Recent reports have confirmed that at least 22 people have died — and no less than 40 people remain missing, including young children and elderly citizens — after being caught up in the catastrophic flash flooding and ensuing damage in Middle Tennessee. An unprecedented 17 inches of heavy rain fell in the span of six hours, bursting lakes and rivers, overwhelming communities and leading to an impossible situation that resulted to catastrophic flooding.
"There was no saving anything." "The waters hit like a mini tsunami." "It's something you never want to go through."
Images are emerging of homes washed off their foundations and moved into neighbors’ yards, sweeping damage to schools and public buildings, major roadways swept away, numerous vehicles turned over, hundreds of uninhabitable homes, and stranded residents trapped in their homes with water up to their necks. Damage assessment has begun to determine the full scope of the damage and emergency officials expect the death toll to rise in the coming days.
This loss of life and property damage is devastating and the International Code Council extends its deepest sympathy for those Tennesseans dealing with missing loved ones and loss of life and property in affected areas. Many of them have suffered not only the loss of their homes and their property but also the loss of family members and friends. Assessment efforts are long and difficult, but this is when the important work of the code official begins — restoring safe and healthy homes and buildings as the foundation of community restoration. The Code Council and your fellow members from around the country stand in support of your important role and are ready to offer assistance.
Building safety groups discuss safety of existing buildings
Building safety organizations from around the country and experts in the building safety community gathered last week in West Palm Beach, Florida, for an examination on how communities monitor the safety of existing buildings, what guidance exists for building owners, and how future catastrophic events can be avoided. The panel discussion — Ensuring the Safety of Existing Buildings — was hosted by the Building Officials Association of Florida and sponsored by the Building Owners and Managers Association International, the International Code Council, and the National Institute of Building Sciences. Experts from an array of backgrounds (including code enforcement, building, construction, design and real estate) joined the discussions. Read more
New standard on remote virtual inspections in development
The International Code Council and Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) will continue their long history of collaboration by developing a new American National Standards Institute candidate standard on remote virtual inspections for the energy and water use performance of buildings. Read more
Code Council and ASID announce partnership
The Code Council and the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) are joining forces to support the design industry through a series of initiatives and programs that will promote building safety. As its first initiative, the two will collaborate on a new certification credential, the Interior Design Code Specialist, which will promote building safety through the profession of interior design. Read more
Help support the next generation of code officials
The Sixth Annual Ron Burton Golf Outing will take place on Sept. 19, 2021, and funds raised at this event will go towards training and resources for the next generation of code officials.
New this year, the Connections Gala: A Community Reunited is a formal event for the ICC Annual Conference in Pittsburgh that will feature keynote speaker Markus Achord, head of diversity, inclusion and belonging at Sunrun, who will present a high-level explanation of what diversity, equity and inclusion mean specifically in a business environment and how everyone has a role in making teams more inclusive. Learn how having a high-performing workforce that is reflective of your customers and the communities you operate in while fostering an inclusive culture that embraces differences, is what drives innovation and success. Read more
There is a long-standing relationship between construction codes and standards that address design, installation, testing and materials related to building construction. Building regulation cannot be effectively carried out without such standards. Code Council Standards Development Director Karl Aittaniemi provides an update on the Code Council standards that are current, being revised or are under new development. Read more
Significant changes to water service piping tracer wire
An addition to Section 609.2.1 (Tracer Wire for Buried Nonmetallic Water Service Piping) of the 2021 International Plumbing Code states that the addition of a tracer wire on buried hospital water service piping allows for easier locating to avoid piping damage that would disrupt water service.
