UPDATE REPORT CALLING FOR COORDINATED SINGLE FAMILY OF CONSTRUCTION CODES AND STANDARDS FOR THE NATION RELEASED TO NATION’S GOVERNORS

December 8, 2003, Washington, DC – In late November a report was forwarded to the governors of each of the fifty states and several territories recommending to the governors to urge the International Code Council (ICC) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) to come together to begin to develop a cohesive coordinated set of construction codes and standards.

Citing the interests of public safety, homeland security, and economic competitiveness of our nation, the report, prepared by the National Conference of States on Building Codes and Standards, notes that in the late 1990’s the ICC and NFPA had previously committed to work together to produce such coordinated codes and standards. The report documents the costs and disruptions to state and local governments that are occurring as the result of subsequent actions by those organizations that brought both groups into competition with each other over which organization’s model building code should be adopted.

The report notes that the United States is the only major nation in the world lacking a single coordinated family of uniform construction codes and standards. The report likens the potential negative impact of the current state of affairs to the lack of national uniformity in the standards for fire hose connections prior to the beginning of the 20^th Century.

Entitled, "Update to the Nation’s Governors on Enhancing Public Safety and States’ Role in the Global Economy Through Uniform Construction Codes and Standards," the NCSBCS report was forwarded to the nation’s governors by the National Governors Association (NGA) under an Executive Branch Agreement between NCSBCS and NGA. The NCSBCS document updates a February 2001 report to the governors (also released through the NGA) describing the importance of building codes and standards to the safety of the American public and the economic viability of their communities. The 2001 report also provided guidance to the governors as to how they might address their future decision over which set of competing building codes and standards to adopt and enforce in their state.

Founded by the nation’s governors in 1967 to assist states in the effective and efficient operation of their building code and public safety programs, NCSBCS has not been alone in calling for the ICC and NFPA to come back to the table and work cooperatively to develop a coordinated cohesive family of construction codes and standards for state and local governments to adopt. At the opening session of the Third National Forum on Building Smarter in the Digital Age and Joint NCSBCS/Association of Major City/County Building Officials (AMCBO) annual meeting held in Portland, Oregon, October 20, 2003, representatives from two of the nation’s largest corporations, Intel and the Marriott Corporation, made the same call.