Sustainable, resilient construction is primary global concern.

Pictured at the IRCC meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, are (left to right): Nicholas Lee, Singapore Civil Defense Force; Yukiyasu Kamemura, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Japan; Vidar Stenstad, Norwegian Building Authority; Yu-Jun Tan and Ong See Ho, Building Control Authority, Singapore; Caroline Bernelius Cronsioe, Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning; Tomohiro Naruse, Building Research Institute, Japan; Guy Tomberlin, International Code Council; Bill Dodds, Scottish Government Building Standards; Chris Tan, Singapore Civil Defense Force; IJsbrand van Straalen, TNO, Netherlands; Jose Antonio Tenorio, IETcc CSIC, Spain; Brian Meacham, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Javier Serra, Ministry of Infrastructures, Spain; and Paul Everall, LABC, United Kingdom.

ICC Board of Directors President Guy Tomberlin participated in the Inter-Jurisdictional Regulatory Collaboration Committee (IRCC) meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland. ICC's involvement in IRCC dates back nearly 20 years when the committee was co-founded by longtime ICC Member and legacy CEO Jon Traw, along with his peers from leading building regulatory development entities in Australia, Canada, England, Japan and New Zealand. Brian Meacham, also an ICC Member and currently a professor of fire protection engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, was there at the beginning and continues to be actively involved. Now including participants from 13 countries, IRCC committee members largely represent the lead governmental code-writing authorities of their countries with participation by academia and research institutions. When established in 1997, the committee identified a clear need to form a coalition of international building code and regulations developers to network and collaborate on common issues and challenges. The primary theme of the meeting was almost unanimous: sustainable and resilient construction is a primary concern around the globe. There also was an underlying question, identified through several member presentations, of how to deal with the impact of deregulation as it continues to impede the application of codes and regulations. For a complete report from this year's IRCC meeting, please read the August issue of the Building Safety Journal Online.

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