For
further information, contact:
Sara C. Yerkes
Vice President of Public Policy
E-mail: Yerkes@iccsafe.org
Or
Sergio Barrueto
Manager of International Services
E-mail: barrueto@icbo.org
President Bush Signs International Code Council Initiative to Improve Building Safety and Save Lives in Latin America
The Foreign Relations
Authorization Act recently signed into law by President George W. Bush
includes legislation initiated by the International Code Council (ICC)
aimed at improving building safety in Latin America.
Included in the Authorization
Act (H.R. 1646 now Public Law 107-228) is the Code and Safety for the
Americas Act (CASA Act). The CASA Act provides humanitarian aid that will
allow for the construction of safer homes, schools and buildings, and
will provide train-the-trainer programs in Ecuador, El Salvador and other
Latin American countries. Safer construction will save lives and reduce
economic losses from building disasters. The legislation authorizes the
United States Agency for International Development (U.S. AID) to provide
grants or enter contracts with organizations that can help improve building
safety in the eligible countries.
ICC, a nonprofit
organization and leading U.S. authority on building safety, submitted
the humanitarian aid proposal to Senator Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.)
and Representative Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn) . The legislation was introduced
in July 2001.
"This legislation
will save lives, lessen the damage caused by future disasters, and illustrate
our good will toward our Latin American allies while proving to be cost-effective
for the United States through decreased aid following future disasters,"
said Senator Dodd in his statement introducing the CASA Act. In a letter
to his colleagues Senator Dodd recognized the importance of building codes
and certified construction products and systems. "Most countries
in Latin America lack uniform, tested building codes... Over the past
few years, the International Code Council has unified the various regional
American building codes into one comprehensive text that serves as the
code of record for the United States."
The World Bank and
U.S. Geological Survey have calculated that the economic losses accrued
world-wide in the 1990s as the result of natural disasters could have
been reduced by as much as $280 billion by investing just $40 billion
in risk-reduction strategies.
"A 6.2-magnitude
earthquake that struck Guatemala City in 1976 killed over 22,000 people
whereas a 7.1-magnitude quake in San Francisco in 1989 resulted in only
63 fatalities. The difference in lives lost is due to one simple reason:
disaster preparation using the modern, proven building codes that have
been implemented in the U.S. since 1927 in conjunction with comprehensive
training and certification programs" said Stephen Forneris, AIA,
an architect who was instrumental in developing the ICC proposal for the
CASA Act that was sent to Congress.
ICC develops the
International Codes, a comprehensive and coordinated family of
building safety codes that are regularly updated to reflect the latest
advances in building safety, research and technology. Codes developed
by the ICC and its member building safety organizations are used in 97%
of American cities, counties and states that adopt and enforce building
codes. The ICC provides training and certification for professionals in
the building industry and evaluates building materials to ensure code
compliance and public safety
"The ICC has
offices in Argentina and Puerto Rico and is working closely with the building
industry and governments throughout Latin America. The ICC has also developed
strong relationships with U.S. based Hispanic organizations" said
Sergio M. Barrueto, P.E., Manager of International Services for ICC. In
September, the ICC signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S.
Hispanic Contractors Association that will promote construction safety
across the United States. In 2000, the ICC was recognized by the U.S.
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for work that benefits both Hispanic and
non-Hispanic construction companies. "The ICC brings building safety
experts together from all over the world to develop the highest standard
of building safety. We are proud to be a part of this historical legislation
that will enable us to better serve our Hispanic constituents in both
Latin America and the U.S.," said Bob Heinrich, Chief Executive Officer
for ICC.
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 the last century, these nonprofit organizations have developed
the three sets of model codes used throughout the United States.
