ICC  Director, Jim Sayers, swears in the 2023/2024 Board of Directors

WABO PRESIDENT’S REPORT -  by Andy Higgins, MCP, CBO, ACO 

As spring showers wane and the heat of the summer months approaches, it is appropriate to celebrate the very productive and effective year WABO has experienced thus far and take some time to enjoy the fruits of our sewn seeds. The roots of this organization continue to strengthen, supported and enhanced by the participation and involvement of its membership. It is evident that the level of influence and leadership that WABO is developing continues to branch out and blossom significantly. WABO members have been very busy and have accomplished a great deal thus far in 2023… and for that you should ALL be proud!

The 2023 Legislative Session is now in the rear-view mirror and this past few months WABO members participating in the Government Relations Committee, chaired by Tim Woodard, were able to have a BIG impact during this session on the outcomes of a large number of bills that would have significantly impacted our work. We anticipate that many of these same ideas and issues will return in the short session next year and there is work still to be done to get ahead of some of them. If you’re interested in joining one of the ad hoc committees involving the Kit Housing bill, or the Missing Middle Housing bill (proposing an appendix in the International Residential Code (IRC), please contact Tara at the WABO office ([email protected]) to get your name added to the participant/distribution list(s)!

Our newly implemented Spring ANNUAL Business Meeting held in Leavenworth, WA at the Enzian Inn on April 20th & 21st  was very well attended with approximately 84 participants in total including 14 newcomers who were attending for their very first WABO Business Meeting. This ongoing level of participation and engagement is the resulting fruit from the diligent efforts of our Outreach Committee, chaired by Stacy Criswell, reaching a long list of jurisdictions throughout Washington State through regular communications about all the great benefits of participating in WABO events and committees. Note: If your jurisdiction has yet to proclaim May 2023 as Building Safety Month, you still have time! Click Here for more information… (https://wabo.memberclicks.net/index.php) WABO can help you get it done!

I want to thank all our active members for all that you do on our committees, as well as your participation during our business meetings. Without your support and hard work WABO could not be the great organization that it is today. For those of you reading this that have not yet fully engaged in the work of WABO, I encourage you to take that first step. If you are looking to sharpen or develop your leadership skills, code knowledge, or just want to make a difference in an area that you are passionate about, I challenge you to contact myself or any of our E-Board members to help get you involved where you can contribute. It is both rewarding and fulfilling!

Our Summer Quarterly Business Meeting will be held in-person July 20th & 21st at the Ocean Shores Convention Center. Please do not hesitate to get registered and reserve your stay at the Lighthouse Suites Inn (http://www.lighthousesuitesinn.com). I look forward to seeing you there!

I hope that you all have a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend and a solid kickoff to an enjoyable and fruit-filled summer!

Sincerely,
~ Andy


***  2023 Outstanding Educational Achievement  - Dick Bower ***   2023 Associate of the Year  - Richard Williams, CWA Consultants ***            ***  
2023 Code Official of the Year - Quyen Thai, City of Tacoma***

 

 

Technical Code Development Committee - Chair Micah Chappell, MBA, CBO

Technical Code Development Committee (TCD) discussed the upcoming changes to the ICC Code Development process where there will be an additional Committee Action Hearing for Group A and B, and only one Public Comment Hearing and Online Governmental Consensus Vote. Please visit this ICC webpage for additional information and a short PowerPoint on the process change.

https://www.iccsafe.org/products-and-services/i-codes/code-development-changes/

TCD discussed some of the recent Emergency and Off-cycle Rules being worked on by the SBCC and encourage all WABO members to read through those. The current emergency rules are located on the SBCC Website.

https://sbcc.wa.gov/

The ICC code development process has also put out a call for committee participants and has set a deadline for applications by June 1, 2023.

As always, we encourage WABO members to get involved with TCD to provide continued improvement to our State and National Codes.

Certification & Registration Committee - Chair Brian Smith, CBO, ACO

The WABO Energy Code Plans Examiner Certification Subcommittee has been working on finalizing the project Scope of Work (SOW) document for both the Commercial and Residential Energy Plan Review certification exams.  Once the SOW is completed, next steps will be for ETC (Commercial) and WSU (Residential) to draft written and oral interview questions for our subcommittee to review. I do want to give a special shout out of thanks to Kim Baker and Duane Jonlin for their expertise and help keeping this project moving forward.

During a recent SIRP Board meeting, a discussion was had on what we could do to continue to improve our WABO Special Inspection Program and cultivate relations between the special inspection community and code officials.

