Protect Safety Codes by Supporting Advancement of the Pro Codes Act

The Pro Codes Act (H.R. 4072), which ensures non-profit standards developers can continue to self-fund the development and updating of safety codes, will be considered by the U.S. House of Representatives in the near future. Join the International Code Council and a broad coalition of building and fire safety organizations by clicking HERE to ask your Member of Congress to support this important legislation.   

America’s codes and standards are vital to ensuring public health and safety and are developed by and for building safety professionals like you. The Code Council reinvests the revenue generated from the sale of the codes you develop in technical staff, IT infrastructure, code development committees and to fund in-person hearings. Each element is essential to ensure top quality codes. This model also allows the Code Council to invest in the future of building safety by providing scholarships, chapter support and educational benefits, career development opportunities and more. Your effort and participation makes the process possible and sustainable.   

In recent years, high-tech companies that contribute nothing to the code development process have been profiting from your efforts. These companies have decided that they can simply take your work and sell it to others without having developed or paid for it themselves. To protect the code development process and prevent unauthorized and erroneous copies of the codes from being published, a bipartisan group of lawmakers, supported by a coalition of standards development organizations, introduced the Pro Codes Act. The Pro Codes Act ensures that the public will have free access to codes and standards while preserving the ownership rights of the code and standard developers.  

Last Congress, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee overwhelmingly advanced Pro Codes by a vote of 19 to 4, but the legislation ultimately failed to advance further. We’re confident that with your help, a reintroduced Pro Codes Act can pass in the coming months. Our homes, workplaces, schools and hospitals are safer, more sustainable and more resilient thanks to the work of our members and these continuously improved codes and standards. Please add your voice to this effort by filling out this form, asking your Members of Congress to support it.