Highlights from the International Code Council’s 2024 Annual Conference, Expo and Committee Action Hearings
This year’s conference featured educational and networking sessions, the election of the 2024-2025 Board of Directors, and new events for attendees to enjoy.
The International Code Council concluded its 2024 Annual Conference, Expo and Committee Action Hearings in Long Beach, CA., bringing together building safety professionals from around the world.
This year’s conference was held from October 20-31 and featured educational and networking sessions, the election of the 2024-2025 Board of Directors and new events for attendees to enjoy. In honor of the Code Council’s 30th anniversary celebrations, it also featured a 30th-anniversary exhibit where visitors explored artifacts from the Code Council’s history and participated in the creation of a time capsule to commemorate this milestone.
Along with numerous committee and regional meetings, below are some key highlights from the 2024 Annual Conference.
Annual Day of Service
Women in Code Enforcement Development (WICED), PermitTechNation (PTN) and the Code Council hosted their 10th annual Day of Service on Sunday, October 19. This event allowed conference participants to volunteer to assist the Century Villages of Cabrillo (CVC), in partnership with Habitat for Humanity Los Angeles. CVC is a 27-acre supportive housing community in Long Beach, providing both permanent and transitional housing for over 1,500 residents, including veterans, families and individuals with special needs.
Volunteers had the opportunity to build two playhouses for the children affected by homelessness and help beautify the Veteran’s family campus community.
Ninth Annual Ron Burton Golf Outing
On Sunday, October 20, the ninth annual Ron Burton Golf Outing was held at the Harding Golf Course. This event celebrates the life and work of William Ronald “Ron” Burton, who was a renowned code expert and worked on many code-related projects for the Code Council, Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
The shotgun-start tournament raised funds that will go towards training and resources for the next generation of code officials.
Building Tours
On Sunday, four building tours highlighted notable architecture and industry development projects in the Long Beach area. The first tour took conference participants through the Long Beach City Hall, Port of Long Beach Administration Building and The Queen Mary.
The second tour took place at the ReMo Homes Factory and provided participants with a presentation on Scaling Modular through Componentization and Standardization and gave them the opportunity to walk through a model home and discuss the process involved in building these innovative, sustainable and affordable homes.
The third building tour was a walking tour of the Rancho Los Alamitos Historic Site, a Long Beach City Landmark listed twice on the National Register of Historic Places.
The fourth building tour was a harbor breeze cruise and provided participants with the opportunity to learn about the Long Beach International Gateway Bridge and how it was permitted and built.
Code Council Expo and Expo Talks
The Code Council’s Expo, which was held on Sunday and Monday, brought together an impressive lineup of exhibitors showcasing the latest building products and technologies. The Expo featured a new career zone, where attendees could get a free professional headshot taken, have their resume reviewed by an expert, view current job openings and get tips on career advancement.
New this year, the Expo Talks event was held on both Sunday and Monday and offered attendees the opportunity to learn the latest and greatest in building safety technology in quick hit 30-minute presentations with each session offering Code Council Continuing Education Units (CEUs).
The Code Council also hosted a Bridge Building Challenge within the Expo. The friendly engineering competition was made up of teams who were tasked with designing and building a cable-stayed bridge.
This year’s winning team was “Dream Weaver”, congratulations!
Welcome to Long Beach
The Welcome to Long Beach event held on Sunday allowed conference goers the opportunity to enjoy a night of food and games at Terrace Plaza, which is part of the Long Beach Convention Center.
Opening Session, Looking Forward Panel Discussion and Annual Business Meeting
The Opening Session, which took place on Monday, featured keynote speaker, Erik Qualman, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation Expert, Futurist and Bestselling Author. Eric shared insights on how building safety professionals can leverage digital transformation to strengthen the industry and lead the way forward.
The Opening Session was followed by a panel discussion, Looking Forward: Building Industry Leaders Share Their Insights on the Next 30 Years, which brought together executives who have played a pivotal role in shaping the building industry. These leaders shared their insights on what they see on the horizon for the industry.
The Annual Business Meeting began after the panel discussion, during which Code Council CEO Dominic Sims, CBO, provided updates on the development of several new Code Council member benefits, the advancement of digital solutions to better serve building safety professionals in the field and the Code Council’s industry-leading professional training and development programs.
During the Annual Business Meeting, members welcomed a new slate of officers and directors to its 2024–2025 Board of Directors. Three senior officers were elected to the executive committee and seven directors (three sectional and four at-large) were elected or re-elected to serve on the board by eligible Code Council voting members. Read more, here.
Insight Sessions and Educational Programs
After the Annual Business Meeting, conference attendees broke into seven insight sessions that covered the basics and ever-changing hot topics hosted by experts from across the Code Council and the building industry:
- 30 Years of Excellence
- The Trades and the Talent Pipeline
- The Online Member Community
- Resilience and U.S. Federal Grants
- Quick Hits on Emerging Building Safety Topics
- Performance VS. Prescriptive Codes
- Artificial Intelligence and Its Impact on the Building Industry
Education Programs were also held all day Tuesday for attendees to grow their knowledge and expertise. The programs included topics such as significant changes to the 2024 International Codes®, Demystifying Conformity Assessments, Off-Site Construction and more.
ICC Talks
On Tuesday, the Code Council hosted its first ICC Talks event, which was held to inspire and reinvigorate conference attendees. The session began with keynote speaker Victoria Arlen, ESPN host Paralympic gold medalist and author, who shared her experiences, inspired attendees to reach further and showed us how to conquer the challenges we face in life and in our work. Watch our Facebook live with Victoria, here.
Following the keynote address, Ryan Colker, Vice President of Innovation for the Code Council, moderated a panel discussion on off-site construction. A panel of experts from across the building industry shared their perspectives on off-site construction and the challenges and opportunities it presents.
Awards Luncheon
At the Code Council’s Awards Luncheon, held on Tuesday afternoon, and the Chapter President’s Meeting, held on Monday, individuals, chapters and organizations were honored for their accomplishments and service to their communities, the building safety industry and the Code Council. Read more about this year’s winners here.
Connections Gala and Post Gala Event
On Tuesday, conference attendees enjoyed a memorable dinner while witnessing the installation of the Code Council Board of Directors and the presentation of the prestigious President’s Award, which was awarded to the CAL FIRE Office of the State Fire Marshal.
During the evening’s Gala, the Code Council also celebrated the incoming CEO, John Belcik, while honoring Dominic Sims for his years of dedicated service and remarkable contributions to the organization.
Afterward, guests unwound and created lasting memories at the post gala event where they hit the dance floor and enjoyed desserts and drinks with friends and colleagues.
Hearings 101 and A Look Back at the Drafting of the I-Codes
On Wednesday, the Code Council hosted a short, informational session for those new to the Code Development process in preparation for the Committee Action Hearings.
Following this session, a panel discussion was held to offer a look back at the drafting of the International Codes®. Moderator Dominic Sims welcomed a panel of several former staff experts and legends as they recounted the history of the creation of the U.S. national model codes system and its expansion globally
This panel discussion led into the second Committee Action Hearings. This year’s code hearings offered code officials, architects, builders, structural engineers, fire, residential and existing building professionals, as well as those responsible for the administration of the I-Codes, the opportunity to provide input on proposed code changes.
To learn more about next year’s annual conference, click here.
About the Author
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.
