Washington, D.C. –  On April 28, U.S. President Biden proclaimed May 2023 as National Building Safety Month in the U.S. and its territories, encouraging citizens, government agencies, businesses, non-profits, and other interested groups to join in activities that highlight building safety.

Every May, the International Code Council observes Building Safety Month to raise awareness among individuals, families, and businesses about the importance of constructing and maintaining safe and sustainable structures around the world. The themes of Building Safety Month reinforce that:

• Adopting modern building codes and standards is critical to keeping people safe.
• Building safety is everyone’s responsibility and there are ways to get involved.
• Disaster preparedness saves lives and ensures a safer future.

“We need to do more to help everyone prepare for and prevent disasters; to promote building safety; and to support our too-often overlooked engineers, construction workers, and code enforcement inspectors, who do so much every day to keep Americans safe,” stated President Biden. 

“Building Safety Month calls attention to the hard work of building safety professionals that build, design, and inspect our buildings to ensure the comfort and safety of their occupants,” said International Code Council CEO, Dominic Sims, CBO. “We greatly appreciate the U.S. Administration’s support for this initiative, which helps foster collaboration across the industry and reinforces the importance of adopting and implementing up-to-date codes and standards.”

Building Safety Month will be celebrated this year with five weekly themes:

1. Building Safety Starts at Home
2. Building Safety Professionals and You
3. Prepare Your Community
4. Advocate for Your Community
5. Solving Global Challenges Together

Each week, the Code Council will provide resources and information to educate industry professionals, policymakers and the public. Communities around the world have begun to issue proclamations declaring May 2023 as Building Safety Month. Proclamations can be viewed or submitted here.

View the presidential proclamation here.

More information about Building Safety Month, including downloadable resources, can be found at www.buildingsafetymonth.org.

To participate in Building Safety Month:

• Join us on social media and help spread the word. #BuildingSafety365
• Download the promotional toolkit to promote Building Safety Month.
• Discover resources for planning Building Safety Month events.

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About the International Code Council
The International Code Council is the leading global source of model codes and standards and building safety solutions. Code Council codes, standards and solutions are used to ensure safe, affordable and sustainable communities and buildings worldwide.

Washington, D.C. – The International Code Council has announced the establishment of its Oceania regional office in Canberra, Australia, led by Neil Savery, Managing Director of ICC Oceania. The regional office brings the diverse services, skills and expertise of the International Code Council’s family of solutions to Australia and New Zealand to help promote building safety through collaboration with local authorities and the provision of solutions for practitioners within the building sector. Many of the International Code Council’s solutions, particularly those relating to conformity assessment through ICC Evaluation Service (ICC-ES), will address unmet needs in the region.  

“The solutions and expertise available from the International Code Council have the potential to make a huge impact in Australia, which is experiencing regulatory reform following a series of high-profile building failures,” said Savery. “The product certifications and expert opinions available from ICC-ES have the potential to reframe the system under which innovative products and designs are assessed both in Australia and New Zealand.” 

Savery comes to ICC Oceania from the Australian Building Codes Board, where he served as Chief Executive Officer for nine years. “We are pleased to have Neil leading our operations in Oceania,” said International Code Council CEO Dominic Sims, CBO. “His deep knowledge of the building regulations and stakeholders in Australia coupled with his passion to improve building safety will greatly benefit our partners in the region.”   

The scope of service ICC-ES includes accreditations for product evaluation to the Australian and New Zealand building codes, which enables the use of Evaluation Service Reports (referred to as Evaluation Service Appraisal reports in the Oceania markets) as evidence of compliance with the Australian National Construction Code and the New Zealand Building Code.  

ICC-ES is a JASANZ (Joint Accreditation Service of Australia and New Zealand) accredited Conformity Assessment Body for the WaterMark Certification Scheme, to serve plumbing product manufacturers marketing their products in Australia and recognized in New Zealand.  

“Having a physical presence in the region allows for closer engagement with the regulatory authorities, manufacturers, design specifiers, and building officials and enables us to bring ICC conformity assessment solutions to markets that need them,” said Shahin Moinian, P.E., Executive Vice President of the International Code Council Conformity Assessment Group. “At ICC-ES, we believe that what we do helps save lives, and our work provides this benefit in Australia and New Zealand just as much as it does in the United States.” 

For more information about how to access the International Code Council family of solutions in the Oceania region, including contact information for the International Code Council’s Oceania regional office, visit www.iccsafe.org/oceania. 

