Maryland Building Officials AssociationÒ

P.O. Box 57, Tracy’s Landing, Maryland 20779

http://www.mdboa.org

Newsletter

Annual Conference Issue November 2001

MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT Robert C. Hubbard As your President it was my pleasure to represent MBOA at the Annual Building Officials Forum conducted by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) held at their headquarters in Quincy, Massachusetts on November 3, 2001. Before my esteem colleagues Mr. Bryant and Mr. Gibson, both members of the BOCA Board of Directors, string me up for disloyalty, let me re-pledge my support to the concept of a single building code and MBOA’s continued affiliation with BOCA and the ICC. That being said, I assume that like me, many of you are NFPA members. And, that we are members because we enforce the National Electrical Code, the Life Safety Code or other NFPA standards referenced by the building code. Furthermore, if you are not a member you at least enforce some or all the standards listed above because they are included by reference in the International Building Code. If that is not adequate justification for MBOA to be represented at the forum let me add that I’m as curious as you over just what NFPA is up to in the development of its building code. The one-day session began with an overview of the NFPA, its organization, its Architects, Engineers and Building Officials Section (AEBO), its codes and standards making process, and a public education update. The day concluded with an overview of the Building Code Development Committee, an update of the 5000 building Code and a briefing from a member of the World Trade Center Investigation Team. As currently scheduled, a technical committee report on NFPA 5000 will be presented to the NFPA membership at the May 2002 Association Meeting. At this meeting the general public may comment on the committee report and the NFPA membership will vote to approve, amend, return a portion of the report BUILDING REHABILITATION CODE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Three new avenues for technical assistance on the Maryland Building Rehabilitation Code are now available. To help code officials and private construction professionals work with the new Code, which became the building code required for rehabilitation projects throughout the State on June 1, 2001, the State’s Smart Codes program has undertaken the following technical assistance programs. (1) Rehab Code Hotline (1-866-424-6269 or mdrehabcode@nibs.org) This toll-free number and email address provide assistance on code issues involved in rehabilitation projects. The Hotline is available to code officials and anyone else involved in rehab projects in Maryland, and operates from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. weekdays. The Hotline provides assistance on matters ranging from general code questions to highly technical compliance issues. (2) Handbook for the Code The Smart Codes Program at the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development has developed a Handbook to help users of the Rehabilitation Code. The Handbook combines the text of the code with graphics and interpretations. It is available over the Internet at the Smart Codes web site, www.dhcd.state.md.us/smartcodes, and will be available free of charge at county code offices in mid November. (3) Advanced Training for Code Officials Advanced training classes in the Rehabilitation Code are now being held throughout the State for code officials. The classes will focus on rehab case studies to help illustrate how to use the Code. Information on training dates, locations, and registration is available from the Smart Codes web site: www.dhcd.state.md.us/smartcodes or by calling Louri Larash at the Smart Codes Program at 410-209-5818.	or return the entire report to the committee. Assuming approval or amendment, NFPA 5000 will then go to a Standards Council Meeting in July for final adoption and become effective in August 2002. NFPA has chosen not to follow the common code format, opting instead for a format similar to the Life Safety Code. That is each occupancy category is intended to have its own chapter as well as chapters on administration, height and area, fire protection, etc. The standards are intended to provide for both a prescriptive and a performance-based design approach, allowing greater flexibility to the design professional. As you can see this one-day event was packed with information, and like it or not NFPA will publish a building code next year. BOCA ANNUAL CONFERENCE The BOCA Annual Conference was held, September 17- 20, 2001 in Cincinnati, Ohio, with over 700 people participating. For the first time, remote site voting was held for the Final Action Considerations of code change proposals to the International Codes. Twenty-nine (29) sites participated nationwide. Tim Ryan, Overland Park KS was elected as BOCA President. Steve Shapiro, Hampton, VA was elected Vice President and Jud Collins, Oklahoma was elected Sec./ Treasurer. New at large directors to the BOCA Board are Robert Blanton, Winchester, KY; Majed Dabdoub, Cincinnati, OH and Don Plass, Hoffman Estates, IL. The Albert H. Baum Award recipient was David