Gov. Bush kicks off joint mitigation campaign. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush recently kicked off a joint mitigation awareness campaign with the Federal Alliance for Safe Housing (FLASH). The campaign includes television public service announcements in English and Spanish, radio spots, direct mailing and Bush's letters to governors in hurricane states introducing and reinforcing the value of working with FLASH.

Florida legislator calls for stronger building codes. After touring the damage left behind by Hurricane Dennis, House Speaker Allan Bense called for an end to the Florida Panhandle's exemption from tougher building codes. Bense said Hurricanes Ivan and Dennis have shown that the Panhandle is as susceptible to hurricanes as any other part of the state. Currently, new homes in the Panhandle do not need to be built with hurricane shutters or impactresistant glass like the rest of the state. Homebuilders defend the exemption, arguing that a lot of the damage caused by hurricanes in the Panhandle is due to flooding, which building codes cannot address.

Student's death may prompt code change. Following the death of a 21-year-old Penn State student in an April house fire, State College, Pennsylvania, is considering building code changes that would eliminate grandfather clauses on rental properties. Recommendations include requiring individual smoke detectors in every bedroom and on every floor of rental properties, two escape routes from third- and some second-floor rooms and increasing the frequency of building inspections. The local Council President also wants mandatory sprinkler systems on all two-story rental properties. The student's family is also pushing for the changes.

Utah schools tackling fire threat. Following a recent fire that gutted a Salt Lake junior high that had no fire sprinklers, state school officials are pointing out improvements that are planned to prevent recurrences at other schools. In fact, school officials say the improvements were in the works long before the recent fire and include a $140 million bond issue to install fire sprinklers and using new technology called "analog addressable monitors," which automatically alert authorities when smoke is detected or alarms sound. Click here to read more.


Builders sue Montana County.
The Helena Building Industry and 24 construction firms sued Lewis and Clark County over its revised subdivision regulations. The builders oppose new fire protection rules, which include higher fees paid to volunteer fire departments, increased water flow for firefighting and in-house sprinklers.

Member appointed to Georgia Board. Morgan D. Wheeler, a C.B.O. for Walton County and ICC member, has been appointed to the Georgia State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors. The board, created by the state legislature last year, regulates the licensure of residential and general contractors and is composed of 14 members who are appointed by Gov. Sonny Perdue. Wheeler also serves as president of the Building Officials Association of Georgia.

New WTC design unveiled. Owners of the World Trade Center site recently unveiled their modified design for the new structure that is to be built on the property. The new design was in response to calls by the NYC Police Department that the original proposal put the building too close to a major street, leaving it vulnerable to a truck bomb. The Freedom Tower, as it is being called, will rise 1,776 feet with a footprint measuring 200 feet by 200 feet-the same size as the footprints of the original Twin Towers. For more information, click here.

Chicago site of ASHRAE 2006 Winter Meeting. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) will hold its 2006 Winter Meeting in Chicago on Jan. 21-25. The meeting will be held in conjunction with the AHR Expo, Jan. 23-25. For more information about the 2006 Winter Meeting, click here. For more information about the AHR Expo, click here.

ASHRAE POCKET GUIDE FOR AIR-CONDITIONING, HEATING, VENTILATION AND REFRIGERATION: 2005 Ed.
#9305S05     $42.00     $37.50
This reference provides fast, authoritative HVAC&R information on the spot. It is packed with practical and useful information that fits in a shirt or vest pocket and is designed for immediate use. This edition, revised and expanded for 2005, includes properties performance and pipe sizing for new refrigerants, new data on refrigeration safety, ventilation requirements for residential and non-residential occupancies, occupant thermal comfort, more extensive data on sound and vibration control, thermal storage, radiant panel heating and cooling, air-to-air recover and more. Data are included from the new ASHRAE Fundamentals Handbook 2005 and from 2004 ASHRAE Standards 15, 55, 62.1 and 62.2. Soft cover, 272 pages.

PLACING REINFORCING BARS, 8TH EDITION

#9167S8     $40.00     $36.00
This unique and popular book presents the best accepted current practices in placing reinforcing bars. It is written for apprentices, journeymen ironworkers, and inspectors. It is a definitive resource for preparing provisions in project specifications. Eighteen heavily illustrated chapters cover materials, handling bars at the jobsite, general principles for bar placing, splicing and tying, placing bars in footings, walls, columns, floors, roofs, pavements and highway structures, and coated reinforcing bars.

MOISTURE CONTROL HANDBOOK: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES FOR RESIDENTIAL AND SMALL COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS

9293H     $90.00     $81.00
In the climate-controlled buildings of today, moisture problems affect not only the useable life expectancy of the structure, but the comfort and health of the occupants. This reference is the first to apply up-to-date moisture control and treatment techniques in a problem/solution format.
Opening with an introductory explanation of the nature and causes of mold, mildew and condensation, the book gives specific advice on heated, cooled, and combination environments, plus a short course in the dynamics of moisture movement within buildings. Moisture Control Handbook will be welcomed by building contractors, architects, mechanical engineers, building science researchers, building product manufacturers, homeowners, and small commercial building owners. Hardbound, 232 pages.

