TO ALL AFSCC MEMBERS AND CONTRIBUTORS:
The AFSCC Board of Directors is very pleased to report that the California Building Standards Commission voted UNANIMOUSLY to adopt the 2006 IBC with AFSCC amendments.
This will become the new 2007 California Building Code (CBC). In September 2007, California legislature begins the annual rule making process, but no further changes can be made to the 2007 CBC. The new code will become effective in the summer of 2008.
This was a very important event for balanced fire protection – philosophically, politically, and strategically – and for the AFSCC. The final vote was presided over by Rosario Marin, former Secretary of the US Treasury who now chairs the CA Building Standards Commission. Also present for the vote and after party celebrations was the new ICC CEO, Rick Weiland.
More details about the technical aspects of the new code and the amendments will be forth coming as we prepare our final report.
However, in the short term, it is imperative that we acknowledge the extraordinary effort by our friends and partners, without whom this monumental achievement and the unanimous vote of the Commission would have never taken place. The California Fire Safety Advisory Council is a CA-specific special project, partially funded by the AFSCC, intended to facilitate the adoption of the amended IBC in CA. Mark Kluver of PCA was invaluable in promoting the issues of the AFSCC and the California Fire Safety Advisory Council, educating and networking with the right people in CA for that unanimous vote.
Without any hesitation, I can personally testify that our consultant Rick Thornberry was the right person, at the right time in the right place. Because of his constant attention to and knowledge of the California process, the AFSCC has enjoyed unique recognition by the California State Fire Marshals (SFM) office and the California Building Standards Commission. At the special invitation post- vote celebrations cocktail party, Rick and the AFSCC was publicly praised out of a hundred other people by Deputy SFM Kate Dargan for his special contribution as a fire protection engineer and code consultant. At the post- vote dinner party after the vote, Rick and I were the only industry people who sat at SFM Rueben Grajalva’s dinner table.
Every single initiative, strategy, and tactic we initiated from our inception came to fruition in California. We expect this to start a trickle effect throughout the rest of the US over the next decade. Balanced fire protection is now championed by the fire service. I have attached a copy of one of the reasons statements presented by California State Fire Marshals office on their amendment to the IBC Height and Areas provisions. You will enjoy reading it.
We have just pushed our little snowball off the top of the mountain. Although we just got a fabulous assist from California, we have to keep it rolling and control its direction. We drained our financial resources on the successful CA effort, now we need to focus on Rochester and provide the same kind of effort to support our fire service and code official friends who are backing us at the national level.
Please step up your efforts to find new members and contributors. We can’t slow down now!!
Vickie Lovell
| DHI Mission Statement The purpose of the Association is to provide its members with the skills and competencies to compete successfully in the advancement of the safety and security of the built environment. The Association is the advocate and primary information, professional development and certification resource for the architectural openings industry, with a focus on the distribution process. |