February 13, 2008

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ICC Publishes News about Pool and Spa Safety Act;
Code Hearings to Address ICC Adoption of ANSI/APSP-7 Standard

APSP has helped the International Code Council (ICC) get the word out to its thousands of code official members about the enactment of the new federal pool and spa safety law (Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act) with an article in the February 5 issue of ICC E-News, a monthly electronic newsletter. The next big step for APSP’s outreach and advocacy to ICC is the ICC Code Development Hearings to be held February 18-March 1 in Palm Springs, California, where APSP will present its proposal for adoption of the ANSI/APSP-7 Standard for Suction Entrapment Avoidance into the ICC codes.

The article in ICC E-News includes a summary of the major provisions of the act including the federal mandatory requirements for suction entrapment avoidance and the voluntary grant program for states with laws that meet certain minimum requirements. To view the entire issue click here and scroll down the left column to “Pool and Spa Safety Act Enacted into Law”:

The ICC hearings in Palm Springs will take up the APSP proposal advocating adoption of the ANSI/APSP-7 Standard for Suction Entrapment Avoidance into the ICC codes (IBC and IRC). Once approved, the ANSI/APSP-7 standard would be incorporated into section 3109.5 of the 2009 International Building Code (IBC) and Appendix G section 106.1 of the 2009 International Residential Code (IRC). A delegation of APSP members with the assistance of APSP code consultant Lorraine Ross will present the case for adoption of ANSI/APSP-7.

APSP’s position is that the ANSI-7 standard is ready for ICC adoption and consistent with the Pool and Spa Safety Act. APSP believes it has an excellent chance of success at this year’s ICC hearings. The ANSI-7 standard was reviewed by ICC staff and has been found to meet the rigorous criteria for standards to be adopted into the international codes. The imprint of the ANSI designation carries weight within the standards community and will be a positive factor in ICC consideration. The ANSI-7 standard already has been adopted by the state of Florida.

The schedule for all hearing proposals and presentations is somewhat tentative because each ICC code hearing throughout the week begins immediately upon completion of the hearings for the prior committee. However, it is expected that the APSP proposal, identified as RB-227-07/08, will be heard on Wednesday, February 20. The APSP delegation will make a presentation during the hearing for the International Residential Code and also during the hearing for the International Building Code – General. The ICC will conduct two votes: One vote will be for adoption of ANSI-7 under the International Residential Code and one vote will be for adoption of ANSI-7 under the International Building Code – General. Each ICC Committee’s vote will be taken and announced immediately after each proposal.

Background on ICC Code Cycle
The 2007/2008 ICC Code Development Schedule began in the summer of 2007 when applications for code committees and code change proposals were due.
 
ICC code committees are an important part of the ICC Code Development Process. ICC currently has 14 Code Committees, which are responsible for the review and evaluation of code change proposals submitted to the 14 International Codes. In addition to the International Residential Code and the International Building Code, ICC also publishes international codes for the following areas: electrical, energy conservation, existing buildings, fire, mechanical, plumbing, and property maintenance/zoning. The Code Committees for the 2007/2008 Code Development Cycle will hear the code change proposals and vote on proposals at the Palm Springs hearings. The “Report of the Public Hearing” is published in April and public comments are due in June. Based on the public comments an “action agenda” is published in August, which will then be taken up at a final hearing September 17-23 in Minneapolis. All approved code changes from the 2007/2008 code cycle will be published in ICC’s 2009 code editions.

The ICC was founded in 1994 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing a single set of comprehensive and coordinated national model construction codes. The founders of the ICC are Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc.® (BOCA®), International Conference of Building Officials® (ICBO®), and Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc.® (SBCCI®). Since the early part of the last century, these nonprofit organizations have developed the three sets of model codes used throughout the United States. Most U.S. cities, counties, and states that adopt codes choose the International Codes developed by the International Code Council.