. A 20-year veteran of municipal code enforcement, Davis holds numerous professional certifications and was an instructor for the Pennsylvania Construction Codes Academy. She was honored as Pennsylvania Code Official of the Year in 2002. The NIBS Board of Directors is comprised of 21 members. The U.S. President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoints six members to represent the public interest. The remaining 15 members are elected from the nation's building community and include both public interest representatives and industry voices. |
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ICC Global Members to Benefit from New Partnership with IAS International Code Council Members who reside and work outside of the United States will be better served by the association's recent move of its Global Services Division to the International Accreditation Service (IAS), an ICC subsidiary. ICC Global Services will be a distinct division within IAS. |
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New Jersey Order on Rebuilding to Code
Last week's order by New Jersey's governor standardizing the rebuilding codes along the state's coast in the wake of Superstorm Sandy will help speed the process of rebuilding, but agents say property owners are just beginning to learn the implications it may have on their reconstruction decisions. |
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| Palm Springs Officials, Business Owners Work to Prevent Brazil-Like Nightclub Disasters  Palm Springs fire inspectors are working with their local business owners and nightclub operators to prevent disasters like the fire in a Brazilian club that led to 233 deaths. Inspectors are checking for fire code requirements like exits, occupancy limits and detectors. Firefighters also handle permits for special events, Deputy Chief and Fire Marshal Jim Webb said. "The bigger picture is the extent we go to prevent fires... all structural requirements, smoke and carbon dioxide detectors... those are kinds of things we do to prevent tragedies like the one in Brazil," he said.The fire in the Kiss nightclub (pictured left) in Santa Maria, Brazil, apparently started with a band's pyrotechnic display. Some victims died from smoke inhalation. Others were trampled died while trying to get out. The club apparently had just one exit. Webb said pyrotechnics are allowed indoors in Palm Springs, but are closely regulated and must meet very specific conditions. "It's definitely something we would put someone on standby (for)," he said. Webb said that for smoke effects, venues these days often use haze machines, which are similar to smoke machines. "That fake smoke does same thing real smoke does in terms of activating smoke detectors," said Webb, who added that detectors have to be shut off during performances. The department provides a stand-by deputy fire marshal in those cases, he said. Webb said the fire department works closely with locations like the Palm Springs Convention Center. Members of the department do inspections as mandated by the state, and also to be informed about businesses in the city, he said. "It familiarizes crews with the occupancy, how it's laid out. They also get the chance to meet the people running the business, (know) where the exits are, where to make entry into the building if, unfortunately, they had a fire," Webb said. Webb said fire and building codes are often based on "benchmark" fires like a 1980 blaze at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas that killed 85 people. Every few years, the Palm Springs Fire Department goes through a process to adopt the state fire code to keep pace with updates. SOURCE: mydesert.com |
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| Neosho, Missouri, City Council Gives Initial Approval to 2009 International Codes The Neosho City Council gave initial approval to changes in city building, electrical, plumbing and other codes that have become out of date. City Building Inspector John Harrington told council members that a review of city codes by authorities with the International Organization for Standardization, usually referred to as ISO, determined that the 2003 building code and the 2002 electrical code were out of date. Harrington said the city's insurance rating would be jeopardized if the city didn't take action to update the codes. He said the organization has given the city a year to correct the situation before issuing a ruling. Among the changes he noted were that any new home with an attached garage would have to have a carbon monoxide detector inside the home. Harrington also said energy efficiency is becoming more of a focus of building codes. He said new construction will require programmable thermostats, and at least half the lighting would have to be compact fluorescent or light-emitting diode. The council gave initial approval to adopting the 2009 International Building Code, International Fire Code, International Mechanical Code, International Residential Code, International Plumbing Code, International Property Maintenance Code, International Energy Conservation Code, and International Fuel Gas Code. The vote included adopting the 2008 National Electric Code. Harrington said 2012 versions of the codes are available, but the organization requires only that cities be within the past two updates. Mayor Richard Davidson said the 2012 codes include even more restrictions. "We're behind the times," Davidson said. "We should've done this a few years ago." Harrington said the new codes would apply to any new construction that requires a building permit, including homes and building additions. If owners don't plan any changes to their homes or buildings, they won't be required to meet the new codes. Final action on the code updates is expected at the Jan. 22 meeting. SOURCE: The Joplin Globe |
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No Building Permit Fees for Farmsteads in Stark County, North Dakota Building permits are not required to construct homes on land in North Dakota's Stark County that is classified as a farmstead, according to the county commission. County Planner Steve Josephson says there have been questions about residences that are built on farmsteads — properties that are 40 acres or more where 51 percent or more of the annual income is from the farm. He says permits were not required for those residences in the past and he asked the commission for clarification on the issue at a December meeting."Between whenever that was and now, I hear all kinds of things from people about whether or not building permits are allowed in the county period," he says. "All I'm asking for is clarification and that the board take some kind of position up on the matter, understanding of course that people may not have to get a building permit in this case, but they still have to comply with the county's adopted building code and any adopted codes of the county." Commissioner Russ Hoff says anyone who qualified as a farmer with 40 acres or more in the past was not required to get building permits for work on their property. "To me, we do not want to inflict anymore fees than what we already do through taxes and such on someone who is a farmer or rancher out there," he says. "And then, force the city to go out there and give them a $1,200 fee for an inspection when if the insurance agent and the banking establishments want it, they can ask for it. That's fine if they ask for it themselves because then they can pick who they want as their inspector. Why do we want to force more fees down their throat when it's possible they don't have to have it?" Commissioner Jay Elkin agrees. "More importantly, we have young people that are, for the most part, building out there either on their folks' property or a relative's property," he says. "For them, $1,200 or $1,400 is a lot of money, and we want to encourage people to take over the family farm." SOURCE: AGWEEK |
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Student Architects Visit Westport, Connecticut, Building Department The Town of Westport's Building Department welcomed three award-winning architecture students from Norwalk Community College who each were recently awarded cash prizes for their architectural creations for the development of Norwalk's District 95/7 Project.The students, all candidates for Associate in Architectural Engineering degrees in 2013, are Alex Melko, 30, a native of Belarus and now a Stamford resident, Danielle Andrade, 35, of Brazil and residing in Fairfield, and Alex Makarevich, 28, also of Belarus and a resident of Stratford. Smith, who was one of three judges in the architectural competition, said that 15 of the 28 members of the architect class competed in the project, each presenting a model and renderings. He said this is the eighth consecutive year for the competition. "The process reinforces the understanding and adherence to building codes in construction design," he said. "It is not judged on esthetics alone." First prize was $750 and $450 to each of the two runner-ups. SOURCE: WestportNOW |
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