Secure your spot at the Plan Review Institute

Make your plans now for the Plan Review Institute, Oct. 2-6 in Chicago. This five-day event is based on the 2015 International Codes and will include interactive exercises that detail best practices for performing residential, structural and nonstructural plan reviews. Read more.

The Code Council Ramps Up Help to the Victims of Hurricane Harvey

In order to help those in areas affected by Hurricane Harvey, the International Code Council is pledging to match member, staff and stakeholder donations up to $64,000, made during the next three weeks, to the American Red Cross. We are an association of 64,000 members and counting, and together we can make a difference. Read more

The Code Council Ramps Up Help to the Victims of Hurricane Harvey

The Code Council Ramps Up Help to the Victims of Hurricane Harvey

Hurricane Harvey has caused billions of dollars in damage and driven thousands of people from their homes. Subsequent flooding has produced dangerous conditions in southeast Texas and Louisiana. According to CNN, federal officials are predicting that the storm will drive 30,000 people to shelters, and 450,000 victims will seek some sort of disaster assistance. Many are still in danger, and rescue efforts are ongoing.

In order to help those in the affected areas, the International Code Council is pledging to match member, staff and stakeholder donations up to $64,000, made during the next three weeks, to the American Red Cross. We are an association of 64,000 members and counting, and together we can make a difference.

The American Red Cross is onsite helping thousands of people affected by the storm. They have shelter supplies on the ground in Texas for more than 34,000 people, with additional supplies en route. As of Monday, more than half of their emergency response fleet had been mobilized.

Additional help is still needed, and now is the time to give. Although many of us have dealt with the aftermath of disasters in the past, the devastation we’re seeing in the wake of this hurricane is particularly difficult to fathom. The scope of the damage and the sheer number of people affected is staggering. We all need to come together to help our fellow building safety professionals, friends and the public in this time of great need. Click here to donate to the Red Cross today and ICC will match your contribution.

Besides financial support, one immediate need is housing. Code officials and other volunteers will be actively engaged in post-disaster damage assessments for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, without more housing, the number of volunteers that the local jurisdictions can accept is severely limited. ICC is establishing the Hurricane Harvey Code Heroes Housing Network. The network will connect volunteers with available rooms in the area. Stay tuned for more information about this effort.

The Code Council is mobilizing to help in other ways as well. Our staff are working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, code officials and members in Texas, and other experts to provide support as needed and to begin the process of assessing damage in the search for lessons to make communities more resilient.

As the situation develops, there may be a need for more volunteers to help with damage assessment, building and plumbing/mechanical inspections and other code-related functions in the impacted area. If you’re interested in being on the list of potential volunteers, please add your name to ICC’s Disaster Response Network (DRN). Thank you to those who have already registered.

If you are the authority having jurisdiction in an affected area and your community is in need of help from the DRN, please contact Karla Higgs, ICC Vice President of Member Services, at 888-422-7233, ext. 5268, or volunteer@iccsafe.org.

Once the immediate dangers have passed, ICC staff will work with our partners on lessons learned to improve our building codes and standards. To learn more, please contact Mike Pfeiffer, ICC Senior Vice President of Technical Services, at 888-422-7233, ext. 4338, or mpfeiffer@iccsafe.org.

Best Regards,

Dwayne Garriss
President
ICC Board of Directors

Dominic Sims, CBO
Chief Executive Officer
International Code Council

Hurricane Safety and Resources

Hurricane Resources and Information

Hurricanes can carry sustained winds of 160 mph, certainly more than building codes can handle to prevent all damage. Along with the devastating winds are storm surges that can ravage populated areas with 10 feet or more of water for miles inland.

The International Code Council and its members have stood ready to help through its Disaster Response Alliance of building safety professionals who volunteer to help jurisdictions that request aid with building damage assessment, building inspections and other code-related functions in disaster areas. Code Council members also assist devastated communities with post-disaster building plans reviews, inspections and permit operations through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact EMAC.

Hurricanes and natural disasters of all kinds create a variety of needs. The American Red Cross is at the ready to mobilize in various communities to provide shelter, clothes, food – whatever is needed.

Donate to the American Red Cross.

Click here to download the PDF.

Resources to help prepare for, and deal with, the devastation of hurricanes

The Code Council partnered with the FEMA Building Science Branch on these free online courses:

Questions? Contact us.

How solar energy helps save money — and the future

The U.S. solar energy market is booming and demand for solar is at an all-time high. Code officials have a critical role in ensuring safe solar system installation. A new training course is helping building designers and code enforcement staff to add solar expertise to their list of qualifications. Read more.