ICC on the ROAD

September 13-15
Oklahoma Municipal League Conference & Expo Tulsa, OK

September 14-16
NYSBOC New York, NY

September 15-17
AIA Ohio Valley Regional Conference Indianapolis, IN

September 15-17
TSA Design Products & Ideas Conference San Antonio, TX

September 22-25
Illinois Municipal League
Chicago, IL

September 23
AIA Louisiana Shreveport, LA

September 25-26
IAPMO Conference & Expo Albuquerque, Mexico

September 25-28
ICMA Minneapolis, MN

September 28-October 2
ICC Annual Conference Detroit, MI

ICC ePARTNERS
Volume 1, Issue 5
August 18, 2005

ICC Vision and Mission Statements

Vision
Protecting the health, safety, and welfare of people by creating better buildings and safer communities.

Mission
Providing the highest quality codes, standards, products, and services for all concerned with the safety and performance of the built environment.

Witt hosts Thailand ambassador in Arkansas

CEO James Lee Witt recently toured northwest Arkansas and Little Rock with Thailand Ambassador Kasit Piromya. Witt led the delegation in meetings with business leaders, including Wal-Mart International and the University of Arkansas, state officials and members of Congress.

The purpose of the trip was to assist Thailand with growing its economy in support of its continuing efforts to build back better and safer following December's devastating tsunami.

ICC seeks to grow disaster
response volunteer database

Michael Reiger/FEMA

Staff member named to NY health care facilities commission

Dottie Harris

ICC's Dottie Harris of Government Relations has been named a regional member of the New York Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century, Governor George Pataki announced. The new commission, comprised of appointed and regional members, was created to examine the needs and capacities of the state's health care system and make recommendations to right-size hospitals and nursing homes. Harris, who formally served as Deputy Secretary of State of New York, will represent the northern region.

New analyst joins team

Elise Craig

Elise Craig recently joined the ICC team as the new General Analyst. Her principle responsibilities will include the production and analysis of data or information that impacts ICC's business, the facilitation of new initiatives and special projects, support for the development, analysis and execution of the ICC's strategic plan, and other organizational opportunities.

Craig's professional work history includes experience as a Financial Analyst and Business Analyst. She will perform strategic business research and analysis on a wide variety of topics and be responsible for production of operational reports along with other duties. In this capacity she will serve as a resource for the ICC Senior Management Team in the execution of the Blueprint to the Future project.

NFPA 5000 references ICC standard

To address accessibility issues, NFPA 5000 now references ICC/ANSI A117.1, American National Standards for Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities, and the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines. An NFPA staffer says incorporating the two documents into Chapter 12 of NFPA 5000 reflects everything that relates to accessibility.

Virginia moves forward with I-Code adoption

At a recent meeting, the Virginia Structural Advisory Committee voted to amend the Virginia Program Guide by substituting the International Building Code for the Uniform Building Code and adding "with the exception of NFPA 5000" after "Virginia shall adhere to but not be limited to the use of the NFPA Codes and Standards."

Other related recommendations were: (1) Within the next year, Virginia shall develop modifications to the IBC that are specific to state facilities; and (2) The state shall commit the necessary resources to provide input into the ICC code development process.

ICC provides additional support to help fast track adoption efforts in California

ICC is providing additional support for the California code adoption effort by offering free transition training to staff members of the California Building Standards Commission and other key state agencies.

ICC's Doug Thornburg, Director of Product Development, spent Aug. 9 with key commission and agency staff addressing the Fire and Life Safety Provisions of the IBC. Last month, Rick Carroll, Manager of Electronic Media, spent a half day training state staff on the proper use of ICC's electronic products and services. In addition, an overview was provided on ways technology could be used to help streamline the code development and publishing process.

ICC Log Standard addressed in
Wall Street Journal article

A recent article by The Wall Street Journal discusses the ups and downs of building, owning and maintaining a log home. The Journal talked with ICC Senior Staff Engineer Marc Nard, Secretariat of the Log Standard Committee. The article can be read by clicking here.

ICC's 2005 training schedule has reached a milestone with 1,003 days of contract, chapter, open enrollment, institute, conference and adoption support training on the schedule for the remainder of the year. With more than five months remaining in 2005, this number is sure to grow. There have been a total of 29,110 participants in a day of ICC training in the first half of the year, with 25,091 attending classrooms and 3,019 participating in online courses.

ICC and the Association of Minnesota Building Officials (AMBO) begin development of exam. ICC and AMBO recently signed an agreement to jointly develop a Minnesota Plumbing Inspector certification, which will be administered through ICC as a new "Legacy Certification." The certification examination will be based on Minnesota's plumbing code and will be designed to ensure smooth transition of certified inspectors into ICC's national plumbing inspector certification program when the state adopts the IPC. The Exam Development Committee began work this month with an anticipated implementation date in early 2006.

