For Immediate Release: September 27, 2022

Washington, D.C. – The International Building Quality Centre (IBQC), with support from the International Code Council, has announced its official incorporation as a Delaware nonstock corporation. Formed in 2020 as an informal coalition of international thought leaders in the building regulatory space, and with sponsorship from the University of Canberra (Australia), the IBQC has to date published a series of four guidelines for good practice building regulation in various disciplines, including two targeted for emerging economies. The incorporation in the U.S. provides the IBQC with a greater level of permanence along with formal governance, in addition to more formally expanding its footprint into the northern hemisphere.

Since its establishment in 2020, the IBQC board has grown from five to 12 members, with representatives from the United Kingdom, Peru, Colombia, the U.S., Kenya, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The Board is equally as diverse in respect of the vocational fields of its members, with representatives from global NGOs, prominent universities, government, the legal profession and the private sector.

Adjunct Professor Kim Lovegrove, founding member and Chair of the IBQC, offered a description of the organization: “The IBQC is preoccupied with solution engineering; the utilitarian extrapolations from lessons derived from that which has failed and succeeded. Its remit is to fashion concepts that can better ‘inoculate’ building regulatory ecology against harm. These motivations are integral elements of the IBQC’s essence.”

International Code Council CEO Dominic Sims, CBO, has served on the board of the IBQC since late 2020, and added, “Our involvement in the IBQC has provided much broader access to the International Code Council’s knowledge base and family of solutions to building safety professionals throughout the world, especially in emerging economies. While providing this expanded access to knowledge, tools and information is integral to our mission, our participation with the IBQC has also facilitated considerable learning on our part, helping us to understand what we can do to best facilitate building safety solutions globally.”

The new governing board and corporate leadership of the newly incorporated entity were also announced. Governing board members include Adjunct Professor Kim Lovegrove, RML, MSE, chair; Professor Charles Lemckert, FIEAust FRSN, vice chair; Professor Robert Whittaker AM, FRSN, FAIB, FAIQS, MAIBS, vice chair; ARCH. Professor Alfred Omenya; Adjunct Professor Neil Savery; and Mr. Dominic Sims, CBO. The newly appointed executive director of the IBQC is Judy Zakreski, International Code Council Vice President of Global Services, and the newly appointed secretary is Will Coffman, International Code Council Assistant General Counsel.

The other originally appointed board members of the IBQC will continue to serve on the board in a strategic advisory capacity as non-voting member. These include Ms. Stephanie Barwise QC, Mr. Michael de Lint, MA, PLE, Mr. Alejandro Espinosa-Wang, Dame Judith Hackitt, Professor Jose Torero, FRSE, FRSN, and Ms. Bronwyn Weir.

Adjunct Professor Lovegrove concluded, “This incorporation is a key milestone event as it secures the perpetuity of the IBQC and is testament to the tremendous esprit de corps of the Board members, their energy and altruism, along with those that participate in IBQC working groups in the design of international good practice building regulatory guidelines. A special thanks to the International Code Council for such largess and to the University of Canberra for taking the initiative in 2020 in getting the ball rolling. Thanks to all of the Board members of the IBQC and to Dominic Sims for facilitating his organization’s support.”

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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 International Building Quality Centre
The International Building Quality Centre is an altruistic organization comprised of building safety and regulatory experts from around the world who share a common goal of improving building safety globally. The IBQC serves as a collaborative medium through which systems, practices, regulations, codes and laws that provide best practice solutions and answers are identified, endorsed and encouraged.