Dow’s Amy Schmidt Joins Alliance for National & Community Resilience Board of Directors

blankblankICC on YouTube blankTweet This blankSend to Linkedin blankSend to Facebook blankblank blankICC Codes & Standards Discussion Forum
ICC News Release
For Immediate Release
August 29, 2017
www.iccsafe.org
Contact: Whitney Doll
(202) 568-1798
wdoll@iccsafe.org

Contact: Jessica Robinson
(989) 638-8066
jlrobinson@dow.com

Contact: Mike Heymsfield
(650) 762-2847
mike.heymsfield@edelman.com

Dow’s Amy Schmidt Joins Alliance for National & Community Resilience Board of Directors

Dow confirms sponsorship to establish building and other benchmark standards for community resiliency 

Washington, D.C. – The Alliance for National & Community Resilience (ANCR) and Dow Building & Construction (DB&C), a business group of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW), today announced that Amy Schmidt, advocacy manager with Dow Building & Construction, has joined with the International Code Council, Target Corporation and other key stakeholders in an appointment to the ANCR Board of Directors. ANCR (pronounced “anchor”) is a coalition aimed at improving resiliency and implementing good community practices in towns and cities across the United States, helping cities prevent infrastructure failure caused by natural and other disasters, thereby avoiding negative social, economic and welfare repercussions caused by such damages. ANCR’s primary objective is the development of a system of community benchmarks – the first system of its kind in the United States – that will allow local leaders to easily assess and improve their resilience across all functions of a community.

Schmidt’s appointment to the Board of Directors is a continuation of Dow’s and ANCR’s goal of creating policy that improves the lives of individuals in communities. As a newly appointed board member, Schmidt will work directly with ANCR and use her expertise in construction, government affairs, chemistry and design to establish benchmarks that will be used by resilient communities to prevent infrastructure failure following natural and manmade adverse events.

“We are thrilled and honored to work alongside the International Code Council in their commitment to organize a nationwide coalition to establish the country’s very first whole community metric for resilience,” says Greg Bergtold, advocacy director for DB&C. “We see great value in contributing both monetary and human resources, like Amy, to seed this coalition’s success.”

Schmidt joins ANCR’s founding Board members who include resilience policy experts and public officials from the city of New York and the District of Columbia among others.

“Amy Schmidt is an active and valued member of our Corporate Advisory Council, and we’re excited to welcome her to the Board of Directors,” said Maj. General (Ret.) Warren C. Edwards, board chairman for ANCR. “Dow’s generous sponsorship and sustainability expertise are absolutely critical to achieving our goal of supporting and educating communities across the United States.”

Dow and ANCR welcome others who are interested in lending their unique experience, resources and expertise to the work of analyzing community needs and developing practical benchmarks to aid in the creation of robust communities that thrive in both good and bad circumstances.

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About the Alliance for National & Community Resilience (ANCR)

ANCR, a coalition of public and private entities founded by the International Code Council, the Meridian Institute and the U.S. Resiliency Council, is working to create the nation’s first whole-community resilience benchmark. Visit www.ResilientAlliance.org to learn more about this new initiative and get involved.

About Dow

Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company is driving innovations that extract value from material, polymer, chemical and biological science to help address many of the world’s most challenging problems, such as the need for fresh food, safer and more sustainable transportation, clean water, energy efficiency, more durable infrastructure, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow’s integrated, market-driven portfolio delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in 175 countries and in high-growth sectors such as packaging, infrastructure, transportation, consumer care, electronics, and agriculture. In 2016, Dow had annual sales of $48 billion and employed approximately 56,000 people worldwide. The Company’s more than 7,000 product families are manufactured at 189 sites in 34 countries across the globe. References to “Dow” or the “Company” mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com..

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Free webinar showcases powerful codes tool

Join us for a 60-minute free webinar offering a walkthrough of the features found on ICC’s digital library premiumACCESS. Learn how to use this powerful online tool to get the most out of the codes. The next webinar is Aug. 30 at 12:00 p.m. CDT. Read more.

IS-BLE/ICC 300 Standard development committee meeting

Bleachers and grandstands can present a risk. People may fall and injure themselves while walking on bleachers when there are missing or inadequate bleacher components to assist in access and egress, such as aisles and handrails. It’s important to help ensure that bleacher-related incidents do not occur. Join ICC’s Kimberly Paarlberg on August 29 for a teleconference on the ICC Consensus Committee on Bleacher Safety (IS-BLE). Read more.