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  • 1.  Code Council structures

    Posted 11 days ago

    Hi! For those states that have official code councils (group, commission, committee) that administers and oversees the code adoption cycle in the state, what entity does that fall into and who administers it? Also, does that seem to work well for you?

    Ours currently resides with the Office of State Fire Marshal and our current Fire Marshal doesn't want it, so I'm exploring what other options might be.



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    Kathleen Gordon Assoc. AIA
    Executive Director, AIA Louisiana
    Baton Rouge LA
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  • 2.  RE: Code Council structures

    Posted 11 days ago
    Connecticut has a body known as the State Codes & Standards Committee. I have been one of two architects on the 20+ member body for 27 years. We are supported by the Office of State Building Inspector and work closely with them and the State Fire Marshal in the development of the state codes based on the ICC family and adjudicate appeals related to them. The process has been working quite well for decades. You can learn more at the following link:

    https://portal.ct.gov/das/office-of-state-building-inspector/codes-and-standards-committee?language=en_US


    John J. Butkus, AIA
    Sr. Program Manager
    Arcadis-US


    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Code Council structures

    Posted 11 days ago
    In Rhode Island the State Building Code Commissioner and the State Building Code Commission was formerly under the Department of Administration.  A few years ago the office of the State Building Code Commissioner, as well as the office of the State Fire Marsall were placed under the Department of Business Regulation.

    Also under the Department of Business Regulation are the respective Boards of Examination and Registration of Architects, Engineers, Landscape Architects, Land Surveyors, et al.

    With my regards,

    Ken

    Kenneth J. Filarski FAIA, LEED FELLOW, LEED AP BD+C, SITES AP, AICP, CFM, SAP+AEER, NCARB
    FILARSKIARCHITECTURE+PLANNING+RESEARCH
    P.O. Box 3210, Providence, RI 02909
    401.331.8800

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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Code Council structures

    Posted 10 days ago

    Hi Kathleen,

    Hawaii has the State Building Code Council which falls under the Department of Accounting and General Services.

    It is written into our statutes that funding be provided to an administrator for the Council, but that funding has never been allocated, so the volunteers who sit on the Council (an AIA member included) do all the functions themselves with no official overseer.

    We've been lobbying for several years for the position to be funded, however, in more recent years the Builders' Association has been pushing for the Council to be disbanded. 

    Additionally, our Governor issued an Emergency Proclamation on Affordable Housing in 2023 which includes suspension of the authority and duties of the Council, basically holding the State back from adopting current codes and causing lots of confusion for what code members should be designing future projects to (we are currently on 2018).

    We don't have a problem with where the Council sits but are certainly trying to make the operations of the Council more efficient and useful to the State and Counties.

    Department of Accounting and General Services | Building Code Council



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    Julia Fink
    AIA Hawaii
    Honolulu HI
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    Original Message