It was suggested during the meeting that our technical consultants could introduce a new special inspector to a local building department as part of the initial interview process.  The thought behind the introduction would be to make sure new special inspectors understand that as a WABO special inspector they too are an extension of a local building department and part of the overall inspection team for a project and should questions come up during an inspection about a project, that it’s okay to reach out to the local jurisdiction.

Another suggestion that was brought up was to create opportunities to invite code officials to special inspection agency labs for tours and to engage with the agencies and their staff.

Both suggestions were presented to the WABO membership at the ABM in Leavenworth last month and received very positive feedback from the membership in attendance. Stay turned there will be more to come.

Government Relations - Chair Tim Woodard 

The Government Relations committee (GRC) met at the Spring 2023 Annual Business Meeting and many topics were discussed.

  • Our lobbyist Marian Dacca and chair Tim Woodard reviewed the many bills that were reviewed and WABO took positions on. The GRC was successful with working with representatives this session on modifying several bills to remove code language from the RCW and direct to the SBCC for development.
  • Discussion included a real time budget discussions and the potential for two WABO line items that may receive funding.
  • Tim Woodard and Marian Dacca thanked committee volunteers for a successful session, anyone that is interested in joining the committee please e-mail Tara Jenkins [email protected] at the WABO office and she can get you established on the distribution list.

Finance Committee - Chair Angela Haupt, CBO

Angela provided the membership with an overview of WABO's 2022/2023 3rd quarter financials. 

Education Committee - Max Booth

The education committee is working on training for the fall business meeting on the east side of the state.  We will be working with the L&I to develop a course that aims to equip inspectors to more effectively deal with FAS units once they are placed in their jurisdiction.  We are also coordinating a training related to changes in EV charging requirements in the 2021 code. 

In other news the committee will be meeting to create a plan and provide a specific recommendation to the board related to the possibility of WABO partnering with local ICC and WSAP chapters to provide training closer to their respective jurisdictions.   If you would like to join this committee discussion, (especially if you are a board member in your local chapter) please email [email protected]



Outreach Committee - Chair Stacy Criswell, CBO, ACO

Hopefully by now many of you have had an opportunity to get training on the new 2021 codes and are in discussions with your council to meet the July 1, 2023 deadline for implementation. It comes as no surprise that getting the word out early to the public on big changes and being prepared for a large volume of permit submittals in May and June is going to be critical for your success. Also, May is Building Safety Month and ICC’s website has great resources that you can share with your communities and elected officials as well. Lastly, if you have resources that you have created and want to share with your colleagues, please send them to WABO and we can put them on our website resources tab https://www.wabo.org/resources. One example of this is a great one page resource that was just created for the WUI Code.

Emergency Management Committee - Chair Ryan Mumma, CBO, ACO

Recently the Emergency Management Committee coordinated with WAsafe to provide a professional development presentation at the ABM in Leavenworth. The primary focus was on requesting Building Safety Evaluator resources from WAsafe after a large regional event, such as an earthquake. We also presented examples of a jurisdictional response plan to deploy inspection and review staff for initial windshield surveys and damage assessments.

The committee is also working with other agency partners on statewide and regional projects. Quyen Thai was instrumental in providing a well-written annual report to the WA State Emergency Management Department (EMD). The report mainly focused on challenges associated with preparation and response to major natural disasters, such as fire or earthquakes. Several WABO committee members are assisting with a WA EMD joint pilot program to identify and survey unreinforced masonry buildings (URM’s) in the City of Everett. The program uses non-technical volunteers who have been trained to conduct sidewalk surveys of suspected URM’s and collect the data using iPad’s. WABO members helped to develop the survey criteria and will be reviewing the initial data collection in collaboration with WA EMD and other stakeholders. WABO committee members also attended presentations by the State EMD regarding charging, usage, and storage of lithium batteries and the hazards associated with them. We will be following proposed legislation aimed at providing grants to local agencies and jurisdictions to develop public outreach regarding safety and proper recycling and disposal of lithium batteries.

Accreditation Committee - Chair James Tumelson, MCP, CBO, ME, ACO

The Accreditation Committee has been hard at work within the Code Official Accreditation Program (COAP) as we will be launching an entire year dedicated to the professional development of the Building Official beginning this fall.  Also launching this fall is a 12 module self-paced course for additional training on plumbing systems.  This is a very exciting time for our program considering the fact that we are now a licensed vocational school in Washington State! BIG thanks to the WABO office for ensuring that we made it past the finish line for State Licensing.

The Accreditation Committee would ask that you consider joining your peers as an Accredited Code Official (ACO) and/or enroll in the COAP. If interested in the COAP, we would urge you to enroll now to create a resilient future generation of public servant leaders. Space is limited and signups have already begun for fall quarter, so don’t hesitate.