U.S. President Signs Proclamation to Recognize May as Building Safety Month

White House proclaims May 2023 as National Building Safety Month to increase awareness about the importance of building codes and standards

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:

Building Safety Starts at Home
Building Safety Professionals and You
Prepare Your Community
Advocate for Your Community
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.