New resources for code officials offer suggestions for coping with COVID-19 challenges

The International Code Council offers a free webinar series and how-to documents for building and fire departments to transition to a virtual work environment

Washington, D.C. – On Thursday, April 9, the International Code Council will launch the first of its new four-part webinar series to support building safety professionals coping with the challenges brought on by COVID-19. The free webinars will share examples of ways building and fire departments can continue to operate during the pandemic and will feature solutions from code officials from a variety of jurisdictions around the U.S. Webinar participants will earn continuing education units (CEU) while learning virtual methods and tools that can be used to streamline and improve processes in the future during normal operations.

The Code Council is also releasing a series of documents to help building safety professionals navigate the pandemic. These documents outline important considerations and a set of potential solutions for code departments related to permitting, plan review, inspections and the codes.

These resources follow from a recent Code Council survey that found that although 93 percent of surveyed code professionals continue to work during the crisis, many do not have the capacity to perform essential duties in a virtual work environment.

“The Code Council is committed to ensuring that building safety professionals around the world are supported during these challenging times,” said Code Council Chief Executive Officer Dominic Sims, CBO. “We offer the resources to assist building and fire departments in the transition to virtual operations, helping these essential professionals elevate and streamline building safety services within the digital landscape in the time of social distancing and into the future.”

For more on the webinar series, including links to register, click below:

April 9: Moving Permitting and Plan Review Online
April 13: Options for Virtual and Remote Inspections
April 17: Online Access to Codes and Standards
April 21: Certifications and Training Update

Download the documents in the “Maintaining Building Safety During the COVID-19 Pandemic” series:

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About the International Code Council

The International Code Council is a nonprofit association that provides a wide range of building safety solutions including product evaluation, accreditation, certification, codification and training. It develops model codes and standards used worldwide to construct safe, sustainable, affordable and resilient structures.