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About the International Code Council 
The International Code Council is the leading global source of model codes and standards and building safety solutions. Code Council codes, standards and solutions are used to ensure safe, affordable and sustainable communities and buildings worldwide. 

About ICC Evaluation Service 
ICC Evaluation Service (ICC-ES) is the leading evaluation service for innovative building materials, components and systems. ICC-ES Evaluation Reports (ESRs), Building Product Listings and PMG Listings provide evidence that products and systems meet requirements of codes and technical standards worldwide, including the US, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and the MENA region. ICC-ES is a member of the ICC family of solutions. 

Washington, D.C. – The International Code Council and the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance (PHTA) have combined efforts to publish the ANSI/PHTA/ICC-2 2023 American National Standard for Public Pool and Spa Operations and Maintenance (PHTA-2). Using an open, rigorous, and ANSI-accredited development process, PHTA-2 was developed by a balanced group of subject matter experts, designed with the end user in mind. 

This new landmark aquatics standard provides public health officials, industry professionals and code officials with an easily adoptable set of guidelines for the operation and maintenance of all types of public aquatic venues. 

“This new standard will play an important role in keeping our public pools and spas safe for all communities,” said Code Council Chief Executive Officer Dominic Sims, CBO. “Both of our organizations understand the importance of consistently working towards updating and creating new codes and standards for swimming pools and spas, and we will continue to collaborate with PHTA to provide the resources that the building safety community and our members rely on.”   

PHTA-2 focuses on critical areas including inspections, operating permits, water quality, hygiene facilities, indoor/outdoor environment and other requirements. It is based on engineering principles, scientific tenets and industry standards of care. 

“The ANSI approval and publication of PHTA-2 is a huge win for our industry,” says Sabeena Hickman, CAE, President and CEO of PHTA. “This standard is the result of hundreds of hours of volunteer work and is a significant move toward healthy and safe aquatics venues.” 

The ANSI/PHTA/ICC-2 2023 American National Standard for Public Pool and Spa Operations and Maintenance is available for purchase here. 

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About the International Code Council 
The International Code Council is the leading global source of model codes and standards and building safety solutions. Code Council codes, standards and solutions are used to ensure safe, affordable and sustainable communities and buildings worldwide. 

About the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance  
The Pool & Hot Tub Alliance (PHTA) is a non-profit organization that supports, promotes and protects the common interests of the $36.5B pool, hot tub and spa industry. PHTA provides education, advocacy, standards development, research and market growth to increase members’ professionalism, knowledge and profitability. 

Washington D.C. – The International Code Council and ASHRAE announced that an advisory public review is open for a proposed joint greenhouse gas (GHG) evaluation standard. 

Proposed ASHRAE/ICC Standard 240P – Evaluating Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and Carbon Emissions in Building Design, Construction and Operation is open for comment from April 21, 2023, to May 21, 2023. Drafts are posted and comments can be made at osr.ashrae.org. 

The purpose of Standard 240P is to provide a methodology to quantify and document GHG emissions associated with buildings, building systems, and equipment over their life cycle.  

The standard will cover the following: 

• Existing buildings, new buildings, groups of buildings, or portions of buildings. 
• Determination, including calculation methodology, and expression of the building(s) 
  zero net GHG and zero net carbon dioxide emissions status for building operation. 
• GHG emissions associated with flows across the site boundary and off-site credited flows. 
• Embodied GHG emissions of building materials and systems.  

Standard 240P will also offer procedures and minimum requirements for the quantification of embodied and operational GHG emissions including reporting and documenting.  

A joint committee with a wide array of expertise and representation from the Code Council and ASHRAE was approved on December 8, 2022, to develop the standard. Typically, a 6–12-month process, the committee developed a draft of Standard 240P in four months.  

“The International Code Council is pleased to partner with ASHRAE in the development of Standard 240P and acknowledges the exceptional work of the standards committee in providing their time and expertise to this process,” said Code Council CEO, Dominic Sims, CBO. “The Code Council is devoted to expanding on the tools needed to advance decarbonization across the industry, and this public review draft highlights our ongoing commitment to this work.” 

