BHMA Blog: ICC 2024 Code Revisions Update
By John Woestman, Director, Codes & Regulatory Affairs
Thursday, June 17, 2021
The International Code Council (ICC) is in the midst of considering proposed revisions for the 2024 editions of the International Building Code (IBC), the International Fire Code (IFC), and other I-Codes. It’s a lengthy process, but BHMA members and staff, particularly the Codes, Government, & Industry Affairs (CGIA) Committee, are actively participating every step of the way.
The IBC and the IFC are model codes, which means they are used as the foundation for adopted and enforced building codes and fire codes in the majority of states, counties and cities in the U.S. BHMA’s ongoing efforts to improve and update these model codes focus on ensuring the codes are technically appropriate and up-to-date, have clear and concise requirements, and use language which is consistently interpreted, applied and enforced.
The first stage was planning and preparation. BHMA members and staff participated in numerous conference calls and video conferences in 2020 with stakeholders across the country to collaboratively develop code change proposals that were submitted by the ICC’s Building Code Action Committee (BCAC) and ICC’s Fire Code Action Committee (FCAC). There were also numerous proposals developed by BHMA members for direct submission by BHMA.
Next came reading and analysis – with an emphasis on reading. All the submitted proposals were made available online for public review on March 1, 2021. After diving through 2,000+ pages of proposals, we identified what was of interest or concern to BHMA members and evaluated each proposal for potential implications regarding requirements for doors, door hardware, and door operations.
Following this was the first round of public debate: the Committee Action Hearings. This round robin of meetings was held virtually from April 11 through May 5, and we participated with testimony in support of many code change proposals.
We had some success, with several code change proposals recommended for approval by the committee. While there were also several recommended for disapproval, this is only the first round! As a next step, we are developing public comments (to be submitted by July 2) for the BHMA proposals not approved by the committee. We will also participate in the second round of public debate this fall when the Public Comment Hearings are held September 21-28 in Pittsburgh.