Registration Remains Open for Dallas Hearings

As a building safety professional, this is your opportunity to have a voice in ICC's code development process. Your participation in the hearings will help lead to safer construction, saved lives, and reduced property losses. Click here to register today.

Code Council Activities and Initiatives Featured in Plumbing Engineer

Plumbing Engineer, a professional technical publication for those involved in the design and specification of plumbing systems, recently interviewed Code Council PMG Activities Director Shawn Martin and Government Relations Senior Vice President Sara Yerkes to get an overview of current code issues.

They discussed some of the most noteworthy plumbing code changes or updates from last year, including the creation of the Group A codes that cover the International Plumbing, Mechanical and Fuel Gas Codes, and the addition of a new Chapter 13, entitled "Non-potable Water Systems" to the 2015 IPC. They also spoke on ICC's efforts to harmonize health care facility codes in cooperation with the American Society for Healthcare Engineering; the development of the 2015 ICC Codes in Group B (the International Residential, Fire and Property Maintenance Codes) that will occur in 2013; this year's Building Safety Month, ICC's High School Training Program, which recognizes academic achievement pertaining to a specific construction trade (building, electrical, plumbing, or HVAC); collaboartion with ANSI on new standards for products such as landscape sprinklers, solar water heating systems and rainwater collection systems; updates to the widely used A117.1 Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities standard; ICC's work with the National Fire Protection Association to co-chair the Coalition for Current Safety Codes, which advocates for state and municipal jurisdictions to adopt current building and fire safety codes; and its new cdpACCESS initiative to improve the code development process through encouraging and facilitating participation in all aspects of the code development process by an even wider range of participants around the country and around the world. It will enable online collaboration for stakeholders in the development of code change and public comment submittals, as well as collaboration in preparation for participating at hearings.

Read more from Plumbing Engineer

Global Membership Council Profile: Ali Bukair

Ali Bukair, who serves on the ICC Global Membership Council Governing Committee, currently serves as a consultant for the Department of Municipal Affairs, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, responsible for building codes and municipal policies/regulations.

Bukair was instrumental in the coordination and adoption of the Abu Dhabi building codes, which are based on ICC's International Codes. Working under the guidance of the Under Secretary, Department of Municipal Affairs (DMA), Abu Dhabi, he was instrumental in managing the transition process with the DMA technical staff and ICC team.

Leading up to his work on the Abu Dhabi building codes, Bukair served as the Manager of Facilities and Operations, Head of Business Development, at the Centre for Sustainable Infrastructure Development at the Higher Colleges of Technology in Abu Dhabi. In this position, he was responsible for the facilities management of 14 colleges across the United Arab Emirates, including the construction and design of four new campuses.

Bukair was also a faculty member at the Higher Colleges of Technology in Abu Dhabi, where he taught structural engineering courses, authored a textbook, and created the first online course for the Abu Dhabi Men's College.

An accomplished structural engineer with significant knowledge of all design areas of building structures, Bukair has 12 years of design experience in the United States where he specialized in low- to medium-rise building structures built under different environments, across the U.S. including the states of Washington, Oregon, California, Florida, New York, Texas and Alaska. He worked as a project engineer for Hudson and Associates, Inc., and as a senior structural engineer at Engineers Northwest in Seattle, Washington.

Bukair is a registered professional engineer in the State of Washington and registered structural engineer in the State of Oregon. He earned a Master of Science degree in structural engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta, Ga., as well as a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Seattle University in Seattle, Wash.

Call for Nominations — ICC Global Membership Council Award

The ICC Global Membership Council announces a call for nominations for the Global Membership Award. The award, originally established in 2011, recognizes and honors an extraordinary contribution that furthers the global interests of the ICC and its Members.

Two awards have been given so far. The first to His Excellency, Ahmed Mohamed Shareef, Undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Department of Municipal Affairs. Shareef is an engineer recognized as the driving force behind the adoption, development and implementation of the Abu Dhabi Building Code, which is based on the I-Codes. The second recipient of the ICC Global Award was Imad Eldurubi, President of the World Organization of Building Officials. Imad embodies professionalism and personality to promote the ICC mission on a global platform.

This prestigious award is intended to promote the importance of building safety around the World and the contributions of ICC's International Members. If you know of a person or group who have made significant or noteworthy contributions to international building safety, please submit a nomination in the form of a detailed letter. Please be thorough when explaining why you think the nominee's activities merit global recognition. Also, please provide contact information for you and the nominee.

Nomination letters and contact information must be submitted by July 15, 2013, and should be sent to Raj Nathan, Head, Global Services, International Code Council, 5360 Workman Mill Road, Whittier, CA 90601, U.S.A., or rnathan@iccsafe.org, +202 370-1800, ext. 3318.

Searching for Excellence in Fire and Life Safety

The International Association of Fire Chiefs is accepting nominations for the Excellence in Fire and Life Safety Award, sponsored by the International Code Council. The nomination deadline is May 15. The award honors those who have dedicated themselves to saving lives through the development of codes, fire-prevention practices and leadership techniques.

Altamonte Springs, Fla., Building/Fire Safety Division Chief Anthony "Tony" Apfelbeck was the recipient of the 2012 Excellence in Fire & Life Safety Award. Apfelbeck demonstrated his sincere commitment to public and firefighter safety through active involvement in code development and service on several ICC committees, as well as his sincere commitment to public and firefighter safety. He has authored or co-authored hundreds of code change proposals, changes to Florida state statutes and IAFC position statements addressing home rule code adoption authority, consumer fireworks and residential sprinklers.

Reserve Your Space Now at the Build It Better Leadership Forum

How would the East Coast fare if a Category 2–3 Hurricane such as "Superstorm Sandy" struck again? North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin, along with leading scientists, policy makers, emergency responders, construction experts and conservationists, will address this issue at the Build It Better Leadership Forum to be held May 16–17 in Charlotte, N.C. This invitation-only event offers important information to those professionals in the building code, mitigation and resiliency communities. Registration reservations close May 3.

The Central Chapter of NYSBOC conducted a live burn demonstration on April 3 in Liverpool, N.Y., as part of its Annual Educational Conference. Hundreds of code enforcement officials from across New York State came to watch and learn about the realities of fire damage. The demonstration received media coverage and is posted on YouTube.

Instructor Peter Lattanzio organized the live burn demonstration, which are coupled with popular training courses that serve as positive educational tools for code officials. He is widely recognized as a code and fire safety expert New York.

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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ICC-ES, Manufacturers Work Together to Ensure
Evaluation Report Compliance with 2012 I-Codes

The ICC Evaluation Service (ICC-ES) has updated its acceptance criteria to reflect revisions to the 2012 International Building Code (IBC) and 2012 International Residential Code (IRC). Many manufacturers have updated, or are in the process of updating, their ICC-ES evaluation reports (ESRs) with the most current technical data, showing compliance with the 2012 I-Codes. ESRs updated to the most current codes demonstrate to code officials, designers, architects, engineers and others in the construction industry that they can confidently approve or specify products based on the most current information. Continue reading story

New York City Special Inspection Agency Accreditation Training

IAS, an approved New York City Department of Buildings accreditation provider, will conduct training May 15-16 to assist special inspection agencies in preparing for accreditation. This training session is approved by the Practicing Institute of Engineering for 12.0 PDHs for both Professional Engineers and Registered Architects for fulfillment of NYS Mandatory Continuing Education requirements. To register, click here.