“It is rare to have an advisory public review draft prepared for comment within essentially four months after the formation of standards committee,” said 2022-23 ASHRAE President Farooq Mehboob, Fellow Life Member. “The accelerated pace in which a draft of Standard 240P was developed speaks to the extraordinary technical knowledge and leadership of the committee and its chairs. ASHRAE remains committed to advancing effective building decarbonization strategies and were pleased to partner with the Code Council to develop this much needed resource.”  

The committee is seeking comments on proposed revisions to the standard’s title, purpose and scope as well as the remaining content being proposed in the document. Specific questions are included in the document for stakeholder input. 

To review drafts Standard 240P and provide comments, visit osr.ashrae.org. For all standards related activities including announcements, public review drafts open for comment, call for members and more, sign up for ASHRAE Standards Actions at ashrae.org/StandardsActions. The full list Standard 240P committee members is included below. 

• Stephanie Reiniche, Chair, ASHRAE, Georgia (Non-Voting)  
• Beth Tomlinson, Vice Chair, Stantec, Minnesota (User)  
• Bradley Nies, Vice Chair, U.S. General Services Administration, Kansas (User) 
• Constantinos Balaras, NOA, Greece (General)  
• Jeff Bradley, American Wood Council, District of Columbia (Producer) 
• Stephanie Carlisle, Carbon Leadership Forum/University of Washington, Pennsylvania (General)  
• Drury Crawley, Bentley Systems, Inc., District of Columbia (General)  
• Michael P. Deru, National Renewable Energy Lab, Colorado (General)  
• Erik Elmtoft, AlfaTech Consulting Engineers, California (User)  
• Monica Enamorado, BASF, Texas (Producer)  
• Efrie Escott, KieranTimberlake, Pennsylvania (Producer) 
• Pieter James Gagnon, National Renewable Energy Lab, Colorado (Producer)  
• Carlos Augusto Garcia, Brooks & Scarpa, California (User) 
• Luca De Giovaneti, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Switzerland (General)  
• David L. Handwork, UCE Partners/APPA, Arkansas (User)  
• Roger L. Hedrick, Noresco, Colorado (User)  
• Gary W. Heikkinen, Consultant to AGA, Oregon (Producer)  
• Ethan K. Heil, University of Virginia, Virginia (User)  
• Josh Jacobs, WAP Sustainability, Tennessee (Consultant)  
• Adam Jennings, AHA Consulting Engineers, Massachusetts (Producer) 
• Andrew Karlovich, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), New Jersey (General)  
• Chris Magwood, Rocky Mountain Institute, Canada (User) 
• Erin K. McConahey, ARUP, California (General)  
• Daniel M. Nall, Daniel Nall Consultant, LLC, New Jersey (User) 
• Lucile OCallaghan, Turner Engineering Group, New York (General)  
• Clare Parry, Development Victoria, Australia (User) 
• Julian Mark Parsley, BuroHappold Consulting Engineers, California (User) 
• Katie Poss, National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Tennessee (Producer)  
• Max Puchtel, American Institute of Steel Construction, Illinois (Producer)  
• DeVaughn Roberts, Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania (User)  
• Steven Rosenstock, Edison Electric Institute, District of Columbia (Producer)  
• Hendrikus Shank, New York Department of State, New York (User)  
• Zuojin Shi, Carrier, New York (Producer) 
• Christopher Uraine, Energy Solutions, Oregon (General) 
• Michael Waite, ACEEE, New York (General)  
• Damian Watch, PGIM Real Estate, New Jersey (User)  
• Lauren Westmoreland, Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future, District of Columbia (User)  

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About the International Code Council  
The International Code Council is the leading global source of model codes and standards and building safety solutions. Code Council codes, standards and solutions are used to ensure safe, affordable and sustainable communities and buildings worldwide.   

About ASHRAE  
Founded in 1894, ASHRAE is a global professional society committed to serving humanity by advancing the arts and sciences of heating ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration and their allied fields.  

As an industry leader in research, standards writing, publishing, certification and continuing education, ASHRAE and its members are dedicated to promoting a healthy and sustainable built environment for all, through strategic partnerships with organizations in the HVAC&R community and across related industries. 

The Society is showcasing integrated building solutions and sustainability in action through the opening of the ASHRAE Global Headquarters building in metro-Atlanta, Georgia. The state-of-the-art, high-performing net-zero-energy efficient global headquarters building is a destination venue for industry representatives, visiting from around the world, who are looking to experience cutting-edge engineering and architectural interventions.  

For more information and to stay up-to-date on ASHRAE, visit ashrae.org and connect on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.