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| BUILDING SAFETY MONTH NEWS |
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| FEMA Supports Building Safety Month This May, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is supporting the 34th Annual Building Safety Month (BSM) to promote the importance of high building standards, protecting the environment, and saving energy.  Building Safety Month is a public awareness campaign founded by the International Code Council that focuses on public outreach and education to increase the overall safety and sustainability of buildings through the adoption of model building codes and promotion of code enforcement. An array of theme-related community events, safety demonstrations, and educational outreach activities take place during BSM. The overarching theme of BSM is Building Safety: Maximizing Resilience, Minimizing Risks. This theme is supported by weekly building safety sub-themes:May 5–11 | Code Officials: Keeping Fire in Its Place May 12–18 | Code Officials: Helping Homeowners Weather the Storm May 19–25 | Code Officials: Surround Your Building with Safety May 26–31 | Code Officials: Building A Brighter, More Efficient Tomorrow For the fourth consecutive year, President Obama has proclaimed May as National Building Safety Month to underscore that safe building codes and standards have an essential role in decreasing the effects of disasters. As is articulated in Presidential Policy Directive/ PPD-8, National Preparedness, as well as PPD-21, Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience, building safety, fire prevention, and energy codes and standards help achieve disaster resilience for our Nation. Our Nation's building safety, fire prevention, and energy codes and standards play a critical role in maintaining and ensuring the safety of our buildings and enable our Nation to better prepare, respond, recover, and mitigate from all hazards. Strong building safety, fire prevention, and energy codes and standards also puts the Nation in a better position to deal with future challenges, such as climate change. FEMA supports ICC's BSM as it strives to help communities reduce the impacts of natural disasters by promoting the importance of high building standards, protecting the environment, and saving energy. |
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Building Safety Month is in May and ICC is offering educational and informational resources to help increase awareness of the public about building safety. Promotional materials include a sample proclamation, template news release, kids activity sheets and stickers, posters and brochures. Printed campaign materials are available for purchase through the ICC Store and many items are available as free, downloadable tools on the ICC website. |
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 Get Ready for Building Safety MonthBuilding Safety Month depends on the efforts of individuals like you. The Code Council provides several resources to assist you in promoting Building Safety Month in your community. These resources include strategies on how to set up a Building Safety Month event, a fill-in news release, a sample proclamation, and more. Many resources are available for free download. Consider these tips to Promote Building Safety Month in your community: • Promote BSM through your Chapter activities. • Set up an information booth at city hall or a local hardware store. • Visit a school and give a presentation about building safety. • Post local information on your website. • Send a news release to newspapers, and radio and television stations. Be sure to also invite your local media to any scheduled events you plan during the month and post on your social media websites. |
| The Code Council thanks the Building Safety Month Presenting Level Sponsors, including the American Gas Association, Laborers International Union of North America, American Wood Council and Portland Cement Association; and Major Level Sponsors, including the National Association of Home Builders, National Multifamily Housing Council, and Simpson Strong-Tie. For a list of all Building Safety Month sponsors, click here. |
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