By the time that the first round of public hearings to revise the 2006 editions of the I-Codes concluded in Orlando on Oct. 1, members and staff from NAHB and its HBA affiliates had withstood 11 grueling days of 12-14 hour hearings and provided comments and debate on over 2,200 proposed amendments. They emerged with several crucial wins whose impacts will be felt throughout the building industry for years to come.

By far the most significant win we scored came after two full hours of debate, when all proposals seeking to mandate fire sprinkler systems in the International Residential Code (IRC) for one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses were disapproved by the IRC Committee. NAHB and its builder members, along with several code officials, testified in opposition to mandated fire sprinklers, citing their high cost along with the design, maintenance and legal concerns identified within the policy resolution that was approved at our recent Fall Board meeting.  Arguments in support of the mandates were emotional in nature and lacking in technical justification, as no study has ever demonstrated that fire sprinklers are substantially more effective at saving lives than smoke alarms. Of course, we still have to defend this big win at the final ICC hearings in May of 2007, where it is very likely to be challenged by the opposition. Read more about our efforts on fire sprinklers in NBN Online.

Just a few of the other items on our long list of achievements stemming from the code hearings include NAHB's defeat of a proposal to require installation of permanently mounted escape ladders; defeat of a proposal to incorporate requirements into the IRC for fire department access roads and fire protection water supply; defeat of a proposal to increase by one foot the height to which homes in floodplains must be elevated; approval of a number of proposals to reorganize, simplify and provide greater flexibility in the IRC provisions for the design and construction of wood-framed wall bracing; defeat of proposals that would increase the need for hurricane clips on roofs; defeat of proposals to require hail impact-resistant shingles and other roof coverings in many areas of the central and southern U.S.; defeat of proposals that would have limited the use of vinyl siding, gypsum sheathing and foam plastic sheathing; and defeat of proposals to increase the amount of wall insulation required by the IECC and IRC. Get more details in the upcoming (Oct. 10) edition of NBN Online, or contact Ed Sutton, x8564. 

NAHB Member Benefit: Your membership in NAHB helps ensure against unwarranted and costly changes to the residential codes that you build by every day. Collectively speaking, NAHB's representation of our builder members at the code development hearings will translate to major savings for you and your customers, while adhering to our No. 1 priority to keep homes and the families who live in them safe.

House passage of the bill represents the latest milestone in an effort spearheaded by NAHB's Legal Action Network, which has been working for years to impress upon members of Congress the importance of enacting judicial reform legislation that allows takings claims to be heard in a timely manner in federal court. It was due largely to these efforts that Reps. Steve Chabot (R-OH) and Bart Gordon (D-TN) introduced H.R. 4777 earlier this year. Read more in NBN Online, or contact J.P. Delmore, x8412.

NAHB Member Benefit: NAHB's ongoing efforts to achieve full Congressional passage of property rights legislation are aimed at helping our builder and developer members get fair treatment under the law when government actions reduce or negate the value of their property.  NAHB is your voice in Congress on this and other issues that directly affect your business's bottom line. [return to top]