NEWS RELEASE


For Immediate Release
January 2, 2001

For further information, contact:
Lawrence Brown, C.B.O.
Program Manager
(703) 931-4533
E-mail: lbrown@iccsafe.org

ICC to Develop New Safety Standards
* Call for Committee Members *

 

The ICC Board of Directors has approved the development of five new safety standards for the built environment. They are the Standard for Determining Impact Resistance from Windborne Debris, Standard for Determining Wind Resistance of Concrete or Clay Roof Tiles, Standard on Soil Expansion, Standard for Hurricane Resistant Residential Construction, and the ICC Amusement Device Code.. These standards are intended to work in conjunction with the ICC International Building Code (IBC)TM, and other model building codes.

These standards will be developed under the ANSI approved Consensus Procedures of the International Code Council. ICC is accepting applications for membership on these committees. Interested parties are encouraged to obtain an application form from the ICC Web site at www.iccsafe.org, or by calling ICC at 703-931-4533.

The Standard for Determining Impact Resistance from Windborne Debris will specify test methods for evaluating the performance of exterior windows, doors, curtain walls, and impact protective systems subjected to simulations of debris impacts expected during a high wind event. The standard will use the latest available research in this area and will also specify acceptance criteria for proposed products or systems.

The Standard for Determining Wind Resistance of Concrete or Clay Roof Tiles will specify test methods for evaluating the overturning resistance and performance of roof tile in high wind events.

The Standard on Soil Expansion will be a test methodology for evaluating the expansive characteristics of particular type of soil. The resulting test procedures will permit an Expansion Index to be specified, which will be a measure of the expansive characteristics of a soil.

The Standard for Hurricane Resistant Construction will specify prescriptive methodologies of wind resistant design and construction details for buildings of wood framed, concrete, masonry, or steel framed construction sited in hurricane prone regions. The wind loads and construction criteria used to develop the prescriptive details will be based on the requirements of the IBCTM. This standard will provide prescriptive details for walls, floors, roofs, foundations, windows, doors, and any other applicable component of construction.

The ICC Amusement Device Code will be based on the SBCCI Standard Amusement Device Code - 1997, and other similar documents already in use throughout the industry. The standard will provide minimum requirements to safeguard the public health, safety and general welfare through requirements for the installation, construction, alteration, repair, removal, operation, and use of amusement rides and devices.

The ICC was founded in 1994 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing a single set of comprehensive and coordinated national model construction codes. The founders of the ICC are Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc. (BOCA), International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO), and Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc. (SBCCI). Since the early part of this century, these nonprofit organizations have developed the three sets of model codes used throughout the United States.

 

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