Existing building code essentials: Mechanical, plumbing, energy
The International Existing Building Code does allow existing mechanical ventilation systems to be altered, reconfigured or extended so long as they are capable of providing not less than 5 cfm/ft2 (0.0024 m2/s) per person of outside air and not less than 15 cfm/ ft2 (0.0072 m2/s) per person of ventilation air; or not less than the ventilation air requirements as determined by the Indoor Air Quality Procedure of ASHRAE 62. Read more
Meet Code Council member Philip San Filippo Construction Inspector, Division of the State Architect, San Diego, California
"I've trained under design professionals and experienced inspectors throughout my career. Construction is exciting and no two buildings are ever exactly alike. Every project is unique and there's always something new to learn with the ever-changing products, materials and design concepts. Prepare to never stop learning." Read more
Code Council influencer Carroll Pruitt
Carroll Pruitt has donned many hats during his association with the Code Council: over the last 30 years, he has served on chapters, committees and in key consulting roles. Presently, he serves as chair of the Accessibility Inspector/Plans Examiner Exam Development Committee.
DOE releases code-related resources supporting IECC, EVs
While buildings are central to any strategy to address energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, the progression of energy codes are a valuable tool to enhance resilience and mitigate the impacts of climate change. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has taken the lead in helping advance building-level initiatives that will help communities and the buildings industry achieve their energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction goals. Read more
Building Innovation 2021 features resiliency, mitigation experts
The National Institute of Building Sciences’ ninth annual conference and expo — Building Innovation 2021 — will be held virtually from Sept. 27–29, 2021, on NIBS' Virtual Platform. This year, The Code Council’s Ryan Colker, vice president of innovation and executive director of the Alliance for National & Community Resilience, and Judy Zakreski, vice president of global services, will be involved with panels exploring strategies aimed at creating and sustaining high-performance, resilient buildings and communities. For the sixth year in a row, the Code Council will hold a lead sponsorship role in the Building Innovation conference and there are a wide range of opportunities for Code Council members to gain valuable insights from attending this collaborative online conference. Read more
Deadline extended for Emory R. Rodgers Fellowship
Named in honor of one of the Code Council’s greatest mentors and advisors, the Emory R. Rodgers Leadership in Building Safety Fellowship is available annually to a building safety professional who has embarked upon a demonstrated executive-level career path and wants to further develop leadership skills through an eligible executive development program.
The fellowship will afford up to $20,000 dollars to cover the full cost of the educational program and the award recipient’s travel to and from the program. Applications are currently being accepted and the new deadline is Dec. 1, 2021.
The Major Jurisdiction Committee will host its annual business meeting on Sept. 20, 2021, during the Code Council's Annual Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steering Committee has three positions up for election in addition to elections of the chair and vice chair. All those eligible to join the Major Jurisdiction Committee and everyone interested in participating in its initiatives and contributing their best practices, experiences and opinions are welcome. Read more
Construction leaders to meet at The Big 5 in Dubai
Celebrating its 42nd year, the Big 5 returns to Dubai as a live, in-person event connecting the global construction industry. High-level summits are planned for the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region’s largest and most influential event, including the Global Construction Leaders’ Summit, the Future of Facades Summit, and the FutureTech Construction Summit; all designed to shed light on crucial developments in the construction sector, from facades to building technology, with 70 sessions set to cover vital industry topics. The Code Council joins more than 1,000 exhibitors from 45 countries at this year's event (Hall 7, Stand 7A320) to be held from Sept. 12-15, 2021. Read more
The U.S. Department of Energy's Building Energy Codes Program (BECP) is offering a series of online webinars as a follow-on to the 2021 National Energy Codes Conference. The series includes a variety of special topics of interest to all energy code stakeholders—for both residential & commercial buildings. Events will be held every other Thursday at 1:00 p.m. ET beginning Aug. 12, 2021. Read more
12NCEE program: What would you like to tell the country?
Do you have a story on lessons learned from COVID that can be applied to natural disasters? Do you have a community resilience program that is making progress that you would like to share? How about best practices working with the emergency manager in your jurisdiction before, during or after a disaster? These topics and more can be special sessions or technical presentations for the 12th National Conference on Earthquake Engineering in 2022. The conference is now taking presentation ideas and the call for papers deadline is Oct. 15, 2021. Read more