Building awareness through participation and collaboration

At the heart of any great membership organization lies a strong culture of affiliation and participation. Each year, hundreds of building safety professionals from across the U.S. and around the world gather to participate in the Committee Action Hearings or Public Comment Hearings to consider proposed changes to the International Codes.

The Code Council’s Emerging Leaders Membership Council and Sustainability Membership Council unveiled a joint initiative — VOTE FOR YOUR CODES! — to encourage participation in the code development process. The Membership Councils believe that voting in person or through cdpACCESS — the Code Council’s cloud-based system for the code development process — is an essential responsibility for every code official. To help kick off this initiative, the Membership Councils are declaring September as Voter Validation Month and asking all eligible code officials to meet this challenge by ensuring they are validated as a voter, challenging neighboring code officials to do the same, and by participating and voting in this year’s Public Comment Hearings.

“Participation in the code development hearings is the best way to ensure the International Codes reflect the needs of the communities represented,” said Andre Jaen, building permit supervisor for Jefferson County, Colo., and vice chair of the Emerging Leaders Membership Council Governing Committee. “The Code Council has worked diligently to make electronic voter validation a user-friendly way to designate voters and cdpACCESS offers every voting member of ICC the chance to have their voice heard. We encourage all code professionals to get validated and vote in this year’s hearings.”

Update your voting credentials

Voting Representatives must have their credentials validated by Sept. 23, 2019, in order to fully participate in the 2019 Annual Business Meeting, Public Comment Hearings and Online Governmental Consensus Vote taking place at the Code Council’s 2019 Annual Conference in Las Vegas.

Earlier this year, the Code Council extended the validation cycle for voting credentials of governmental member voting representatives (GMVRs) from one year to three years, effective Jan. 21, 2019. Any credentials validated and approved on or after Jan. 1, 2018, are active through Dec. 31, 2020, as long as the governmental member account is fully paid and current. Now, GMVRs will have the convenience of participating in Groups A and B of the code development cycle with one credential. Click here to learn more. Click here to view some of the frequently asked questions regarding the voter validation process.

Advocacy and the code development cycle

The Code Council is the impartial convener of the code development process. Its job is to ensure a transparent process and to provide a space for balanced debate and deliberation on code change proposals. To that end, the Code Council has advocacy guidelines and procedures to guarantee a fair process. The association relies on participants in this process to uphold themselves and their colleagues to the highest standards of professionalism and ethical behavior. To read the Code Council’s Code of Ethics, click here.

The Code Council’s code development process will take two years (2018 Group A and 2019 Group B), resulting in the 2021 editions of the International Codes. To learn the basics of the code development process, check out our video, which is a good primer for those new to the process and explains ICC’s cloud-based system for the code development process, cdpACCESS. Download a PowerPoint about the code development process. Download infographics about the process: How It Works and By the Numbers.