Procedural changes to the code development process

Thank you to all our members and stakeholders who have participated in the code development process for the 2021 International Codes (I-Codes). We’re pleased to share that more than 240,000 votes were cast and more than 2,600 voting representatives participated.

To continue to evolve and refine our process, several issues were referred to the Board Committee on the Long-Term Code Development Process (Blue Ribbon Committee) for further review. This committee is a venue for stakeholders to provide feedback on the process and suggest changes.

We are pleased to share two approved outcomes from the Blue Ribbon Committee surrounding cost impact and assembly consideration.

Cost impact

The board approved the committee recommendation to revise the Council Policy 28 requirements on the cost impact of proposed code changes and requested that staff develop a complete methodology and plan for implementation for board consideration.

Assembly consideration

The board approved the committee recommendation to streamline the code development process by removing assembly consideration at the Committee Action Hearings (Section 5.7 of CP 28). It was found that assembly consideration adds approximately two to three weeks to the process with minimal benefit. Anyone can submit a public comment, which is the net effect of a successful assembly motion vote.

Our commitment, and goal, is to bring together industries with the shared purpose of creating safe, affordable, and sustainable buildings and communities. The Blue Ribbon Committee was established to help uphold this commitment by continuing to find opportunities to refine and strengthen the Code Council’s code development process.

We look forward to continued participation from our members in the 2024 process. Code changes are due in January 2021 and anyone can submit code change proposals via the Code Council’s cloud-based program, cdpACCESS, at https://www.cdpaccess.com/. The 2021 Committee Action Hearings will be held virtually this year due to health and safety concerns related to COVID-19. Learn more.

Thank you for your help and support in continuing to make the I-Codes the most widely used model building codes in the world.