National Alliance for Building Regulatory Reform
in the Digital Age
(703) 481-2038 ▪ Fax (703)
481-3596
NEWS RELEASE
For Additional
Information: Contact For Immediate Release
Robert Wible
(703) 481-2035
Initiative Speeds Development of Technologies to Support
Streamlined Building Regulatory Processes,
Sets Summit Meeting for September 24 in New York City
Washington, DC &
New York City – August 26, 2003.
Representatives from the software and building regulatory and
construction communities have been invited by the National Alliance on Building
Regulatory Reform in the Digital Age to a summit meeting jointly hosted by New
York City, the states of New York and New Jersey and the Alliance to speed the
development of technologies and processes that can be used to streamline the
nation’s building regulatory process to reduce the cost of construction and
enhance public safety in buildings.
The objectives of the September 24, 2003, Summit are to:
-
share the Alliance’s
assessment of the opportunities, priorities and challenges for streamlining and
automating the building regulatory process;
-
present and refine
data requirements and key principles for achieving the needed interoperability
of hardware and software used in the regulation of the design and construction
of buildings;
-
present and refine an
interoperability statement that state and local governments can include in
their procurements of hardware and software used for codes administration,
permitting and enforcement;
-
discuss common
actions that can be taken by the information technology, construction and
building regulatory communities to speed the use of interoperable hardware and
software by the over 40,000 jurisdictions that adopt and or enforce building
codes in this nation.
The New York City
Summit is a part of an ongoing effort by the Alliance, a public private
partnership, to streamline the nation’s building regulatory process through the
effective use of information technology to enable the nation’s construction
industry to build “faster, safer, better and at less cost.”
In preparing for the
Summit, the Alliance established a core work group comprised of several
Alliance partners, state and local code enforcement officials, with experience
in building regulatory process design and software applications. The work group includes officials from
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), FIATECH, National
Conference of States on Building Codes and Standards (NCSBCS), Institute for
Building Technology and Safety (IBTS), New York City and Fairfax County,
Virginia. Other jurisdictions involved
in the core work group include the states of California, Oregon, New York and
New Jersey and the cities of San Jose and Sunnyvale, California. Representatives from the National
Association of State Chief Information Officers and several other state and
local jurisdictions are providing reviews of Alliance work products in this
initiative.
The Summit is a part
of a seven-month project that will work with motivated building regulatory
officials and representatives from the construction and information technology
communities to:
-
collect available
information to establish a baseline understanding of the building regulatory
process and the opportunities for streamlining and automating that process;
-
document the data
requirements and interoperability requirements of that process;
-
review available
off-the-shelf hardware and software used in the building regulatory process;
and
-
prioritize the requirements
and document key principles for achieving needed interoperability.
The September 24
Summit will seek input and guidance from different users and providers of IT
and information for the building regulatory process and solicit input on
mechanisms for achieving the initial levels of building regulatory process
interoperability.
Participation in the
Summit is by invitation only. A news
release will be issued following the Summit, highlighting the discussions that
occur and the next steps in this initiative.
For more information
on the Summit, please contact Carolyn Fitch at NCSBCS (800 362-2633 ext. 238 or
cfitch@ncsbcs.org) or visit the
Alliance’s portion of the NCSCBS website at www.ncsbcs.org.
The National Alliance for
Building Regulatory Reform in the Digital Age Mission Statement: Strengthening
the public’s safety and the nation’s economic competitiveness by streamlining
the nation’s building regulatory process through the use of information
technology to enable the nation to build faster, better, safer and at less
cost.
The National Conference of
States on Building Codes and Standards, Inc. (NCSBCS) Mission Statement: To provide technical services, education and
training to our members to enhance the public’s social and economic well being
through safe, durable, affordable, accessible and efficient buildings.
FIATECH is a non-profit consortium that focuses on
the fast-track development and deployment of technologies to improve
substantially how capital projects and facilities are designed, engineered,
constructed, and maintained. FIATECH develops new technologies and adapts
existing technologies from our industry, as well as others, while working with
the standards community to accelerate the development of industry-wide
standards and guidelines for capital projects