Month: November 2016

Updated Building Code Adopted Statewide in Connecticut

The Connecticut State Building Inspector recently announced the adoption of the 2016 Connecticut State Building Code (CSBC). The CSBC is based on the International Code Council’s widely-adopted 2012 International Codes and references the ICC A117.1-2009 standard for accessibility. The CSBC is effective for projects where permit applications are made on or after October 1, 2016.

The 2012 International Building Code Portion of the 2016 State Building Code; and 2012 International Residential Code Portion of the 2016 State Building Code are being copublished by the International Code Council and Connecticut Department of Administrative Services with the cooperation of the Connecticut Building Officials Association.

“The adoption of this code has brought Connecticut in line with our neighbors in New England,” said Joseph Cassidy, Connecticut State Building Inspector. “This code contains many advances in resilient construction and energy efficiency that will benefit state residents. The expedited administrative review process approved by the state legislature this year has significantly reduced the time it takes us to adopt the codes.”

“The updated SBC contains contemporary requirements for designers, policy makers and the construction community to utilize in creating safer, more resilient communities,” said Mark Johnson, ICC Executive Vice President & Director of Business Development. “The Code Council is ready to assist the Connecticut building industry to ensure a smooth transition to the updated codes.”

Building officials and local government, industry and design professionals, and the general public can purchase Connecticut’s updated codes from the Code Council. Print copies will be available mid-January and are available for pre-order. Downloadable PDF versions can be purchased beginning mid-February.

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The International Code Council is a member-focused association. It is dedicated to developing model codes and standards used in the design, build and compliance process to construct safe, sustainable, affordable and resilient structures.  Most U.S. communities and many global markets choose the International Codes.

New Seismic Retrofit Design Guides Focus on Critical Issues Affecting Existing Vulnerable Buildings

The International Code Council (ICC) has partnered with the Structural Engineers Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) to publish a landmark set of seismic retrofit Design Guides.

The new Design Guides are focused on retrofits for two types of buildings targeted by the City of Los Angeles Mandatory Earthquake Hazard Reduction Ordinance. This ordinance is intended to reduce the collapse risk of vulnerable structures during a seismic event. The Design Guides, Volumes 1 and 2, explain with insightful detail the different aspects and structural design requirements of the ordinance. These important guides also can be used as a reference in other seismically active areas.

“The development of the Design Guides was entrusted to two task groups of experienced engineers and dedicated SEAOSC members under the SEAOSC Seismology and Existing Buildings Committees, with input from other industry experts,” said Jeff Ellis, SEAOSC President. “The combined expertise they have gained from years of designing and detailing retrofits for existing buildings to better resist seismic forces is provided in the extensive commentary and practical advice in each Design Guide.”

Design Guide, Volume 1: City of Los Angeles Mandatory Earthquake Hazard Reduction in Existing Non-Ductile Concrete Buildings (NDC) discusses and demonstrates methodologies for the seismic evaluation and strengthening of existing non-ductile concrete buildings. While aspects of the guide focus on the mandatory Los Angeles earthquake hazard reduction ordinance and historical construction practices of the Southern California region, it is generally applicable to any other existing concrete buildings in areas of moderate or high seismicity. Additional insights are given based on the latest available research and next-generation standards development work.

Design Guide, Volume 2: City of Los Angeles Mandatory Earthquake Hazard Reduction in Existing Wood-Frame Buildings with Soft, Weak or Open-Front Walls (SWOF) provides an example and detailed commentary for the seismic strengthening of existing wood-frame buildings with soft, weak or open-front wall lines subject to the recently passed mandatory Los Angeles ordinance. The guide discusses challenges inherent in this type of retrofit, responsibilities of the design professional and additional topics to further clarify the requirements of the ordinance.

“The Design Guides are excellent resources for engineers, architects, building officials and students evaluating these types of structures,” said Hamid Naderi, ICC Senior Vice President of Business Product Development. “The Code Council is pleased to join SEAOSC in making these practical and valuable documents available to the structural community.”

Design Guide, Volume 1 (NDC), and Design Guide, Volume 2 (SWOF), can be ordered in printed format from the Code Council (shop.iccsafe.org) and SEAOSC (www.seaosc.org). Printed copies of the Design Guides will be available at a discount at the SEAOSC Strengthening Our Cities Summit on November 17–18 in Los Angeles and will be provided to SEAOSC members attending the Summit. PDF download versions will be available in December.

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The International Code Council is a member-focused association. It is dedicated to developing model codes and standards used in the design, build and compliance process to construct safe, sustainable, affordable and resilient structures. Most U.S. communities and many global markets choose the International Codes.

