The theme for the 41^st Annual Building Safety Month is “Prevent, Prepare, Protect. Building Codes Save,” and with everyone’s safety in mind, all Building Safety Month events will be held virtually this year. Each year, the Code Council, its 64,000 members, and professionals across the building safety landscape participate in the educational and interactive campaign designed to raise awareness about the importance of building codes in ensuring safety in the spaces in which we live, work and learn. The weekly themes for the 2021 Building Safety Month are:

• Week One (May 1-9): Energy & Innovation
• Week Two (May 10-16): Training the Next Generation
• Week Three (May 17-23): Water Safety
• Week Four (May 24-31): Disaster Preparedness

More can be found at www.buildingsafetymonth.org. To view and download this year’s campaign poster, click here. Follow along on social media using the hashtag #BuildingSafety365. Read more here.

Codes and standards are a critical component in reducing energy use, creating energy savings and combating the impacts of a changing climate. For over four decades, the International Code Council and its legacy organizations have led the development of energy codes that have reduced the impact of energy use on the planet and saved consumers billions of dollars. In January, the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce contacted the Code Council to request information about its code development process and the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). This week, the Code Council released information to the Committee that explains our role in helping communities around the world become more energy efficient. Download the response here. For more on the Code Council’s approach to developing energy codes and standards, click here.

You are invited to the first in a series of webinars that introduce off-site construction to Code Council members and stakeholders regarding ICC’s off-site construction business plan. This free webinar covers common technologies and processes for commercial and residential buildings, the key participants in the off-site construction process, and the general regulatory approaches used. The first of the webinar series is “Introduction to Off-Site Construction.” This hour-long course, sponsored by Modular Building Institute and USG Structural Panels, starts at noon Eastern Time on February 4. Register now.

The deadline is February 26 to apply for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s FY 2020 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program Fire Prevention & Safety (FP&S) grants. FEMA is hosting webinars through February 16 to familiarize potential applicants with the program. The FY 2020 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) focuses much needed attention on supporting code officials as well as adopting, implementing, and enforcing the codes:

• Fire code enforcement and awareness is a primary objective of the FY 2020 FP&S grant program.
• FP&S activities are data-driven, focusing code enforcement activities on decreasing fire losses, structural fires, fire-related deaths, and structural property losses in excess of $25,000.
• FP&S applications will be evaluated, in part, by a fire department’s commitment to mitigation. This includes adoption and enforcement of a wildland urban interface (WUI) code such as the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code (IWUIC) and commercial/residential sprinkler code adoption and enforcement. A good resource here is the National Fire Sprinkler Association’s 2020 Guide for Fire Sprinkler Tax Incentives which includes recent updates from the Coronavirus Economic Stabilization Act of 2020.

The FY 2020 FP&S grants make wildfire risk reduction, code enforcement and awareness a funding priority. This includes projects that focus on first-time or reinstatement of code adoption and code enforcement, including WUI fire codes for communities with a WUI-wildfire risk.

Work is under way to post the Group A proposed code changes for the virtual Committee Action Hearings, slated for April 11 to May 5. The Group A Codes include the International Building Code (IBC-Egress, IBC-Fire Safety, IBC-General); International Fire Code; International Fuel Gas Code; International Mechanical Code; International Plumbing Code; International Property Maintenance Code; International Private Sewage Disposal Code; International Residential Code (IRC-Mechanical, IRC-Plumbing); International Swimming Pool and Spa Code; International Wildland-Urban Interface Code; and International Zoning Code. The hearings starting April 11 offer code officials, architects, builders, engineers, designers, contractors and other interested parties the opportunity to provide input on proposed code changes to the Group A codes.

• Questions about the hearings? Read the frequently asked questions webpage.
• Download infographic about the process: How It Works.