construction industry group report recommends enhanced role for code officials

The code enforcement of both design and construction projects can be a significantly less thorny proposition if code enforcers are invited in to be a more active part of those projects.
 
That’s the conclusion of a new report issued by the nonprofit National Institute of Building Sciences which says that all too often code officials are contacted “late in the design process.”
 
“This later involvement often contributes to project delays and increased costs because the project team’s identified solutions do not comply with adopted codes or standards,” says the report, entitled Engaging Code Officials Early in the Process to Achieve High-Performance Buildings.
 
At the same time the report, which was conducted by the group’s National Council on Building Codes and Standards, says, “code officials in jurisdictions across the nation hae found that identifying concerns early provides the best opportunity to rectify them.”
 
Such an engagement, the report continues, “shifts the paradigm from the old role of verifier by review and inspection to a new one of project facilitator.”
 
In addition, involving building, fire, mechanical, and plumbing code officials has the ultimate effect of creating a “link between stake holders, economic development, and health, safety and welfare by involving the relevant authorities.”
 
The Washington-based National Institute of Building Sciences is a nonprofit group studying issues affecting the nation’s construction industry.

By Garry Boulard