The Structural Engineers Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) is the premier professional organization to which local Structural Engineers belong. The organization serves its members in the noble profession of structural engineering by fostering and promoting the contributions of structural engineers to society. SEAOSC is a member-centric organization, where substance and image are equally promoted through fiscally responsible management and optimization of the benefits to the members. SEAOSC leadership and membership will strive to reach the ideals represented by the following five pillars of the association: membership value, image & advocacy, codes & standards, education, and legislative participation.

Code Council Honors Building and Fire Safety Professionals

Recognition Includes Fowler Award, Code Official and Fire Official of the Year

The International Code Council honored several industry professionals for their contributions to a safe, affordable and resilient built environment during its 2016 Annual Conference and Group B Public Comment Hearings in Kansas City, Mo.

International Code Council Board of Directors Immediate Past President Alex Olszowy (pictured right) presents the Bobby J. Fowler Award to Seattle Principal Engineer/Building Official Jonathan C. Siu.

Jonathan C. Siu, Principal Engineer/Building Official for the city of Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections, was presented the prestigious Bobby J. Fowler Award. The Fowler Award honors the memory of the first ICC Board Chairman who led the charge to consolidate three regional model code organizations into one association, the Code Council. Through 30 years of public service, Siu has contributed countless hours working to improve the safety of the built environment both at a national and regional level.

Richard Witt, Building Official in Chesterfield County, Va., was the recipient of the Gerald H. Jones Code Official of the Year Award. Witt has been instrumental in the expansion and growth of the Virginia Building Code Academy and works tirelessly to recognize code officials and recommend them for code development committee and other industry service.

Goodyear, Ariz., Fire Captain Ronald S. Lilley was presented the ICC Fire Service Award. Lilley led an overhaul of the Goodyear Fire Prevention Division and created the volunteer Fire Prevention Assistance Program (FPAT) that is designed to complete and process low hazard fire inspections for local businesses.

	Presenting the Code Official Year Award to Richard Witt (pictured second from right) are Code Council Chief Executive Officer Dominic Sims (left), Gerald H. Brown (second from left), and Code Council Board of Directors Awards Committee Chairman Jeff Bechtold (right).

Michael J. Graham was the recipient of the ICC Affiliate Award. Graham recognized early on in his career that effective flood management helps to lessen the devastating effects of water-borne destruction, and was a founding member of the New Jersey Association of Floodplain Management.

The city of Newport Beach, Calif., Building Division was presented the ICC Community Service Award. The city’s Building Division has a strong commitment to serving residents and local businesses, including providing guaranteed next day inspections and 80 percent of plan review requests completed at the counter.

The Association of Minnesota Building Officials was named Chapter of the Year, the top award given to an ICC Chapter for exemplary performance in promoting the goals and mission of the Code Council. Chapter Merit Awards also were presented to the Missouri Association of Building Officials and Inspectors, the New Jersey Building Officials Association, and the Virginia Building and Code Officials Association.

Code Council Board of Directors Awards Committee Chairman Jeff Bechtold (pictured right) presents the Fire Service Award to Goodyear, Ariz., Fire Captain Ronald S. Lilley.

The ICC Educator of the Year Award, recognizing excellence in education and promoting professional development among ICC Members, was presented to Folsom, Calif., Chief Building Official Steve Burger.

The Raising the Profile Award went to Yasmeen Sami Saadah, Division Director of Municipal Regulations for the Abu Dhabi Municipality, United Arab Emirates, and who recently was the Head of the Sustainability Unit, Town Planning, also in Abu Dhabi.

Standard Bearers Awards, presented jointly by the Code Council and the Institute for Market Transformation, highlight states, cities and individuals who lead the way in energy code compliance. The state recipient was the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, Energy Division; the Local Jurisdiction winner was the city of Chula Vista, Calif.; and the Energy Code Leader was Darren Meyers of Tinley Park, Ill.

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About the International Code Council

The International Code Council is a member-focused association. It is dedicated to developing model codes and standards used in the design, build and compliance process to construct safe, sustainable, affordable and resilient structures. Most U.S. communities and many global markets choose the International Codes.

ICC Creates New Emerging Leaders Membership Council

The International Code Council (ICC) has created the Emerging Leaders Membership Council to give the association’s future leaders an opportunity to shape its future goals and operations.

This new Membership Council is an addition to the five discipline-specific existing Membership Councils — the Building Official; Fire Service; Plumbing, Mechanical & Fuel (PMG); Global, and Sustainability Membership Councils. These Membership Councils offer ICC members a place to come together as a more powerful force shaping the association, and to take them to the next level in their industry, careers and futures.

