Emergency Response Officials Flock to New York
Congressman Timothy Bishop was assisted by ICC Director of State and Local Government Relations Dorothy Harris and ICC VP of Congressional Relations Mark Dinneen at a hurricane-preparedness event in his district in the Town of Brookhaven. Also in attendance were ICC Board Director Ronald Piester and several ICC members from Suffolk County. Panelists included representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Coast Guard, National Weather Service, Red Cross, New York State Department of Transportation, and local emergency response officials. ICC provided Hurricane Preparedness Kits for each attendee, which help prepare for the impact of a hurricane and in dealing with the aftermath.

Harris (seventh from left) assists Congressman Bishop (far right) at a hurricane preparedness event.

ICC Membership Elects Officers

	New Board President Wally Bailey (center), Vice President Steven Shapiro (right) and Secretary/Treasurer Adolf Zubia.

Wally Bailey, Director of Development and Construction for the City of Fort Smith, Arkansas, was elected President of the ICC Board of Directors during yesterday's Annual Business Meeting. Steven I. Shapiro, Director of Codes Compliance for the City of Hampton, Virginia, was elected Vice President, and Adolf Zubia, Fire Chief for the City of Las Cruces, New Mexico, was elected Secretary/Treasurer. Members also elected six Directors.

Weiland Named ICC CEO

ICC CEO Weiland

The ICC Board of Directors promoted the association's Chief Operating Officer, Rick Weiland, to the position of Chief Executive Officer. Weiland succeeds James Lee Witt. Weiland has been ICC's COO for the past three years. "Obviously, I am very pleased with the Board's decision and ready to tackle the challenge of leading the International Code Council," Weiland said. "I will continue to reach out to members and stakeholders to ensure their voices are heard as we move forward."

Board of Directors Immediate Past President Henry Green introduced Weiland as the new CEO during the Opening Session of the 2006 ICC Annual Conference. "We're confident that Rick will, through his knowledge, skills and background, lead this organization and provide the type of leadership necessary to carry ICC into the future," Green told conference delegates.

“I am so excited, after an exhaustive, seven-month national search led by the number one executive search firm in the country that Rick has been asked by the ICC Board of Directors to serve as CEO,” Witt said. “He is a natural leader—dedicated, relentless, innovative—with a ‘can-do’ and ‘get-it-done’ approach. Like me, he has a passion for wanting to make the world a better and safer place to live and raise our families.”

New York’s Program a Model for the Nation
Since 2000, student housing fires in the U.S. have claimed 78 lives, according to the Center for Campus Fire Safety (CCFS). In New York, the Office of Fire Prevention and Control (NY OFPC) has worked hard to reduce this number by inspecting all private/public colleges and universities in the state, training college officials in fire safety, and distributing training guidelines for staff and students. “This enforcement is responsible for a 20-percent drop in fire-safety violations each year since 2003,” says Paul Martin, NY OFPC Deputy Chief. The NY OFPC has conducted more than 38,000 inspections and worked with campuses to mitigate more than 77,000 violations since 2003, resulting in zero fire-related campus deaths in New York since the program began.

36 Proposed Code Changes Submitted by New York
More than 120 registrants from New York attended the 2006 ICC Annual Business Meeting and Code Development Hearings, submitting 36 proposed code changes. Since NYS adopted the International Codes in 2002, New York has been actively participating in the code development hearings.

ICC Welcomes NY Chapters Aboard

(L-R) President Gene Jaques and VP Don Mekulik of the Tri-County NYSBOC, recently approved as a new ICC Chapter by the Board.

New York only recently adopted the 2000 version of the International Codes in 2002, and already it has 15 ICC Chapters. The Building Inspectors Association of Nassau County and the Tri-County Chapter of the New York State Building Officials Conference (NYSBOC) were both approved by the ICC Board on September 16, bringing the total number of New York ICC Chapters to 17.

The states in Region 6 (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont), known as the ICC Northeast Regional Coalition (NERC), have been actively meeting and were sworn in at ICC’s Annual Conference.

The newly installed Region 6 is recognized at ICC’s Annual Conference. Region 6 officers are Chairman Tim Nelson (Maine), Vice Chairman Jack Leyden (Rhode Island) and Secretary/Treasurer Wayne Cichon (New York).

NYSBOC Swears in New Blood at Conference

Past President Scott Copp congratulating incoming President Steven McDaniel.

The New York State Building Officials Conference (NYSBOC) held its annual conference September 10–12 in Niagara Falls, New York, where ICC Board Directors Ronald Piester and John Darnall had the privilege of swearing in new NYSBOC President Steven McDaniel and First Vice President Dan Casella, Second Vice President Wayne Cichon, Secretary/Treasurer Jim Morganson, and Historian Ed Cusato.

John Darnall swearing in NYSBOC Members. (L-R) John Darnall, First VP Dan Casella, Wayne Cichon, Secretary/Treasurer Jim Morganson, and Historian Ed Cusato.

NYC on Track for New I-Codes Legislation
Under the leadership of Commissioner Patricia Lancaster—and more than 400 volunteers who have given their time and expertise to establishing a new building code for the City of New York—the Department of Buildings is now in the process of drafting legislation to incorporate modifications to the 2003 International Building Code, International Residential Code, International Mechanical Code and International Fuel Gas Code. The legislation will be introduced to the NYC City Council Committee on Housing and Buildings in early 2007. The effective date of this legislation will be coordinated with the NYC Plumbing Code based upon the International Plumbing Code so that all aspects of the new building code for the City of New York will be implemented at the same time.

Governor Pataki Signs School Inspection Legislation
As a result of building and fire officials traveling to Albany during Building Safety Week to lobby for some important legislation, A.877/S.3803A passed both Houses of the Legislature and was signed by Governor Pataki on July 26. Chapter 165 provides that school buildings may be inspected for fire safety purposes by persons certified by the state to enforce the Uniform Code, and that schools may not deny entry to such a person. Read more on this important legislation.

For Those Who Have Answered the Last Alarm
Each year since 1998, the New York State Fallen Firefighters Committee, Inc., has conducted a ceremony honoring the firefighters who have died in the line of duty. The NYS Fallen Firefighters Memorial, located at the Empire State Plaza in Albany, includes a sculpture and memorial wall inscribed with the names of firefighters who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

The 2006 Memorial Ceremony will pay tribute to the 19 firefighters who gave their lives in 2005. It will also pay tribute to an additional six firefighters who have been brought to our attention as names to be added for previous years. This year’s Ceremony will be held on Tuesday, October 10.

NYC Engineer Receives 2006 NSPE Award
The prestigious National Society of Professional Engineer’s (NSPE) Award is presented to an engineer who has made outstanding contributions to the engineering profession, public welfare or humankind. This year’s recipient— George J. Tamaro, P.E., Hon.M.ASCE—is an expert on underground works and slurry walls. His experience proved invaluable when he was summoned to save the World Trade Center structural system from collapse following the September 11 tragedy; working quickly to keep the basement walls in place while rescue efforts continued.

NY Author Covers Housing Accessibility Errors
An in-depth feature article, “Common Mistakes in Housing Accessibility” recently appeared in ICC’s Building Safety Journal. Co-authored by NY Accessibility Inspector/Plans Examiner Brian Black and ICC Senior Staff Architect Kimberly Paarlberg, the article examines common mistakes in housing accessibility design as regulated by the 2006 International Building Code and ICC/American National Standards Institute Standard A117.1-2003, Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities (ICC A117.1). Black is President of BDBlack Codes, Inc., in Perry, New York, and currently chairs the A117 Task Group on Technical Requirements for Dwelling Units.