ICC’s hearing process to be revised

By Ron George
President, Ron George Design & Consulting Services

Over the last several code change hearing cycles, the International Code Council (ICC) staff and code change participants have spent many grueling hours at the hearings. This was a very stressful time, because the hearings usually fell behind schedule, as testimony on some code changes went on for hours. Hearings would sometimes last until midnight or later and begin as early as 7 a.m. the next day.

 

To correct this situation, the International Code Council appointed a task group to look into streamlining the code development process. After considering several years of input from membership and industry and the task force’s recommendations, the ICC board of directors has revised the code development process.

 

The Task Force on Hearings looked at all of the processes and came up with the following goals:

 

• to reduce the length of the code development hearings (CDH) and final action hearings (FAH) — both the number of days and the number of hours;
• to maintain the ICC governmental consensus process, in which only code officials can vote at the final action hearings, but anyone can speak on a code change and can vote at the initial hearings;
• to reduce costs, both to the organization and to its members;
• to increase electronic processing of code change forms;
• to schedule all FAHs at the annual business meeting, which rotates locations to various cities in each quadrant of the country;
• to schedule CDHs at one central re-occurring location;
• to increase participation;
• to maintain the importance of in-person attendance at both CDHs and FAHs;
• to increase the importance of successful assembly action;
• to maintain (or increase) education offerings;
• to maintain the three-year publication cycle; and
• to schedule hearings at about the same time every year.

 

The revised process

 

The code hearing process will maintain the three-year publication cycle, and it will maintain the ICC governmental consensus process. The code hearings will be divided into two groups, as follows.

 

Group A

International Building Code — Egress

International Building Code — Fire Safety

International Building Code — General

International Building Code — Structural

International Fuel Gas Code

International Mechanical Code

International Plumbing Code

International Private Sewage Disposal Code

 

Group B

International Energy Conservation Code

International Residential Code — Building/Energy

All Codes — Administration (Ch. 1)

International Existing Building Code

International Fire Codes

I Performance

International Property Maintenance Code

International Residential Plumbing & Mechanical Code

IRC Mechanical/Plumbing

International Wild land Urban Interface Code

International Zoning Code

 

Code development and final action hearings for each group will occur in the spring and fall of the same year, during the first two years of the publication cycle. The plumbing, mechanical and fuel gas (PMG) code changes will be heard in the first group (Group A). This is a very important change that will affect these disciplines the most. The plumbing industry will be up to bat first. It is like changing from a two-inning game to a one-inning game and being given a new rulebook to read on the bus on the way to the game. From the publication of the 2009 code until the final changes are due for the 2012 code cycle, there will be very little time for review.

 

Following are additional provisions of the plan.

 

• The code development hearings will be held at the same central location every April/May.
• All new codes will be unveiled at the annual conference in the third year of each three-year process.
• The final action hearings will take place at the annual conference in late October/early November. Locations of the conference will continue to rotate through the four quadrants of the United States.
• In the previous three-year code change cycle, there were two 18-month code-hearing processes with two initial code hearings and two final action hearings. The new code process will have one initial code hearing and one final action hearing per three-year cycle.

 

In the previous cycle, there were usually more code changes in the second round of hearings. This was probably because, as users became familiar with the revised codes, they would know what worked and what didn’t and felt confident in proposing code changes. It appears that the plumbing, mechanical and fuel gas industries will no longer have the luxury of waiting to submit code change proposals later in the cycle.

 

Logistics of the code development hearings

 

Group A hearings will take place in year one and Group B hearings in year two.

The length of the hearings is reduced to nine days, and the daily hearing schedule reduced to a manageable number of hours per day. Modifications will be permitted but must be in accordance with the rules. Technical and editorial modifications have always been permitted, as long as they do not change the intent or scope of the code change. The chairman must rule the modification in order.

 

Successful assembly action at the code development hearing will be the initial motion to be considered at the final action hearing.

 

Logistics of the final action hearings

 

There will be one track for both groups A and B. These hearings will take place over six days following the annual conference, and the daily hearing schedule will be reduced to a manageable number of hours per day.

 

The changes will allow the ICC to retain the three-year publication schedule and to eliminate the need for supplements. The process is supposed to eventually transition the code update process to a maintenance process after 10 years of initial drafting and development.

 

The 2009 codes are scheduled to be published and available for purchase in early March of 2009; the code changes for the 2012 edition of the code are due on April 30, 2009.

 

This means that there will be a very small window of opportunity to propose code changes for the 2012 edition. You should contact ICC (www.iccsafe.org) as soon as possible to purchase your 2009 International Plumbing, Mechanical and Fuel Gas codes. If the codes are published on time, and if you purchase one right away, you will have until April 30 (60 days) to read the current code and propose changes for 2012.

 

Board president Adolf Zubia will provide additional information forums, including a Town Hall meeting at the Codes Forum in New Orleans on Sunday, March 22, 2009.

The ICC will post code development documents on their Web site and will mail a complimentary CD with the proposed changes and comments.