Update of Washington’s Wildfire Building Code Gets Ditched
State officials scrapped new wildfire protection rules for homes and other buildings on March 15th, the day the suite of building codes was set to take effect. The state Building Code Council voted to remove Washington’s new wildland urban interface codes, following Gov. Jay Inslee’s signing of a bill that limits which of the new rules can go into effect and when.
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Building Energy Code Revamps Can Get Another $90 Million from DOE
The Department of Energy announced March 4th that it is making $90 million available to help states and localities adopt and implement building energy codes, which set energy efficiency standards for new buildings, additions, and major renovations. This is the second tranche out of a total of $225 million designated by the 2021 infrastructure law for building energy code modernization.
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Ohio Governor DeWine Announces Implementation of 2024 Building Codes
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted announce the adoption of the updated 2024 Ohio Building, Mechanical, and Plumbing Codes to streamline regulations and improve safety standards, aligning with the 2021 International Model Codes.
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Virginia is First State to Adopt ICC/MBI Offsite Construction Standards
Virginia recently became the first state to adopt International Code Council/Modular Building Institute off-site construction standards. The ICC/MBI Standard 1200-2021: Standard for Off-Site Construction: Planning, Design, Fabrication, and Assembly and ICC/MBI Standard 1205-2021: Standard for Off-Site Construction: Inspection and Regulatory Compliance goes into effect on January 18, 2024.
New Year’s Day Earthquake Sparks Interest in Japan’s Seismic Building Codes
Building resilience is at the forefront of the conversation surrounding Japan’s recent 7.5 magnitude New Year’s Day earthquake on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture. The minimal loss of life caught the attention of the seismology community because Japan has innovated data capture systems and focused on resilient building design.
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Saskatchewan Implements 2020 National Building Codes
The government of Saskatchewan, Canada, has announced the adoption of the 2020 editions of the National Building Code of Canada (NBC), National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings (NECB), and the National Plumbing Code of Canada (NPC). The regulatory update takes effect on January 1, 2024.