Highlights From the International Code Council Board of Directors Fall 2023 Meeting

The International Code Council Board of Directors held its annual meeting on Saturday, October 7, 2023, in St. Louis, Mo. in conjunction with the Code Council’s 2023 Annual Conference. Present at the meeting were the board’s officers and directors, Chief Executive Officer Dominic Sims and Code Council senior staff.

During the meeting, the board addressed a wide variety of matters, including the following notable items:

International Energy Conservation Code® (IECC) Appeals and Path Forward

As recommended by the IECC Workgroup, the board approved the following actions relative to this cycle’s IECC appeals:

1. Follow Section 4.1 of CP-1 – Appeals for properly submitted appeals, including those concerning scope and intent.
2. Appeals will be accepted for 30 days after the final committee balloting for the respective committee.  Final committee balloting is anticipated to occur approximately on December 5, 2023.

Additionally, the board approved a continuous maintenance plan for the IECC that will ensure its timely future publication alongside the 2027 International Codes® (I-Codes).

Updates on Code Council Current Initiatives 

The board received substantive updates from relevant staff on the Code Council’s current global activities, digital strategy efforts, off-site construction initiative, building department accreditation growth, training & education status, and Pro Codes Act progress.

Revisions to Code Council Policies

The board approved revisions proposed by the Board Committee on the Long-Term Code Development Process to CP-28 – Code Development addressing cost-impact requirements for code change proposals.  These revisions, which were modified slightly by the board, establish minimum requirements for cost impact statements, including initial cost and life cycle cost impacts, submitted by proponents of code changes and further elaborate on substantiating information that may accompany such statements.

The board further approved proposed revisions to CP-16 – Awards that subject the following Awards to review and approval by the Code Council Honorary Member & Awards Committee and Board of Directors:

• Trailblazer Award 
• W. Scott Copp Chapter Leadership Award 
• National Leadership in Sustainability and Energy Efficiency Award 
• Innovation in Code Administration Award 
• Global Award  

Lastly, the board approved proposed revisions to CP-26 – Honorary Membership that clarified the make-up of the Honorary Member & Awards Committee.

Presentation from FEMA

The board was addressed by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) representatives Sharon Magorien, Chief, Building Science Branch and Juan Nieves, Civil Engineer. This presentation included a discussion on state-wide code adoption and reiterated FEMA’s commitment to the I-Codes.

Expansion of When Disaster Strikes Program

The board approved an expansion of the When Disaster Strikes program, which provides training and credentialing for qualified professionals to assist with performing post-disaster building safety evaluations. This approved expansion will include more widespread availability of training material to Code Council Chapters and other partners. 

Information on upcoming and previous board meetings can be found here.