Collins, AIA of Cincinnati, OH. The Walker S. Lee Award was given to Emory R. Rodgers, Virginia. The Wilbur H. Lind Award went to Leo Belval of Manchester, CN. Chapter of the Year was awarded to the Code Administrators of Kentucky. BOCA ANNUAL CONFERENCE Continued from page 1 Five (5) new chapters were approved representing California, Missouri, Kentucky, Texas and Pennsylvania. The total number of BOCA Chapters are now 99, of which 86 are Code Officials Chapters, 4 are Cooperating Chapters, 7 are Professional Chapters and 2 are Student Chapters. The membership adopted a resolution concerning the merger of the model code organizations into a single organization. The same resolution is being brought to the membership of SBCCI and ICBO. The ICC Board of Directors appointed Bill Tangye, CEO of SBCCI, as the new ICC Chief Executive Officer. BOCA Past President Rod Blane was elected Chairman of the ICC Board of Directors. Newly appointed ICC Positions are Bob Heinrich as the ICC CAO, and Senior Vice Presidents Terry Leppellere, Dominic Sims and Les Moran. Please contact Bill Bryant or John Gibson, your BOCA Board of Director at- large members for further information or questions. HAVE YOU ADOPTED IBC OR IRC? Jim Hanna, Maryland DHCD The State of Maryland has adopted with modifications, the International Building Code 2000 and the International Residential Code 2000 as the Maryland Building Performance Standards. The following link provides access to MBPS COMAR 05.02.07 (Effective date – October 15, 2001): http://lhi5.umbc.edu/dhcd2/MBPS-05.02.07-101501.htm It has come to the Department's attention that the time involved in adopting local amendments to the IBC and IRC is delaying comprehensive adoption of the IBC and IRC for some local jurisdictions. To ensure full compliance with the MBPS, local jurisdictions should pass an emergency ordinance as soon as possible that will assure all local amendments to the BOCA National Building Code and CABO Code remain in place and will apply to the IBC and IRC until your new ordinance with amendments to the IBC and IRC is enacted. You can then send a notice to all parties concerned of your action. Please check with your county or municipal attorney about this option.
GREEN BUILDINGS Erica Shingara, Environmental Specialist, City of Gaithersburg What is a green building? In order to grow smarter it is important to recognize that how we build is as important as where we build. For this reason, the principle of green building is gathering momentum throughout the United States. Green building is an integrated life-cycle approach that seeks to design, construct, operate, and maintain buildings and landscapes in a manner that considers economic and environmental impacts and performance. For example, green building promotes resource conservation, including energy efficiency, water conservation, and waste minimization; seeks to create a healthy and comfortable indoor and outdoor environment; reduces operation and maintenance costs; and addresses such issues as historical preservation and access to public transportation and other community infrastructure systems. What are the benefits of a green building? Green building can offer a number of advantages, not the least of which is capital and life-cycle cost savings that make the project competitive, and in some cases, less expensive to build and operate. For example, in new construction, green building designs and techniques yield lower costs for energy, water, materials, site-clearing, and waste hauling/disposal fees. Overall consumption of resources during construction and throughout the life of the structure is also lower. Furthermore, green building is attracting an increasing number of building owners and developers because of the increased value of a green building in terms of return on investment, market demand, and lower operating costs. For additional information regarding green building, please refer to the following web sites: · U.S. Green Building Council: www.usgbc.org/ · U.S. Department of Energy, Green Buildings: www.sustainable.doe.gov/buildings/gbedtoc.shtml · Maryland Green Building Program: www.dnr.state.md.us/programs/greenbuilding/	TREASURER’S REPORT TO THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE Phillip J. Waclawski, Treasure Balance forwarded $5,435.00 Income: Dues and Seminar $10,852.00 MBOA Shirts $465.00 Total Income: $11,317.00 Expenses: Catering $3,628.00 U.S. Postage $1,054.00 MDA $150.00 Shirts & Lapel Pins $2,419.00 Door Prizes $390.00 Web Site Setup $180.00 Total Expenses: $7821.00 Net Gain/Loss: (+) $3496.00 Ending Balance: $8,931.00 Respectfully submitted P. J. Waclawski Date: November 2001
MARYLAND BUILDING OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION Membership Application Name: Jurisdiction/Organization: Mailing Address: ¨Home ¨ Work City/State/Zip E-mail: BOCA Member ¨ YES (#_________) ¨ NO Phone: Fax: Membership Type: ¨Code Enforcement - $10.00 ¨Professional - $25.00 Submit form along with annual dues to: Maryland Building Officials Association P.O. Box 57 Tracy’s Landing, Maryland 20779
Maryland Building Officials Association P.O. Box 57 Tracy’s Landing, Maryland 20779 ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED