ADVISORY BODY FORMED TO ENABLE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY TO PROVIDE INPUT TO STATE AND LOCAL
BUILDING CODE ADMINISTRATORS

November 24, 2003 - Washington, D.C. In the United States today, less than 10% of the nation’s 44,000 jurisdictions that adopt and enforce building codes use information technology in their permitting, plans review, inspection and enforcement activities. To help address this issue, an advisory body is being established through which regular input can be given to state and local building regulatory enforcement personnel by the information technology community as to ways it can help state and local governments reduce regulatory barriers to safe, durable, affordable buildings in our nation.

The new body is the Information Technology Industry Advisory Subcommittee to the Regulatory Affairs Committee of the National Conference of States on Building Codes and Standards. This advisory body was approved by the NCSBCS Board of Directors on November 20 following a request made by representatives from software firms participating in the NCSBCS Annual Conference and Third National Forum on Building Smarter in the Digital Age held in Portland, Oregon, October 19-22.

The mission statement for the Advisory Subcommittee is to:

Provide a venue through which the nation’s information technology industry (hardware, software and intermediate-ware community) can work together to provide input to state and local governments in identifying actions to overcome barriers to the effective and efficient use of information technology in the nation’s building regulatory process.

Subcommittee Composition, Structure & Roles:

The Information Technology Industry Advisory Subcommittee (ITIAS) is open to all NCSBCS private sector members (Organizational and Affiliate) whose firms are involved in developing and providing information technology services (hardware, software, intermediate ware) to state and local government. The Information Technology Industry Advisory Subcommittee will be overseen by a Chair and Vice Chair who shall be drawn from the Subcommittee members. The Chair and Vice Chair may not be from the same firm. The term of office is for two years, commencing with the 2003 NCSBCS Annual Conference and ending with the close of the annual conference in 2005.

The NCSBCS Regulatory Affairs Committee is the oldest standing committee of the Conference and is comprised of all NCSBCS members who are state and local building regulatory officials.

The Regulatory Affairs Committee identifies and discusses areas in the administration, adoption and enforcement of construction codes and standards that are of concern to state and local governments and considers coordinated action to address those issues. Past activities have included: homeland security concerns of state and local governments; enhancing working relationships between building and fire code officials; the need for greater interstate reciprocity for factory-built structures; and areas of regulatory overlap and duplication between federal, state and local governments.

NCSBCS programs or initiatives that have emerged out of the work of the Regulatory Affairs Committee have included: model energy conservation code for new construction in the United States; the Industrialized Buildings Commission – an Interstate Compact; the Streamlining the Nation’s Building Regulatory Process project; the National Alliance for Building Regulatory Reform in the Digital Age; and reports to the National Governors Association on code uniformity issues currently before the governors and legislators of the states.

The Information Technology Industry Advisory Subcommittee will provide specific recommendations to the members of the Regulatory Affairs Committee on actions which state and local governments can take, either individually or collectively, to make greater and more effective and efficient use of information technology in the building regulatory process.

NCSBCS state and local government members on the Regulatory Affairs Committee initially are seeking Advisory Subcommittee input on the following topics:

1. Support for the business case to elected officials for the acquisition and use of hardware, software and intermediate-ware for use in their building regulatory processes.
2. Support in developing guidelines to identify when and where regulatory restructuring is necessary for state and local governments to make effective use of information technology in the building regulatory process.
3. Industry input on the development and use of an interoperability statement in future information technology procurements by state and local governments. (This is follow-up work from the New York City Summit on Streamlining the Nation’s Building Regulatory Process Through Interoperability and the National Alliance for Building Regulatory Reform in the Digital Age.)
4. Industry recommendations to state and local government as to ways they can make more effective use of information technology in their building codes adoption, administration and enforcement processes.

Other topics about which the Regulatory Affairs Committee will seek input will be generated by either the Regulatory Affairs Committee and/or the Advisory Subcommittee.