The Emerging Leaders Membership Council establishes a place for young professionals to learn and participate as true peers in the Code Council.

ICC Board of Directors Immediate Past President Alex Olszowy (front row, left) and CEO Dominic Sims (front row, right) welcome Emerging Leaders to Kansas City: (front row, left to right) Samantha Everett, Rebecca Brown, Elizabeth Arrington, (middle row, left to right) Michael Tomaselli, Ray Hubner, Kent Robinson, Blake Steiner, Andre Jean, (back row, left to right) Jesse Deanda, Benjamin Breadmore, Isaac Mallory, Britton Jaen, Jason Dilworth, and Gary Forsyth.

“We are providing this opportunity for the leaders of tomorrow because it won’t be our world; it will be theirs,” said Alex Olszowy III, Immediate Past President of the Code Council Board of Directors.

The ICC Board approved the formation of an Emerging Leaders Membership Council in support of Olszowy’s “Safety 2.0” initiative, continuing outreach to the next generation of code officials. Research conducted for the Code Council by the National Institute of Building Sciences revealed that over 80 percent of code officials plan to retire within the next 15 years, and more than 30 percent plan to do so within five years.

This Membership Council will serve as a forum for Code Council members who are new to the code enforcement profession. Topics of concern will include new ways in which ICC members can communicate and interact, particularly regarding new technologies and social media vehicles. Code Council members will provide feedback regarding ways to best serve the needs of this next generation of professionals.

This group of Emerging Leaders “shadowed” ICC’s Board of Directors throughout the recent ICC Annual Conference and Public Comment Hearings in Kansas City, Mo., in October. The shadowing provided an opportunity for them to walk in the footsteps of the association’s current leaders, and experience the path of leadership.

“This is an opportunity rarely afforded to individuals who will shape tomorrow,” said Benjamin R. K. Breadmore, a member of the Advisory Council to the Emerging Leaders. “Most often, breaking through the stigma of tradition can be a daunting task.

“However,” he continues, “the opportunity we have been given to form what our organization will look like for years to come will without a doubt make us stronger and better prepared for change.”

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About the International Code Council

The International Code Council is a member-focused association. It is dedicated to developing model codes and standards used in the design, build and compliance process to construct safe, sustainable, affordable and resilient structures. Most U.S. communities and many global markets choose the International Codes.

Code Council Launches New Resilience Alliance

The International Code Council (ICC) recently announced the creation of the new Alliance for National & Community Resilience (ANCR).

ANCR officially launched at ICC’s 2016 Annual Conference in Kansas City, Mo. Along with two founding partners, the Community & Regional Resilience Institute (CARRI) and the U.S. Resiliency Council (USRC), ICC is working with ANCR members from around the globe including Target Corporation, the International City/County Management Association, Kaiser Permanente, and the National Institute of Building Sciences to create the nation’s first Whole Community Resilience Benchmark.

“With its diverse makeup and expertise, this alliance clearly understands that communities are complex, interconnected systems that urgently need a way to comprehend what it means to be resilient,” said ICC Board of Directors President M. Dwayne Garriss, who serves as the Georgia State Fire Marshal. “ANCR will give communities a single, transparent, usable and easily understandable metric to gauge their cross-sector resilience efforts quickly.”

A city with functioning electricity cannot effectively operate if the streets are impassable. A business that has survived hurricane winds cannot thrive if the banking networks have crashed. A household with running water cannot be sustained if the grocery store shelves are bare.

“For a community to be resilient, it must understand the resilience of each community function and how those functions respond to adverse events,” explained ICC Chief Executive Officer Dominic Sims, CBO. “Cities, businesses, and households need support to be able to effectively adapt to increasing environmental, health, economic, and social hazards, and their need to become more resilient could not be greater or more pervasive.”

The ANCR Board of Directors has appointed ICC’s Director of Resilience Initiatives, Bryan J. Soukup, Esq., as Executive Director and CARRI’s Maj. General Warren C. Edwards (Ret.) as Chairman. Founding Board members include public officials from the city of New York and the District of Columbia among others.

The launch already is generating a great deal of interest from both the private and public sectors, with Target affirming its commitment by donating $20,000 to the nascent organization on Day One. ANCR plans to host two national workshops in 2017 to develop the benchmark and plans to pilot it in communities across the U.S. in 2018.

Visit ResilientAlliance.org to learn more about this new initiative and get involved.

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About the International Code Council

The International Code Council is a member-focused association. It is dedicated to developing model codes and standards used in the design, build and compliance process to construct safe, sustainable, affordable and resilient structures. Most U.S. communities and many global markets choose the International Codes.