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ICC and NOWRA to co-publish International Private Sewage Disposal Code.

The International Code Council and National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association (NOWRA) agreed to co-publish the International Private Sewage Disposal Code (IPSDC), which will facilitate the use of the latest science-based best practices and innovative technologies in safely handling onsite, decentralized wastewater, thereby reducing customers' costs. The IPSDC addresses inconsistencies within many regulations that dictate how decentralized systems can be designed, installed, and operated.

Federal Court rules standards do not lose copyright protection.

A Federal Court ruled in February that standards do not enter the public domain, and do not lose their copyright protection, when they are incorporated by reference into regulations. The case involved a lawsuit filed by ASTM, NFPA, and ASHRAE against Public.Resource.org, which had, over an extended period of time, posted numerous copyrighted codes and standards on its website. The Court permanently barred Public.Resource.org from any unauthorized use or distribution of certain of the plaintiffs' copyrighted materials.

ICC's Cindy Davis discusses whether regulation should raise the bar for building performance nationwide.

In the cutthroat world of development, architects are often asked to qualify and quantify the merits of their design. How much more efficient, resilient, strong, and safe will their project be? The benchmarks for these metrics are often derived from the building code, the minimum standards of construction that ensures the health, safety, and welfare of its occupants. With many in the design community endeavoring to go above and beyond this baseline, what happens if we raised the baseline? What if codes and standards began to integrate the measures required for buildings to achieve carbon-neutrality by 2030 or withstand 500-year storms?

Deadline nears for Water Efficiency Rating Index standard committee applications.

The Code Council and RESNET are developing a standard utilizing the water efficiency rating guideline they created as a base document. Applications for the Water Efficiency Rating Index (WERi) Standards committee are due March 17.

Oroville Update: Catastrophic spillway destruction revealed by ICC Member.

Last month, the main and emergency spillways of the Oroville Dam in Oroville, Calif., failed, leading to the evacuation of 188,000 people near the dam. After deterioration of the main spillway largely stabilized and the water level of the dam's reservoir dropped below the top of the emergency spillway, the evacuation order was lifted. Code Council Member Nancy Springer, Building Division Manager at Butte County — Department of Development Services, recently reported the on-the-ground developments resulting from the Oroville Dam emergency flood warning and evacuations.

Significant changes to the 2015 PMG codes.

Condensate pumps are often located in attics and crawl spaces and above ceilings where they are not readily observable. If they fail, the condensate overflow can cause structural damage to the building, especially where the overflow will not be noticed immediately. An addition to Section 307.6 states that condensate pumps located in uninhabitable spaces and used with condensing fuel-fired appliances and cooling equipment must be connected to the appliance or equipment served by the pump to prevent water damage in the event of pump failure.

Nonprofit seeks tax credits for pool safety.

Laura Metro, founder of the CPRParty that provides free CPR training, is seeking to provide basic swim lessons for citizens and tax credits for companies providing resources to make people water-safe. Metro proposes that one way to prevent drowning incidents is to give swimming pool and spa professionals incentive to build and upgrade pools that comply with the Code Council's International Swimming Pool & Spa Code. "If we arm swimming pool and spa professionals with the correct tools and incentives to build new pools to code and upgrade existing pools, we will save thousands of lives and millions of dollars in medical costs," she said.

2017 ICC Chapter meetings & events.

NFBOA Annual Education Conference
Northern ADK Annual Education Conference

Interesting global construction trivia.

What could be more fun than horsing around with gigantic, earth-moving machines alongside your buddies? Well, there's an amusement park in Las Vegas that lets you drive construction equipment in a giant sandbox. Options include digging gigantic trenches, playing Excavator Bucket Basketball, rolling over mega mounds of dirt, and driving through obstacle courses.

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