An Education Provider partnership with the United Spinal Association has been finalized, creating a partnership for the delivery of accessibility training. ICC is also working on the final details of a relationship with Accela Corp. This will provide greater exposure for ICC’s training efforts in California.

The Curriculum Development group recently completed four new titles: 2005 FBC Accessibility and Usability based on the Florida Building Code, ICC's Guide to Delivering Effective Training, 2003 IPC Transition from the 1997 UPC, and the online course, 2003 IBC Accessibility.

Conference planning is well underway, with 22 educational sessions being offered along with the Cracker Barrel event, which will feature 40 tables. The request from Government Relations for presentation and media training is moving forward, tentatively scheduled to occur the last week of October, to be delivered by Training and Education and Communications staff. Administratively, the automated seminar evaluation system is nearing completion, which will allow ICC to process the 50,000-plus seminar evaluations received annually more effectively, and to better use the resulting data.

ICC training was everywhere in June. With 119 days of training delivered in locations ranging from the U.S. Virgin Islands to the Pentagon to Carson City, Nevada, staff and contract instructors were put to the test as chapters received 18 Education Benefit Days and ICC delivered 21 Open Enrollment Seminars, 62.5 contracts, 11.5 Adoption Support Days in Arizona, and six days delivered through ICC education providers S.K. Ghosh and SSTC.

The adoption support training initiative for Phoenix was completed in June with 42 days of training delivered at no charge to the city. Phoenix officials were so pleased with the results that a thank you note was sent to the seminar coordinator and they offered to provide a letter of recognition for the quality training and customer service that was provided.

Training and Education was awarded a contract for $84,000 from the State of Connecticut and a $30,000 contract for Jamaicans who will attend training in Miami this month.

The following new proposals were sent in June:

BOAF: Event management for the annual conference. Ohio Board of Building Standards: Event management for the Ohio Code Academy. Jamaica: An eight-day Train-The-Trainer event to be held in Miami. EduCode: Event management for education.

TECHNICAL SERVICES

ICC works with DoE to address hydrogen safety. ICC, through its Hydrogen Ad-Hoc Committee (AHC H2G), has worked collaboratively with the U.S. Department of Energy and the Office of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Infrastructure Technology to address hydrogen safety. Support has focused on addressing the safe use of hydrogen as a fuel in motor vehicle-related infrastructure such as service stations, repair garages and parking garages, and in portable utilization and power generating scenarios. The AHC continues to work together to review current codes and standards applicable to hydrogen and propose changes to the International Building, Fire, Fuel Gas and Mechanical Codes as needed. For more information, click here.

Staff newsletter wins award. ICC Connections, the staff newsletter, won an Award of Excellence in the APEX 17th Annual Awards for Publication Excellence contest. ICC's media kit for its print publications won the same award for its division, as well. There were more than 5,000 entries in the nationwide contest.

FEMA partners with ICC Foundation on reducing flood loss. The Foundation received a contribution from FEMA of nearly 4,000 copies of the newly released publication, Reducing Flood Losses Through the International Code Series: Meeting the Requirements of the NFIP, to distribute to building departments. This FEMA guide assists communities in initiating or continuing participation in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). ICC's Marketing Department is working with Government Relations staff to identify chapters in flood regions, and then shipping the publication for chapters to distribute to building departments that need them the most.

ICC-ES works to reinforce its relationship with report holders. The Industry Advisory Committee (IAC) Task Group on ICC-ES recently met with ICC-ES senior leadership to discuss how a more positive relationship might be fostered between report holders and staff. The primary concern involved what was perceived as ICC-ES' disregard for consensus industry standards referenced in the IBC. Frank discussions during the meeting brought out the need for better communication between the two groups. The discussion was extremely timely with Jerry Keenan of Achieve Global currently working on the special ES project on customer service that includes an emphasis on communication, both verbal and written. Keenan will be in contact with this group later this month to seek input. The group also expressed the need for an IAC that was specifically directed to ICC-ES, given that the current ICC IAC Committee is unable to focus on ES items important to the building industry along with ICC functions.

Staff meets with French counterpart. Kurt Stochlia, Vice President for External Operations, recently met with the CSTB, a French organization similar to ICC-ES, but much larger with extensive testing operations and impact on the European community. The subject involved ongoing discussions about concrete anchors in cracked and uncracked concrete and resolution of requirements in American Concrete Institute publications. The ultimate goal is harmonizing detailed requirements for concrete anchors in the U.S. and Europe to benefit manufacturers holding ICC-ES reports who market internationally.

CEO James Lee Witt and COO Rick Weiland appreciate your feedback on this enewsletter. Please send your comments to Dominic Sims, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, 1-888-ICC-SAFE (422-7233), ext. 5267.

For more information on ICC’s Strategic Partners, Supporting Organizations and Participating Organizations, click here.

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